Question to the IFR Pilots Out There

Reminds me of the time I flew into Carlsbad NM one day when the field was
IFR. Shot the ILS.
http://www.myairplane.com/databases/...st/CNM_ir3.pdf
The controllers were clearly out of practice and rusty in handling actual
IFR operations, and overwhelmed by the workload of two airplanes approaching
the airport at the same time. I had to prompt them a couple of times to get
the next vector. Turns out that on average they only get a few hours of IMC
a year out there.

"Tom S." wrote in message
...

"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message
.. .
For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of
actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

At approx 40 hours of instrument time I have a 'whopping' .9 hours of
ACTUAL
IMC... I sincerely hope I'm going to get to see a lot more before I get
my
instrument ticket - which I'm guessing should be around April or May at
the
latest.


Well, next in the week or so I'll hit my 2000th hour. I've got 830 hrs
Instrument time of which 42.5 are actual IMC.

But then, I've never flown east of the Mississippi, only out here in the
clear air of the west.

Seems like most pilots flying predominately in the west get only about 5%
of
their time as "actual", so my figures at least are right on target.

Oh... it's gonna be 'beautiful' (in an IFR kinda way grin).

Only two problems with an otherwise beautiful plan:

My instructor isn't available on weekends.

I'm still in the middle of a stupid cold, actually it's starting to feel
like it's just about done with me.

Thank you for the thought, though!!!

--
--
Good Flights!

Cecil E. Chapman, Jr.
PP-ASEL

"We who fly do so for the love of flying.
We are alive in the air with this miracle
that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"

- Cecil Day Lewis-

Check out my personal flying adventures: www.bayareapilot.com
"Hilton" wrote in message
nk.net...
Cecil E. Chapman wrote:
For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of
actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

Cecil,

Give you CFI a call early tomorrow:

KMRY 150525Z 150606 12005KT P6SM VCSH SCT025 BKN050
FM0900 VRB03KT P6SM SCT030 BKN050
FM1600 30008KT P6SM SCT030 BKN050 PROB30 1824 5SM -RA BKN030
FM0100 18005KT 5SM -RA BR BKN020=

KMRY 150454Z AUTO 15004KT 10SM FEW024 OVC075 11/11 A3015 RMK AO2 SLP222
T01110106

KOAK 150525Z 150606 19005KT P6SM VCSH SCT024 BKN050
FM0900 22008KT P6SM VCSH SCT025 BKN050
FM1200 18007KT P6SM VCSH BKN040
FM1600 18010KT P6SM -SHRA BKN035
TEMPO 1822 3SM -RA BR BKN015
FM0000 16012KT 5SM -RA BR BKN020=

KOAK 150553Z 13005KT 10SM FEW021 SCT032 BKN090 12/11 A3015 RMK AO2
RAB0455E25 SLP209 P0002 60002 T01170106 10133 20111 51009

KSFO 150525Z 150606 17005KT P6SM VCSH FEW025 SCT035 BKN050
FM1000 26005KT P6SM SCT025 BKN050
FM1600 18010KT P6SM -SHRA BKN035
TEMPO 1822 3SM RA BR BKN015
FM0200 16010KT 5SM -RA BR BKN020=

KSFO 150556Z 17005KT 10SM FEW026 SCT035 12/11 A3014 RMK AO2 SLP205 60001
T01170111 10139 20117 51009

KSJC 150525Z 150606 13005KT P6SM VCSH FEW030 BKN060
FM1000 VRB05KT P6SM SCT030 BKN050
FM1200 16006KT P6SM SCT030 BKN050 PROB30 1723 5SM -RA BKN030
FM0000 16008KT 5SM -RA BR SCT020 BKN035=

KSJC 150553Z 17004KT 10SM SCT065 11/10 A3015 RMK AO2 SLP210 P0001 60001
T01110100 10128 20111 51011

KSNS 150525Z 150606 17003KT P6SM VCSH SCT025 BKN035
FM0900 VRB03KT P6SM SCT030 BKN050
FM1600 30008KT P6SM SCT030 BKN050 PROB30 1824 5SM -RA BKN030
FM0100 13010KT 5SM -RA BR BKN020=

Hilton

In article , "Cecil E.
Chapman" wrote:

For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of
actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.


1.5 actual
29.0 simulated
12.5 simulator
174.5 Total time.

--
Bob Noel

Cecil E. Chapman wrote:
For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

At approx 40 hours of instrument time I have a 'whopping' .9 hours of ACTUAL
IMC... I sincerely hope I'm going to get to see a lot more before I get my
instrument ticket - which I'm guessing should be around April or May at the
latest.


