Instrument training

Because flying above the clouds, etc., is the second biggest thrill, after
sex.

I thought sex was for people who didn't fly aeroplanes?

Actually, flying the ILS to minimums (as I did Wednesday going into
Boston Logan on an Angel Flight) and seeing those beautiful lights in
front of you when you are at 250 ft is certainly among THE greatest
thrills.

There are many, many times when ONLY the immediate area of the airport
is fogged in, particularly Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and
Boston. After an IFR departure, in 20 minutes you can be in clear blue
VFR. Without the rating, you are STUCK until the fog lifts.

This discussion has surfaced frequently over the years I have been on
this NG . . . and I remain a strong advocate of the Instrument Rating
when it comes to optimum utilitization of an aircraft and pilot's
advanced education.

I don't see ANY downside.

I HATE the foggles. I am required to wear reading glasses when I fly,
and for good reason. I need them to read charts, plates, and GPS.
They work fine. But putting on the foggles makes me unable to read
even with the glasses. So I have to look down, raise the foggles
enough to be able to read, and then replace them. It sucks.

wrote:
Actually, flying the ILS to minimums (as I did Wednesday going into
Boston Logan on an Angel Flight) and seeing those beautiful lights in
front of you when you are at 250 ft is certainly among THE greatest
thrills.

Yes!

As a couple of people have mentioned, Angel Flight is a good reason, among many
others. Since my spouse is aerophobic, Angel Flights are a good outlet for me to
take airplane trips, help someone out a little, and take a tax deduction. I
wouldn't be doing that without an instrument rating.

Ditto the thrill of breaking out to the sight of approach lights, as I did on an
Angel Flight to Rome, GA a couple of weeks ago.

Like the feeling of seeing the ground slide away on takeoff, the feeling of
seeing those approach lights through the rain just never gets old.

Despite the above, I think the best reason is what someone else also said: if
you're going to use your plane for trips of more than a few hundred miles or
more than one day, you'll cancel a lot of trips if you don't have the rating.
Finding widespread VMC over a multi-day period is just not that common where I live.

Dave

"Andrew Gideon" wrote in message
online.com...
Others have mentioned the instructor as a possible issue. But I recall
how,
early in my training, I tried several different "view limiting devices"
before I found one (Foggles) that I disliked the least.

As much as I did enjoy the IR training, I never grew to like the foggles.
It was especially bad when I got a new pair of glasses that were smaller
in
the vertical dimension than my previous pair. The area blocked by the
foggles covered most of my corrected vision range.

Foggles, and in fact all the other vision limiting devices that you attach
yourself, are a pain in the butt. The only type of thing I found any good
was to have louvred screens in the aircraft which prevent the left-seat
driver from seeing out of his/her side of the windscreen and the side
windows, but which allow the resident of the right seat to see OK.

D.

David Cartwright wrote:

Foggles, and in fact all the other vision limiting devices that you attach
yourself, are a pain in the butt.

You're using them improperly.

- Andrew (who couldn't resist {8^)

Ross,
Have you tried bifocal or variable focus glasses? We use them with
the Flipup JeffShades which are quite comfortable.

wrote:

Actually, flying the ILS to minimums (as I did Wednesday going into
Boston Logan on an Angel Flight) and seeing those beautiful lights in
front of you when you are at 250 ft is certainly among THE greatest
thrills.

Well, not quite as great a thrill as seeing a mountain when you break
out at 250'. :-)


Matt

wrote:

I HATE the foggles. I am required to wear reading glasses when I fly,
and for good reason. I need them to read charts, plates, and GPS.
They work fine. But putting on the foggles makes me unable to read
even with the glasses. So I have to look down, raise the foggles
enough to be able to read, and then replace them. It sucks.


What kind of Foggles do you have? I have the clip-ons and they work
pretty well. The clear part got so scratched that I had a hard time
seeing so I took a hack saw blade and cut out the clear part leaving the
rest. Works pretty good. Of course the clip-ons aren't the best as a
view limiting device, but then again I don't cheat as I'd only be
cheating myself. FYI - when I took my check-ride many moons ago, the DE
had no problem with me using the clip-ons.


Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message news:zorje.2569

Well, not quite as great a thrill as seeing a mountain when you break out
at 250'. :-)

If you had a chance to fly the approach into KaiTak, you *would* see a
mountain (big hill) right in front of you when you broke out at about 650.
Then you turn. Promptly. :-)