Safe, Single-Pilot IFR generalities

Judah,

But I don't even think there's all that much
difference between flying through soup at 3000' when the top of the
white stuff outside your window is light by the sun or the moon.


The statistics (as interpreted over and over again by Richard Collins)
are violently against your statement...

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Greg,

your list is missing something important: autopilots. Here in Germany,
single-pilot IFR is only allowed with a two-axis autopilot. Although
that might be considered over-regulation, the basic underlying
assumption makes sense.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Greg Farris wrote:

1) No Single-Pilot, single engine IFR in IMC at night

I personally do not agree with this one, but I understand and respect
everyone's personal minimums.

My aircraft is meticulously maintained with a 200 hr since rebuilt engine
and it is equipped with dual alternators, two attitude indicators (one
electric and one vacuum), and an autopilot. Additionally, I wear a
red/white LED light strapped to my head at night, I have two LED
flashlights in the cockpit, and I carry a McMurdo FastFind Plus PLB.

Being that I fly a lot of Angel Flight missions in the Northeast, I
encounter night IMC often.

--
Peter
























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Greg Farris wrote:
Here are some "general" tips for safe, single-pilot IFR, gleaned from
Larry Bartlett's refresher course. These tips do not represent the "meat
and potatoes" of the video course, but are thrown in at a couple of
points as generalities. How many agree with these :

1) No Single-Pilot, single engine IFR in IMC at night
Too broad. There's night and there's NIGHT. For example, starting a
flight in daylight and ending with some night enroute into a familiar
area with familiar approaches, in benign weather, in my plane - that's
night-lite. Night departure into a low ceiling with breakout at
minimums at the destination - NO. In fact, night departures into low
ceilings are off my SE/SP list.
3) No S-P IFR in IMC without dual vacuum sources, and strong
preference for dual alrternators.
Dual vac - a good idea. A vac failure light - equally important. I
have a strong preference for a Pilatus...
4) Keep VFR weather within range of the aircraft at all times, and
know where it is
Having an out is critical. Figuring it out during pre-flight planning
is crucial and sometimes an eye-opener.
5) Avoid S-P circling approaches in IMC, and definitely not at
night or close to minimums
You don't circle until you are VMC. Not sure what this is. Avoiding
circles at night - good idea but it depends.

"Roy Smith" wrote in message
...
The difference (in my mind, and with my 40-something eyes) is that it's
harder to see stuff in the cockpit at night. Every task from instrument
scan, to reading a chart, to tuning a radio, to copying an in-flight
reroute becomes more difficult.

That's a good point. It wasn't until I had about 25 hours of night VFR
experience that I decided I could be comfortable with some night IMC.

--Gary

The difference (in my mind, and with my 40-something eyes) is that it's
harder to see stuff in the cockpit at night. Every task from instrument
scan, to reading a chart, to tuning a radio, to copying an in-flight
reroute becomes more difficult.

My eyes are not quite 40, but I have much the same problem in most
airplanes. However, most GA airplanes do not have anything resembling
an adequate lighting system.

Clue time - if you need a flashlight to perform ANY task in the
cockpit, your lighting is inadequate. A flashlight is an emergency
backup, not for normal inflight use.

I don't worry about single pilot night IFR in my airplane, because it
has an adequate lighting system. Someone, somewhere along the way, did
most of what was required and I filled in the rest. That includes
pilot and copilot overhead map lights with yoke-mounted actuation
switches - so you can keep flying the plane while reading the map. It
also includes panel lighting for all the instruments and overhead
lights forward and aft - each with independent switches. The only time
I use a flashlight in the plane is for startup, so as not to run down
the battery.

Once adequate lighting is in place, there's really no issue. However,
as I mentioned before, most GA airplanes do not have adequate lighting.
I've never seen a rental that did. On the other hand, I think you're
pretty much taking your life in your hands flying a rental night-IMC
anyway.

Michael

Yes, I agree, the remaining IFR flights are likely to be safer.

