I've been considering getting an instrument rating some time in the future to keep myself a bit more safe in general. My plane, when that times come won't be an IFR plane, so to speak, but rather a VFR-only plane, legally speaking.

However, I have come to the conclusion that an instrument rating would be prudent for me, considering the weather around where I live. You know, just so if (when) it happens that I suddenly find myself in IFR conditions, I can get out from it without being disorientated.

Now, it's really not important to stay current in a legal sense, since I won't be doing IFR flights as a whole, but let's say I take a course/checkride how often should I test myself or go for ekstra checkrides to stay somewhat safe and not forgetting the stuff, if that makes any sense?

No doubt getting the rating will make you a better pilot and is great training. I highly recommend it. But, like any skill, it is perishable. In my opinion, if you ever plan on using it, inadvertently or not, you should stay current and get as much experience as you can. If you just get the rating, then not develop a good base of experience, it won't be a fun experience the first time you find yourself in the soup needing to rely on those instrument skills to save your bacon, skills which will be pretty weak. Either way, do the rating. You won't regret it.

Grassstrippilot wrote:No doubt getting the rating will make you a better pilot and is great training. I highly recommend it. But, like any skill, it is perishable. In my opinion, if you ever plan on using it, inadvertently or not, you should stay current and get as much experience as you can. If you just get the rating, then not develop a good base of experience, it won't be a fun experience the first time you find yourself in the soup needing to rely on those instrument skills to save your bacon, skills which will be pretty weak. Either way, do the rating. You won't regret it.

Super! Thanks, GSP.

My private idea is to get a gyro, attitude thingy, AOA-thingy and so forth and practice once in a while on my own, when that's doable. I will also have (non-negotiable to me) have a G3X panel or equivalent at that time.

If I want to stay current, then, how often do I need to pay to rent a plane and instructor?

If I want to stay current, then, how often do I need to pay to rent a plane and instructor?

I'm not intending to be a smart ass, but some of us humans need 'on the job training' again after each weekend, and others have great memories and do fine after a 3 week or longer vacation......
You have to figure out for yourself where YOU are on the 'memory spectrum'.......

The very valid point being made is that the skill-if not kept reasonably current-go away. I tend to think this is actually true of all of the more highly developed skills us humans possess.

lc

Get an instrument rating if you can.

I'd suggest you start with an instructor rather than try to prep before beginning; you don't want to begin with any bad habits.

"Pimping out your plane" before beginning does make sense to me. If you only intend to fly IFR in your plane, I see no reason to expose yourself to the idiosyncrasies of rentals. I find all training good but my IFR training hours in a Cessna 182Q and a variety of Cessna 172 SPs did less to ingrain IFR procedures than how to fly a plane with its particular set of avionics.

Keeping legally current really doesn't take much. Every 6 months, 6 approaches and a hold on an approved flight training device with an instructor or 6 approaches and a hold under the hood with a safety pilot. If the 6 months elapse, you have 6 more months before you have have to go through a proficiency check.

Legally current does not make me feel anywhere close to comfortable if I get into instrument conditions, even benign non bumpy low level stratus. If I have flown into such in the last month, it's not stressful for too long and weekly sessions with Microsoft flight simulator seem to shorten the time ( I do have a yoke and footpedals).

I personally have little trust in my avionics; since 2006, my DG, AI, CDI, and Garmin 430 have failed or decayed.

I find the autopilot is very stress reducing when flying IFR to a destination rather than training. Hit your altitude and heading and turn on the autopilot and then feel like you got all the time in the world.

Little Cub is right. Work with your instructor after you get your rating. Between the two of you, you should be able to get a feel for when/how quickly your skills degrade. Make sure you have an instructor that is brutally honest with you. He will be able to tell when you are competent or getting dangerous.

Autopilots are great, but don't become reliant on them. Again, if you don't have the skills to back it up, what weak skills you do have will become worse the more reliant you are on it. And when it dies, you'll be in a world of hurt.

