Had my first instrument lesson this morning. Definitely takes flying to a different level, that's for sure!!

For you guys with an instrument rating, how long did it take to get? Considering a new pilot with average skills flying once, maybe twice a week?

I keep hearing that it's the most difficult but rewarding of the many certifications. Not sure yet on the rewarding part, but I can already tell it's gonna be a challenge!

Sierra Victor wrote:Had my first instrument lesson this morning. Definitely takes flying to a different level, that's for sure!!

For you guys with an instrument rating, how long did it take to get? Considering a new pilot with average skills flying once, maybe twice a week?

I keep hearing that it's the most difficult but rewarding of the many certifications. Not sure yet on the rewarding part, but I can already tell it's gonna be a challenge!

I am about to start Instrument rating training as well. I was told it is much harder than commercial. I have the King groundschool course so I have begun to watch the vids.

Good luck to you on your training. I am curious how it works out for you.

I got my instrument rating in 1989 and used it regularly flying a variety of rented aircraft in the northwest for many years. Then I moved to the desert southwest. In New Mexico, when the sky was obscured it was because of seasonal thunderstorm activity and you didn't want to be flying any small planes in those conditions, so I still flew an occasional instrument flight plan, but typically in VFR conditions. Then I stopped filing. Now its been over 15 years since I was current and doing an Instrument Proficiency Check has me all balled up. The last time I flew real IFR, GPS hadn't been invented yet so there is a LOT to cover in my IPC.

Any thoughts from the collected wisdom on this site about the relative merits of one of the compressed (2-3 day) IFR schools for an IPC compared to a longer process through local flight school? My personal minimums would remain well above the ILS minimums allowed, but would let me complete some flights closer to the scheduled time rather than sitting on the ground for a few extra days. I'm on the eastern seaboard now, so there is a mix of benign IFR with low hanging scud and more serious convective weather.

I'm about one forth thru my instrument training, waiting for the fall/winter (cooler weather) to complete it.

"Rewarding" is the last word I'd use to describe it. I don't mind training in actual instrument conditions but I hate being under the hood. I'm only doing this so I'll be able to get in and out of strips with low cloud decks. If I was flying for a living that might be different, but I'm flying for fun, and being inside a full milk carton with someone shaking it is not my idea of fun.

Most "rewarding" flying I've done? Backcountry!

Good luck to us all.

In my opinion, the Instrument rating is the most important and valuable rating you will ever receive.

It will boost your knowledge and confidence to make you actually question why they ever allowed us to fly with just a Private Pilots License.

It is probably the most demanding rating as you are actually training and re-programming your brain to react solely by instrument interpretation and disregard what your inner ear may be suggesting.

I have type ratings in, and have flown PIC on, the B-727, B-757, B-767 and A300-600, and the Instrument Rating is truly the heart of the entire operation.

I know you will do great and look forward to hearing about your progress!

Flyhound wrote:Any thoughts from the collected wisdom on this site about the relative merits of one of the compressed (2-3 day) IFR schools for an IPC compared to a longer process through local flight school?

I don't know about a 3 day IPC, but I did the three day ground school with American Flyers when I got my rating. It was fantastic and given your background, distant currency and that instrument flying is substantially about book learning, I would highly recommend it. If I put myself in your shoes I'm feeling pretty good about my stick and rudder skills and pretty nervous about all the little things involved in an instrument flight. Spending a long weekend on the bookwork is something I would do in a heartbeat. Worst case scenario is that you feel like you were able to coast through it and walk into your IPC highly confident.

I did a ground course then went on and did a two week program, as I did not want to draw the whole thing out, it was very intense. Glad I did it, was useful at the time, but am no longer current, as now I only fly floats/skis and have not seen an ILS on the lake yet. The rating/experience would give me the confidence to get out of a pickle if the weather goes sour, but there is always a lake to land on here.

Go for the rating, if nothing else, it will give you confidence and probably help with your insurance cost.

Steve

5 days. semperfi-aviation.com if he's not dead yet. Show up with the written out of the way. Cool experience. Fun to learn the negotiation with ATC.

I just started my instrument also, I'll be going on my 5th flight tomorrow. I bought the Cessna instrument pilot kit for my ground school, its all online and incorporates the King videos. I'm probably half way through that and it has been really helpful so far.

