IMC Rookie - Tips and Advice Requested

[El Cid Av8or]

I finally got to do some real IMC stuff with my instructor yesterday. It was a lot more different than I expected. All of the smooth corrections that I was making while under the hood went out the window, especially on the return trip.

We flew from our uncontrolled base to a class C about 12nm away and shot the ILS. I actually did that pretty well considering it was my first time as PIC in IMC. It was an awesome feeling to see the approach lights and runway environment come into view. Once we landed we hopped in a twin Commanche with one of his corporate friends and flew about 90nm for some lunch. I sat in the back seat and "took notes" and got the approach plates out. The trip back to pick up our plane at the class C was the same.

Now it's getting dark and the ceiling has dropped 200' in the past 30-45 minutes. So has the temperature (duh, no sun = colder temps) but it was still well above freezing and the computer weather service didn't show any icing below 8000 (good thing the airport is at sea level, okay, 46' above ) So we fired up the 172 SP, got the clearance, and taxiied out to do the runup. Runup is done, we're at the hold short line and the adrenaline is really pumping now. Why? I don't know. Was it the fact that I just made a good contact for possible future employment? Was it that fact that we had to get the heck out of dodge to beat the dropping ceiling? I don't know. I taxiied the plane into position on the runway and waited for the takeoff clearance from tower. Brakes on, cleared for TO, full power, everything in the green, brakes off, rotate and we're out of there, climbing like a home-sick angel. We get into IMC at 900' and climb towards 2000' as we turn on our assigned heading. Instructor is making all the radio calls so I can focus on flying in the soup. ATC says to maintain 1600' as we pass through 1700' and approach 1800'. No big deal, power back a little and descend. Yeah, right. I got to 1600' and then to almost 1500'. The VOR-A approach back to our base starts at 1600' (IAF) and then drops to 1000' (FAF) where you can descend to 460' (MDA) and look for the airport environment.

Now I am having a hard time holding altitude and heading and I'm tense as hell; adrenaline in the veins is more prevalent than blood. Heading was still pretty good but was more than my usual 5-degree "under the hood" with smoothness to bring it back in. Altitude was the bigger story with 100' differences above and below 1600' and no smooth transitions; jerking the yoke to make corrections. Cleared to descend to 1000' from ATC. Botched that descent - could have gotten down at a more consistent rate. Cross over the FAF and break out of the clouds at about 850' and got the airport in sight. Cancel IFR with ATC and the rest of the flight is great; circle to land with smooth descent and great touchdown. I got the plane tied up and went into the FBO feeling like I could plow over Mt. Everest because my adrenaline went sky-rocketing again.

So what is it? Why is actual IMC so different from the hood? Or is it really that different. I mean, it's not supposed to be. By the way, I use white Foggles as the hood. Was it just because it was my first IMC experience as PIC? I was even pumped up a little while sitting in the back of the twin. Why was the flight over there not nearly as intense? I nailed the checklist items well each time (I fly a 172 like it was a G-V under part 135) so that wasn't it. Was it the added pressure from the weather on the way back? Does anyone have any similar IMC firsts? Believe me, I'm ready to go again (quitters never win, winners never quit) but would like to be more relaxed and have an "ace in the hole" (thank you, Mr. Strait) so to speak.

bobbysamd - I await your post since I'm pretty sure you'll have something to say that I can use. I would appreciate other's inputs just as much though.

Sorry for the lengthy novel.

 

[bobbysamd]

The first time

Thanks for waiting. Really, philiplane summed it up. Only you know that it is IMC.

Flying in real IMC is a gas, isn't it? I remember my first time. Everyone remembers his/her first time (sorry for the double entendres - I can't help it. ). The power of suggestion can be very strong. My instructor told me that flying in cloud without the hood is easier than with because the hood is distracting. Turns out that he was 100% right. At least for me it was easier. I always told my instrument students the same thing.

You were probably a little jazzed because it was your first time in IMC and weren't quite sure what to expect. Up to now you were training in the comfortable, safe environment of under the hood in VFR. Also, it's a matter of experience. You're on a learning curve and are still working to get IFR under control. Communicating, tracking your route, picking up the clearance, picking up a changed clearance, and briefing the approach, all while perfecting your BAI, is a lot to absorb. Concern about the dropping wx was a distraction (a little bit of get-home-itis, maybe?). Also, making the contact might have been an unnecessary distraction from the task at hand. All of this might have caused you to get behind the airplane on the return leg. We all know how it is to get behind the airplane and how important it is to stay ahead of the airplane.

