First IMC flight

Hi folks,

It's been over a year since I got the rating, and aside from popping
through the
coastal stratus a few times, I never used it.

Well, yesterday I used it. 1.5 solid hours in the clouds. There
was a front
passing through Northern California. But it was all layered stratus
stuff, the
icing level was forecast 11000, and the winds were not excessive.

Popped into the clouds 2000 feet above San Carlos. Wondered just what
I'd gotten myself into as the ground went away and all the windows
turned white.
Decided then & there to order the terrain update for the GNS430.
Stayed in the clouds til I popped out at the Panoche VOR. The Valley
was severe
clear over a layer of light haze. Flew the GPS approach at FCH &
circled to land.

Flew back home at sunset, which quickly turned to night. It's DARK
in the clouds at night! The wingtip strobes were distracting, so I
turned them off. I could still see the light from the rotating beacon
reflected from the wings, but that wasn't so bad.

San Carlos was reporting light rain & 1600-foot ceilings. Flew the
GPS30 approach and circled to 12, landed on the wet shiny runway.
Lived through another one! I think I spent more time in the clouds
yesterday than in all the instrument training put together.

- Jerry Kaidor ( )

I think I spent more time in the clouds
yesterday than in all the instrument training put together

You and Jack are killing me!!!

I'm tired of settling for a hood and a safety pilot! As soon as the
plane is out of annual, I'm calling up the instructor and am going to
get current in the goo!

BTW - I don't think you "Lived through another one!". I think you
logged a few more hours in conditions you have been trained for.

Thanks for sharing.

Todd

three-eight-hotel wrote:

You and Jack are killing me!!!

Hehe...but...I've become much more acquainted with Mr. Hood the past
couple of weeks. Looks like that may change soon though.


I'm tired of settling for a hood and a safety pilot! As soon as the
plane is out of annual, I'm calling up the instructor and am going to
get current in the goo!

Best dual instruction time you can buy. I'd do the same thing (and
imagine that I'll have to some day).


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-IA Student
Arrow N2104T

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there
you will always long to return"
- Leonardo Da Vinci

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

wrote in message
Popped into the clouds 2000 feet above San Carlos. Wondered just what
I'd gotten myself into as the ground went away and all the windows
turned white.

Right after I got my ticket, I figured I would take a short 1-hour flight in
clear weather to get used to the IFR system. The forecast "few" clouds
turned into broken right at my altitude and I wondered the same exact thing
you did. The weird thing about the broken clouds was that I felt like I was
going too fast and I kept glancing at my airspeed indicator more so than
what I was taught.

Marco



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That is a wierd sensation; like heading towards a brick wall at 150
mph, then all of a sudden you punch right through the wall with little
or no effect on the airplane. I still love flying in and out of puffy
clouds, and if I can, I'll request an altitude that puts me in a layer
like that.

WW

wrote:
That is a wierd sensation; like heading towards a brick wall at 150
mph, then all of a sudden you punch right through the wall with little
or no effect on the airplane.

It's really cool when you're just above to top of a nice flat stratus
layer and you can keep dipping in and out of it by going up or down 50
feet. If the tops aren't right at the right altitude and there's not
much traffic, you can ask ATC for an altitude block :-)

Roy Smith wrote:
That is a wierd sensation; like heading towards a brick wall at 150
mph, then all of a sudden you punch right through the wall with little
or no effect on the airplane.

It's really cool when you're just above to top of a nice flat stratus
layer and you can keep dipping in and out of it by going up or down 50
feet. If the tops aren't right at the right altitude and there's not
much traffic, you can ask ATC for an altitude block :-)

....or when you precisely hold an altitude and a stratus deck comes up,
kisses the plane and then recedes. Really sweet. It's like
accelerating to the speed of heat and then slowly braking.

IMC pilots need better sunglasses!

My favorite condition is scattered fair weather cumulus with thickness no
more than 2,000 feet. The beauty of the "mountains and valleys" of clouds is
simply awesome. The temptation to deviate from your cleared route to zoom
around is big.

Another picture etched in my psyche forever was the first time I was fogged
out of my home airport and diverted to a nearby Class C. We had a Southwest
737 5 miles ahead of us in full view in the unlimited vis above the fog
layer. The late evening light set an eerie dream-like hue while looking down
at what used to be a large aircraft disappear into a massive, milky,
edgeless and surreal "landscape." I was still training for my IR and had two
instructors (one mine the other was bored--had a cancelled student) so there
was no chickening out to Connecticut. Made it in at minimums.

Whoever said IFR flying wasn't a spectator sport??

Marco


"Maule Driver" wrote in message
...
Roy Smith wrote:
That is a wierd sensation; like heading towards a brick wall at 150
mph, then all of a sudden you punch right through the wall with little
or no effect on the airplane.

It's really cool when you're just above to top of a nice flat stratus
layer and you can keep dipping in and out of it by going up or down 50
feet. If the tops aren't right at the right altitude and there's not
much traffic, you can ask ATC for an altitude block :-)

...or when you precisely hold an altitude and a stratus deck comes up,
kisses the plane and then recedes. Really sweet. It's like
accelerating to the speed of heat and then slowly braking.

IMC pilots need better sunglasses!



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Maule Driver wrote:
: ...or when you precisely hold an altitude and a stratus deck comes up,
: kisses the plane and then recedes. Really sweet. It's like
: accelerating to the speed of heat and then slowly braking.

... except this time of year when every time it does that some of the stratus
deck sticks to your airplane.

: IMC pilots need better sunglasses!

Adaptive, maybe?

-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

wrote in message oups.com...

.... I still love flying in and out of puffy
clouds, and if I can, I'll request an altitude that puts me in a layer
like that.

WW


But when those "puffy clouds" show up on my radar,
I try to deviate around them. :-(