Anyway, to answer your question: to stay proficient, you need to be in the environment at least a couple of times a month. Just my opinion.

Thanks, everyone,

The idea was to practice after I have the instrument rating, but practice mostly in my own plane for obvious reasons as that is where I will need it. I will buy the equipment needed to at least get me out of a tight spot when needed, although I won't be doing any actual IFR flights in the plane (illegal, and everything).
I have fairly good memory, but that won't matter much, because as you guys so rightfully point out, you need to have it down so you can do it without thinking for too long, and that takes training and keeping the reactions up-to-date. I will do my utmost to keep "current", legally, but I'm more concerned about how I get out of a "situation" when it happens (we all know, it will happen, even if I try to avoid it as best as possible).

I'm thinking I can practice and practice often, after I have the rating, and build on that, and then after a while, go up with an instructor again to correct any mistakes or misinterpretations that has developed while practicing.

2^>
The rating will be the best one you will ever get other than an aerobatics course.
There are many different kinds of IFR flying
A climb up through a 100' layer of fog, a 1000 overcast, descending through a 2000' layer under cast to get to VFR with 5000' ceiling, or a entire flight of 4 hours of soup with turbulence, ice and lots of praying!
Once you get it you will understand!!
GO FOR IT!
GT

M6RV6 wrote:2^>
The rating will be the best one you will ever get other than an aerobatics course.
There are many different kinds of IFR flying
A climb up through a 100' layer of fog, a 1000 overcast, descending through a 2000' layer under cast to get to VFR with 5000' ceiling, or a entire flight of 4 hours of soup with turbulence, ice and lots of praying!
Once you get it you will understand!!
GO FOR IT!
GT

LOL, I hope so!

An aerobatics course is further down the line for me, in all honesty. I'll probably take a glider rating before that, as I surmise that that can perhaps teach me to better read the weather/wind/geography and keep me from needing any aerobatics moves.

Don't waste your money. Instrument training is not fun. If you want to, spend a couple hours with an instructor shooting approaches so you can muddle your way through it in an emergency.

Instrument training may not be the most fun you can have with your pants on but just doing the rating will make you a better VFR pilot. Even us perfeshional piluts get rusty pretty quickly, doing a two day 6 hour refresher once every 6 months is fine but getting an hour every month is better. Grab a local pilot and put the hood on in your own airplane is what I would prefer, seeing that you are not looking to stay legal. That is your day in day out ride, might as well be as comfortable in it as possible.

I agreewith PJ.
It's pretty easy to let down through a layer once in awhile.
Finding the end of a runway when you have to is 2 completely different ventures, 1 you can do with ease when you have the basic knowledge. The other kills people when they are doing it every day! Not room for very much error!!
GT

Jumpy wrote:Don't waste your money. Instrument training is not fun. If you want to, spend a couple hours with an instructor shooting approaches so you can muddle your way through it in an emergency.

No disrespect Jumpy but the IFR rating was and is a lot of fun. Heck, it was so much fun, I did it twice...

Yes the book work and all (for me anyhow) was hard but flying on all of the instruments you have in your plane and now actually understanding them is all time! If one has no desire on how to utilize the things that your airplane are made up of whats the point of having them. Flying a glide slope, intercepting a course, turning outbound on a VOR, timing your moves inbound and outbound while holding your heading and altitude and then suddenly the airport appears out of nowhere, that's flying.

The old saying, there are those that fly the plane and those that ride in em. Got get your rating! Its pure flying.

You can get a spin endorsement in a day or two or three.

The glider rating is a whole different deal. Its pretty easy but its pure stick and rudder flying and makes you extremely coordinated. I still have not mustered up the courage to leave the confines of my home airport without an engine but...we will see what the next few flights bring forth...

The IFR ticket gives you some REAL confidence. If you wrap your mind around all of it, its pretty darn fun.

AKT

The truth is I've never felt comfortable hard IFR in a small plane. The last time I did it my side window popped open in heavy rain and lightening while sneaking through what looked like a soft spot in a squall line. It wasn't confidence that I was feeling. I keep my plane IFR and I'll file if I have to - but I don't enjoy it.