Best thing is preparation. You should take another cross-country(ies) in IMC. The more en route experience you get, the better. My instructor took me on a bunch of IFR cross-countries before signing me off. I felt very comfortable flying IFR thereafter. But before you do take another IFR cross-country, consider asking your instructor to take you on an IFR cross country in the sim. Then fly the same trip in the airplane. Flying it in the sim first might help you see better how all the pieces fit together. I know it's hard to choose the wx you want, but maybe the next trip in less challenging (for you) conditions might be better.

Finally, try to relax. Fly as you were trained. Light touch on the controls. I realize that the sim "flies" differently than the airplane. The airplane is easier; therefore, if you can "fly" the sim to standards you should have no trouble flying the airplane to standards.

Hope that helps. Good luck with the rest of your instrument training. Do well with it. I guarantee, it will serve you.

 

[El Cid Av8or]

I think what philiplane said goes back to the K.I.S.S. method of learning/living. Definitely something to remember for future flights.

... it's a matter of experience. You're on a learning curve and are still working to get IFR under control. Communicating, tracking your route, picking up the clearance, picking up a changed clearance, and briefing the approach, all while perfecting your BAI, is a lot to absorb.

You got that right!!! Especially for someone that strives for consistency and perfection. I think I was over-doing it a little though and add a touch of get-home-itis and we see what happens.

Thanks for the advice/tips. I'm ready to go again but the weather is nothing but blue-clear sky right now so actual is going to have to wait. Also, the sim is down - has been for some time and will most likely be down far after I get this rating behind me and start on the commercial. Oh, well. I don't think Chuck Yeager had a sim in his early years and he turned out pretty darn good. Maybe I need to beef up the home computer so I can put Flight Sim on it. I guess every little bit would help.

 

[172driver]

Nobody flies as well in IMC as they do under the hood. You're right...it is different, very different. Remember that whenever you think you've become a perfect IFR pilot under the hood or in the sim. Under the hood, it is still possible to get peripheral cues and a picture is worth a thousand words. It is also easy to take the hood off if you become disoriented. Not that you ever would, but there is that psychological "out." In IMC, you gotta perform well to get back out...hence the adrenaline.

Your first few flights as the actual PIC in IMC will probably be even more tummy tickling. When you're the one actually in charge of getting the a/c down safely with no one to bail you out, the adrenaline flows.

Just wait till you get into some real bumpy stuff or low IMC at night. Now there's a fun time. I think battling low, bumpy IMC and doing it well is the most rewarding thing you can do in aviation.

So...your feelings are definitely common. Everybody has them until they build a good amount of time in the clouds. I still get a little tickle now when entering the soup.

As far as your performance being below your standards...that's normal too. All I can suggest is...trim the airplane, make smooth corrections, use the power to correct large blunders in altitude, stay ahead of the airplane, learn the reference power settings for each segment of the approach, and go out every time you can when the clouds are low...with a CFI of course. Have fun.

 

[Timebuilder]

My first experience under the hood was at night, in very bumpy, turbulent, rainy conditions. It was still VFR for my instructor who was loking out the windows, but for me it was a roller coaster ride inside the belly of the beast!

My first IMC experience immediately produced a nice case of the leans, which was very distracting. I hadn't yet learned to put my body feelings aside and concentrate 100% on my instruments, but by the end of that flight I was well on my way toward doing so.

As far as the difference of hood flying versus IMC, there is a simple principle. You brain is VERY clever. I will harvest information that it wants in extremely creative ways, and without your knowlege or consent. Under the hood, if it can, your brain will gather any visual information that's avialable from your peripheral vision. Lacking that, on a sunny day it will note changes in heading an attitude by the changing angle of the sun on the instrument panel. All without your conscious mind's help.

Once in IMC, all of your brain's favorite (secret) visual cues are gone. This is where the rubber meets the road. I counciled my students in the college ground school I taught to be certain to get many hours in IMC with their respective instructors before charging of into the soup after passing their IFR checkrides. More than once, this has been a problem for inexperienced pilots who trained in a sunny, VFR climate. Sim work is very helpfu, since there are no visual "peeks" for the brain, but if your chair doesn't move you won't be well prepared for those distracting, and sometimes conflicting body sensations.

The tip for the novice IMC pilot is to use procedures that produce expected results. Power settings, pitch angles, and TRIM will make holding altitudes and rates of desecent MUCH easier. Get these down pat during your hood time, and you IMC won't seem like such a big step into the "great unknown".