Anyone comment on whether the King's "get it all" instrument course is really worth the $579? Now that my PPL is out of the way I want to go with one of these options and then start hitting the flight time withe my instructor.

Kyle

I would recommend looking around for a cheaper price. I found mine at a silent auction for $20 but that was luck. I check ebay or just do a google search for a used one. My $20 course included all the King instrument videos and the accompanying book.

Another really important consideration is not just how to do your instrument written, but where you do your flight training.

Flying in actual is way, way different than under the hood, and you really need to learn the "system." If you can, do your confidence and competency a big favor, and go where the weather is, and also a busy IFR environment. I used to love flying with Shebles down in the desert because we had fun, and they were beer drinking buddys, but wearing a hood under blue sunny sky doesn't prep you for real life slogging through the crud. And it doesn't teach real life fitting in, or what weather it's safe to poke your nose into.

The extra time and money will be well spent for later in your flying life.

Gump

Thanks for the advice fellas

When I got my instrument rating eons ago, Kings were still using VHS tapes and their prices were not much different from today's prices--which of course meant because that was in 1975 dollars, they were really pricey--in today's money, that $575 would be $2,500. So although I'm a fan of Kings, because in spite of their hokey humor and Martha's hairdo, they do a marvelous job of getting the information across, I opted instead to use the FAA's Instrument Flying Handbook, suppemented by Taylor's Instrument Flying and Buck's Weather Flying. The FAA's IFH has been updated a lot, although it's still pretty dry--but it's all there. Both Taylor and Buck give more "real world" explanations for why we do what we do. Taylor's book has been regularly updated; Buck's has not, but it's still well worth getting.

Back then, the IR written was allotted 6 hours to take; I took less than that, but not a lot less, and did well on it. As with all FAA written tests, it had more ancient stuff than necessary, as they seem to be at least 20 or more years behind. I had to answer questions on 4-score AN approaches, how to find the "null" of manually tuned DFs, how to avoid being 180 degrees off when tuning manual DFs, the correct order of reciting reporting points in a non-radar environment, etc. (That last one I've actually used, even as late as 2 years ago.) BTW, I aced the AN approaches because some still existed in Alaska when I was a private student up there, and for the fun of it, my instructor had showed me how they were flown.

Get to studying, whatever method you use, because it will make a lot more sense in the cockpit. When you do get into the cockpit, if your CFII is any good, he/she will stick with the basics, mostly Pattern A and Pattern B, until you can do them in your sleep (in fact, I found myself dreaming A & B). But they are the absolute foundation for being able to handle the airplane in the soup, and if you can't do them well, you will have a heckuva time doing approaches well. So don't complain if your instructor bores you with repetitive A & B exercises--they are worth it, for sure. I feel so strongly about this, that I advise if your instructor tries to start you out by shooting approaches, get a different instructor!

Regarding GPS's, I'm still very weak on that, since I've only had my 430W for a little more than a year. With each IPC since, we've spent a lot of extra time on it, because my IPC CFII is a wizard with that box. The real problem for me is that it can do too much, and it's hard for me to remember all the ways to get it to do all that stuff. But having both the equipment and the knowledge to get into just about every airport in the country that has a GPS/RNAV approach makes it worth while.

As for how long it will take you, that's such a variable that it's hard to predict. The more you fly, the fewer hours it's likely to take--that's the same rule for all advanced ratings and certificates. I have known others who have taken the 3 day cram courses; some liked them, some didn't, so I have no advice on that.

But in the end, you'll be a much better pilot for being instrument rated. The insurance companies regularly charge lower premiums to IR pilots, because they know that, too. You'll be much more confident, and you'll have to scrub fewer flights due to weather. But in return, your decision-making will be more difficult, because you'll have more to consider when it comes time to use the IR to make those flights.

