chris writes:

The amount of instrument training a PPL student receives is sufficient
in theory to allow him/her to get the hell out of the weather. Its not
intended to allow you to press on in IMC. You need a lot more IF
training to be proficient enough to not kill yourself..

I agree, based on what I've seen of instrument knowledge among alleged pilots
here. But nothing prevents you from learning about instrument flight if you
want to. Personally, I think instrument flight is highly interesting and it
surprises me that so many VFR pilots do not seem to look into it. In fact, I
learned how to fly on instruments before learning how to fly by hand, since
early simulators were much better at simulating instrument flight than they
were at simulating real flight (they still are, but now visual flight is much
more realistic and good enough to be worth practicing).

The last thing I'd be doing is diverting my attention from my scan to
read a chart when I would almost certainly be struggling keeping it
upright.

The aircraft is no more difficult to maintain upright in zero visibility than
it is in perfectly clear weather. There are no evil demons trying to turn it
over just because you are in IMC. Set it straight and level and trim for it
and then you can look at your chart.

If there is someone in the right-hand seat, he or she can help a lot as well,
although that's not an absolute requirement.

No, you get the hell out of the IMC

If you don't know where you are, which way do you go to get out?

If you've just plunged into IMC, you can make a U-turn and probably get back
out. But if that doesn't work, you'll need a plan B.

Two things we are trained to do in the event of imminent IMC. 1)
Always make sure you have an escape route
2) We practise precautionary landings. Stick the damn thing down in a
paddock rather than pressing on and killing yourself.

The first makes sense. But how do you land in IMC?

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