 

[tarp]

El

My thoughts from your story is that on your first leg you didn't know what it looks like from inside a cloud and you just did what you've been taught to do which is fly the plane. On your second leg, you now knew that you were totally in the "clag" - no cheating, no re-orienting, you "had" to perform. Yes, that steps up the pressure.

I have an opposite feeling to most - I think flying real IMC is a lot easier than being under the hood. Of course, I used to fly in the old plastic hood days - we were lucky if we could see the six pack. Adding VOR heads, clocks and another foreign radios that were outside of your basic scan generally gave you instant vertigo. Nothing was more liberating for me than taking the hood off and using my peripheral vision when in the real world of IMC.

The one thing that the "real stuff" should bring home is that "cheating" (as in getting a sideways glance of ground or checking the mag compass an extra time while you gander at the horizon) is only cheating YOU. You should strive to make your IFR training as real as possible. When that grey stuff seems like its attached to the airplane and windscreen, there is no cheating a look - its just you and those instruments. I use two tricks on my students - one is a little carboard cutout that fills the windscreen in a C-172 from the corner of the dashboard to the door frame - it's low enough that I can still scan for traffic, but just enough of a block that my students can't see the ground out of that little cheat spot. The other thing we do is students "ask" for compass headings and don't look up to confirm. That keeps them from getting a horizon look and I have a reassurance that they are thinking to re-synch the DG to compass every ten minutes.

You mentioned white foggles. Nothing against them. But remember, when the sun casts a different shadow in the plane and you feel sometimes like you are squinting to see the instruments - it doesn't happen in the deep grey of a cloud. No shadows move, no sunlight, nothing. The difference between hood flying and real IFR is just like day and night. The plane still flies just fine but the pilot has to change his/her thought process.

 

[100LL... Again!]

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Nobody flies as well in IMC as they do under the hood.
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REALLY??

Me and my friends at the airline might not exactly agree.

Or do you mean low-timers?

There is NO REASON WHATSOEVER that your flying in actual should be different.

I wouldn't let my IFR students use foggles - too easy to accidentally get a glimpse of horizon.

Being absolutely 100% confident in actual IMC operations requires discipline:

Keep the wings level - it is your #1 priority when not changing heading.

Keep tight control over your pitch.

Learn how to divide your attention.

Know where you are at all times.

Study approach plates so that you can acquire all the relevent data in a very short brief.

Practice with a hood.

 

[172driver]

How often do you use a hood at the airline? How often do you cruise at 2000-3000 ft, in the soup for hours at a time? How often are you and your airline friends flying an airplane that gets thrown around like a ping pong ball? How often do you actually hand fly the plane for the entire set up, brief, and approach? How often does the PF do it all by himself? How often do you set up, brief, and shoot 4 approaches and a hold in two hours? How many of those are nonprecision? NDB? Full procedures?

I know you airline guys and gals are great instrument pilots or you wouldn't be where you are but there is a lot going on for the IMC rookie student. As you said, aircraft control is all important, but the student doesn't have the luxury of briefing the approach before getting into the soup. They've got to do it all at once, over and over again, often with only 15 minutes in between approaches, while getting thrown around. Wearing a hood does not simulate the bumpiness nor the lack of visual cues in IMC. I've seen many IFR students hold better than ATP standards under the hood and go to he11 in IMC.

100LL...can I assume by reading your post that you would be comfortable telling your IFR students to fly by themselves in low IMC after mastering their flying under the hood? Even if they had never seen the inside of a cloud? It's no different, right?

 

[100LL... Again!]

172-

Those of us who flew single pilot 135 did all of the tasks you mentioned, without an autopilot, sometimes in icy, bumpy IMC for extended periods.


I had no problem with any of my former students flying in IMC right after the checkride. That's why I signed them off. Not 200 & 1/2, of course, but it is only hard if you make it hard.
Discipline and knowledge can help make up for a lack of experience. Experience is only good if you learned something from it.

 

[El Cid Av8or]

Thanks for the tips and advice. I talked to my instructor and he said that I really just needed to trim the airplane better so that the altitude deviations would not be as much. Other than that he thought I did pretty well. Maybe I was expecting myself to do more? At any rate, I'm ready and willing to go again to get more experience. My check ride is within two weeks and I still have to take the written. I have spent many hours studying lately and applying the flight training to what I am studying. I really want to do extremely well on it as well as the CFII and the IGI tests.

Tailwinds...