Cary

Hardest rating in my opinion. If you really like the feeling of achievement (that satisfaction that you accomplished something), The instrument rating will deliver. I got mine shortly after my PPL. It was the basis for buying my first plane too. The rental pool was filled with planes that were either not set up for instrument training (too few radios and nav avionics) or the mix of equipment was different and each time I rented I needed to spend too much time figuring out how to operate a radio or program a GPS. I bought a Cherokee that had an eclectic bunch of avionics that constituted an IFR platform, but I got used to it and made it familiar and sold the plane immediately after the check ride. My next plane was a twin and I had to add the Instrument to my ME PPL so I got to do the ride twice (second time making a precision approach with one engine). I think of the instrument rating as the hardest achievement of my life when compared to other achievements like graduating from college or obtaining a professional license. I kinda think that the one week to instrument rating can be a great way to get it done, but don't rush into flying low approaches and hard IFR. I did a lot of what Gump suggested and I flew in the soup. I was lucky, I had an airline pilot for a mentor who was accustomed to working from the right seat in the soup. I was not ready for that on my own right after I got the rating and I still like having a second pilot when I decide to fly in IMC. There's always someone at the airport who would love to log time toward instrument training or currency without foggles on.

43 hours. That's how long it took me to get my instrument, and I started when I had about 90 hours TT.

I had headaches after the first few lessons, and I felt pretty meek for a while. I loved it by the end though. I y didn't use much sim time at all back then...I tried it, but I didn't think it translated very well for me when I flew under the hood for reals (turbulence, distractions, etc).

Good luck.

Lets see. Took me about 20 years.

If you have a limited resources, I would suggest:

ASA Pilot's Manual Volume 3: Instrument Flying $59.95 (for the general knowledge)
ASA Test Prep 2014: Instrument Rating $24.95 (specifically for the knowledge test)
ASA Oral Exam Guide: Instrument $12.95

For less than $100 you will have access to all the knowledge needed to pass the written, oral, and obtain the rating. Just be sure to use it once you buy it.

The flying is the easy part by the way. The knowledge is what will keep you busy for the rest of your instrument career.

Good luck.

As I recall; there was a requirement to log a pile of x country (50 hrs?). If you decide to do the crash course to obtain the rating, you need to have that out of the way along with the written.

I think the fast one week cram session approach is best suited to guys who have been chipping away at the rating and are ready to wrap it up. I would certainly consider a refresher course in a condensed manner though I wouldn't choose the condensed approach for the initial rating unless I had some hours of training logged. Or; maybe hit a setback in my training like the instructor, in his/her early twenties at the onset of training, dies of old age before you can get the okay for your check ride. This would be grounds to consider the wrap it up one week to wings program.

obxbushpilot wrote:As I recall; there was a requirement to log a pile of x country (50 hrs?). If you decide to do the crash course to obtain the rating, you need to have that out of the way along with the written.

I think the fast one week cram session approach is best suited to guys who have been chipping away at the rating and are ready to wrap it up. I would certainly consider a refresher course in a condensed manner though I wouldn't choose the condensed approach for the initial rating unless I had some hours of training logged. Or; maybe hit a setback in my training like the instructor, in his/her early twenties at the onset of training, dies of old age before you can get the okay for your check ride. This would be grounds to consider the wrap it up one week to wings program.

Since you mentioned the 50 hours x-country, hopefully someone can clarify this for me.

I have like 68 hours total time or something close to that. You need 50 x-country hours for your instrument rating. This needs to be PIC time correct? My instructor told me to add up all of my x-country including our duals...?

Thanks
Kyle

kygreen229 wrote:

obxbushpilot wrote:As I recall; there was a requirement to log a pile of x country (50 hrs?). If you decide to do the crash course to obtain the rating, you need to have that out of the way along with the written.

I think the fast one week cram session approach is best suited to guys who have been chipping away at the rating and are ready to wrap it up. I would certainly consider a refresher course in a condensed manner though I wouldn't choose the condensed approach for the initial rating unless I had some hours of training logged. Or; maybe hit a setback in my training like the instructor, in his/her early twenties at the onset of training, dies of old age before you can get the okay for your check ride. This would be grounds to consider the wrap it up one week to wings program.

Since you mentioned the 50 hours x-country, hopefully someone can clarify this for me.

I have like 68 hours total time or something close to that. You need 50 x-country hours for your instrument rating. This needs to be PIC time correct? My instructor told me to add up all of my x-country including our duals...?

Your CFI should have logged your dual time as PIC as appropriate. Add that up. If he didn't, get him to amend the logs appropriately. Then add them up.