I'm not sure I even agree with that. IFR flying is a perishable skill,
and the limitations imposed will certainly cause one to make fewer
flights. Unless these are replaced with practice/training flights (and
very few people have that kind of discipline) the resulting reduction
in proficiency may well offset the reduction in exposure.

The loss of utility, however, is quite certain.

Michael

Michael wrote:

Clue time - if you need a flashlight to perform ANY task in the
cockpit, your lighting is inadequate. A flashlight is an emergency
backup, not for normal inflight use.

I suppose it depends on your definition of "adequate." The Bonanza I fly
has overhead map lights that do an excellent job lighting up the cabin, but
I do not to use them to brief or follow an approach plate due to the night
vision damage these lights cause. Rather, I use the red of my red/white
LED light that straps to my head.


--
Peter
























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1) No Single-Pilot, single engine IFR in IMC at night
I agree that single-pilot IFR is hard, and doing it at night is harder, but
I don't see the single-engine connection. If the fear is not being able to
find an emergency landing spot, then the rule should be "No single-engine
at night". If the fear is pilot task overload, then the rule should be "no
single-pilot IMC at night".

What Roy said (though I'm not sure single-pilot IFR is appreciably
harder at night in a properly lit cockpit - but if you're doing it by
flashlight, no argument from me). As stated, the rule really doesn't
make sense.

2) No S-P Multi-engine IFR with MEA's higher than the aircraft's SE
performance
Again, I don't see the connection here. Presumably this means it's OK to
fly single-pilot, single-engine IFR at those same altitudes?

Which, of course, is silly. In the twin, you actully have a lot more
options and a lot more time to think. A twin above the SE ceiling
won't climb, but it won't descend very quickly. The difference is
striking - a single with an engine failure at 8000 will be descending
about 800 fpm; a light twin will be more like 100 fpm. Way better
chance of making it to someplace landable.

3) No S-P IFR in IMC without dual vacuum sources, and strong
preference for dual alrternators.
This is a good rule. I'll admit I break it.

A dual vacuum source won't back up a dying gyro (and I've seen as many
gyro failures as I've seen vacuum source failures). So now we need
dual AI's and dual vacuum. Well, it so happens I do have such a setup
in my airplane. Also dual generators with solid state regulators.

Is it necessary? I think it depends on the pilot and the airplane.
For someone who flies a lot of IFR and trains seriously, probably not -
but that's exactly the person most likely to have such a setup. For a
solid and stable airplane like a Cherokee, I think it's overkill. For
a Bonanza, a really good idea. But is it more important than flying
instruments regularly? I don't think so. Given that resources are
finite, I think recurrent training is a better investment than
installing this stuff. In other words - it sounds like a good rule in
theory, but it probably isn't in practice.

4) Keep VFR weather within range of the aircraft at all times, and
know where it is.
An excellent rule.

I think it's another one of those rules that sounds great in theory.
If you can plan your flight to do that, it's great. Certainly if there
is VFR weather in range, you ought to know where it is to keep your
options open in case anything really bad happens. But what if that
rule substantially reduces the amount of IFR flying you do? Is the
loss of proficiency going to offset the reduced exposure?

5) Avoid S-P circling approaches in IMC, and definitely not at
night or close to minimums
No argument there.

And no way will you be based at my home field and fly enough IFR to
remain proficient. We don't have ANY straight-in approaches. Both the
NDB and the GPS have a FAC of 025, and the only runway is 9-27.

So the answer is to move to a different field, right? One further from
home. And inevitably, fly less. And once again - will the reduction
in exposure be offset by the loss of proficiency?

For all these rules, I would substitute this one: Decide what you're
going to do, and then make sure you have the training you need to do
it.

Michael

In article ,
says...


Greg,

your list is missing something important: autopilots. Here in Germany,
single-pilot IFR is only allowed with a two-axis autopilot. Although
that might be considered over-regulation, the basic underlying
assumption makes sense.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)


Good point -
And the ommission was indeed my own, and not the author cited.
He did stress the use of an autopilot - at least in busy areas. He seems
to feel it's your call in non-congested areas, but in any busy
environment you are asking for overload to fly SP-IFR without it.

G Faris