I probably had only an hour or so as well when I got my license. That
first flight in the clouds was REAL interesting ... but it went OK and
began the gradual process of building confidence and real proficiency in
the system. My very first IFR flight was into Logan ... figured might
as well jump in with both feet!

Actually, I found Logan pretty GA friendly.

Matt

Ben Jackson wrote:
In article ,
Cecil E. Chapman wrote:

For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.


I'm only at 21.2 dual toward my instrument, and 4.3 is in IMC. In the
Pacific Northwest we should have the opportunity to do a lot of the
remaining work in IMC. I thought I might finish in 40 hours, but I
made the mistake of fixing my ADF, so now I'll have to be able to do
a passable NDB approach.


I thought the same in the northeast, but most of my instrument
instruction took place in the winter. Got lots of night flying time,
but little time in the clouds as they mostly contain icing conditions in
the winter around here.


Matt

"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message ...
For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

At approx 40 hours of instrument time I have a 'whopping' .9 hours of ACTUAL
IMC... I sincerely hope I'm going to get to see a lot more before I get my
instrument ticket - which I'm guessing should be around April or May at the
latest.

About 12, roughly evenly split between training and personal flights.
About 18 approaches.

Isn't the Bay area supposed to be great for "harmless" IMC, good for
flying actual approaches?

Actual is good to get but I wouldn't sweat the lack too much. If
you're training at night when you're tired, it's easier.

You can always ask your CFI or an experienced IFR pilot to go with
you, after your rating.

Cheers,
Sydney

I had 0.6 hours. Like you, I was hoping for more.


"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message
.. .
For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

At approx 40 hours of instrument time I have a 'whopping' .9 hours of
ACTUAL
IMC... I sincerely hope I'm going to get to see a lot more before I get
my
instrument ticket - which I'm guessing should be around April or May at
the
latest.

--
--
Good Flights!

Cecil E. Chapman, Jr.
PP-ASEL

"We who fly do so for the love of flying.
We are alive in the air with this miracle
that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"

- Cecil Day Lewis-

Check out my personal flying adventures: www.bayareapilot.com

"Kobra" wrote in message ...

I had 8 when I got my ticket. My DE said don't even think of going out
alone until you have about 15 or 20. I think that's sound advise for "hard"
IMC.

Any particular reason for that advice?

Myself, I think the number in the logbook is just a number.

What really matters is how current and proficient you are that day.

But I flew IFR alone a few times with 1000 to 1500' ceilings and 5
miles visibility.

Well, FWIW, I started flying actual IMC with my husband as PIC when
I was about 20 hrs along working on my IR (for the first time). We
discussed it with my then-CFI, he thought it was a good idea provided
we didn't do "hard" IMC (ie low approaches). (I'm not recommending
this, BTW, just telling a story).

So then when it was my leg, and the forecast for our destination
wasn't too dismal (say, 1000 ft to 1500 ft ceilings) I'd fly.

During that time I think I shot about 10 approaches, 6
to minimums.

There have been other situations where my husband was flying with
forcasts of 1500 ft ceilings, only to watch the runway disappear
under us on the GPS moving map(400-500 ft mins) with never a glimpse
of ground. We shot the nearest ILS (70 miles away) and saw the
approach lights at 300 ft.

On my checkride, the DE asked what were my opinions on personal
minimums. I told her the truth: I'd prefer to set out with a
forecast of 1000, 1500 ft or so, but if I didn't feel current
and proficient enough to shoot an ILS down to minimums we weren't
going because that's just what's happened a number of times.

I also told her it's not an FAA thing, but I always want to know
where's the nearest stable VMC, and do we have fuel to get there
at maximum range? if the answer is "no" I start thinking "emergency"
because that's what we're one failure away from.

FWIW,
Sydney

"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message
.. .
For those of you who have your instrument ticket, how many hours of actual
IMC did you have when you got your ticket.

About four. Due to peripheral cues under the hood, I found basic attitude
control more challenging in IMC. It didn't take long to acclimate, but I
wouldn't have wanted to go through the first few minutes of the adjustment
without an instructor.

I'd suggest getting however much dual IMC time you need to fly comfortably
before trying it on your own. But there's no reason to delay the rating
itself, even if you have no IMC practice.

--Gary

"Dan Thompson" wrote in message
.com...
Reminds me of the time I flew into Carlsbad NM one day when the field was
IFR. Shot the ILS.
http://www.myairplane.com/databases/...st/CNM_ir3.pdf
The controllers were clearly out of practice and rusty in handling actual
IFR operations, and overwhelmed by the workload of two airplanes
approaching
the airport at the same time. I had to prompt them a couple of times to
get
the next vector. Turns out that on average they only get a few hours of
IMC
a year out there.


If the tower closes at night, that might be so; most rain out west is night
time thunderstorms.