I can endorse glider flying. Especially if you live in a place where you can soar. Beautiful machines and an interesting group of people.

Jumpy

Definitely go for the IFR ticket...it will take some time and effort, but it will also open up some great possibilities. Heck, I would not have been able to make it to Idaho this year without the ability to punch through that marine layer which likes to hang out here so often. You won't regret it.

That being said, it takes a solid foundation to be able to use those instrument skills with confidence when the time comes. The minimum currency requirements are NOT enough to make/keep you proficient as a newly minted IFR pilot. Of course, in addition to using a qualified simulator and flying with a safety pilot, flying actual IMC counts for your proficiencies as well!

Get the rating, develop your own personal weather minimums and build time and experience as you grow. You don't have to fly "hard IFR" to take advantage of it.

Thanks again! This thread turned out way better than I expected. You have certainly given me something to think about.

I get that I need to develop my own set of "rules" to govern how often I practice. I expect to be doing it reasonable often, so I don't think it will fall too much to the wayside between "episodes" (that is, the self-induced ones. I hope that the real ones stay at a minimum).

As for it being dull or whatnot to take a rating, I'm not that worried. I'm good with books, good at teaching myself stuff from books, and I take directions very well in the real world (i.e. from an instructor, teacher or whatever).
I usually read scientific books and research papers when I'm out camping (I have an ebook, so it doesn't weigh anything), and that seems to go very well, so I gather I can learn what I need to learn when I need it.

Related to it being useful, I agree that there's no point in having the instruments if you don't know how to use them. And, instead of then not getting the instruments, I would actually like to learn how to use them. When I'm out on rowing trips along the coasts, I do have a GPS, but I also have a compass and know how to use it, how to do DR and so on. I guess I'm a technophile, but I also like to be able to go without too much tech (because things do break).

Also, I figure, that if I want to rent a plane abroad, it's nice to know exactly how to fly with analogue equipment, and concentrate on the actual flying of something I'm not too familiar with.

Just to be clear, I don't expect that the legal requirements would keep me up-to-date in reality. I formulated the question very poorly, since there are three things which matter: Legality vs. practicality, and then, most importantly: Usage.

I won't be flying "IFR planes", nor will I submit IFR flightplans. I just want to learn how to fly the plane by the instruments, and have the instruments to the fly the plane by them. LOL, that almost sounded pathetically profound.

I definitely agree that you should get your IR--I recommend that to all VFR pilots. You will become a much more precise pilot, and although it is a lot of work, there is a certain amount of fun associated with doing a good job of learning how to use the airplane and the system better. And you will learn a lot more about weather as well. So all in all, you'll be a better pilot.

But you're putting unnecessary restrictions on it already, and that's really a mistake. The "system" is designed for IFR flight, and you and I and everyone here are paying for the system. So for myself, whether it's clear severe or not, I use the system by filing IFR for longish cross countries, except in the mountains where my airplane can't get high enough. It makes cross country flying so much easier--no worries about Class this or that, restricted areas, etc.--the system takes care of that for you.

As for competency/proficiency/legality/currency, I seldom fly in IMC enough to stay current legally, and for certain that wouldn't make me proficient. So I have an IPC every time I anticipate going on a long cross country that will likely involve weather. With a recent IPC from a CFII who really wrings me out, I feel competent enough to tackle light IMC for awhile (a few months after the IPC), and my airplane isn't capable of much more than light IMC, anyway. I keep her IFR current, with the appropriate pitot/static/transponder checks every 2 years, the appropriate VOR cross checks every 30 days, and she has the necessary equipment to be IFR legal. But most singles simply shouldn't be used in really hard IMC.

So get with it--it'll provide a lot of benefits I don't think you've considered yet.

Cary

Good point, Cary

However, I don't think I could get a CCSS that was IFR legal (I think?), but if I could, it would make a whole lot of sense to do it like you do it.