Take that, Airman...

[MFRskyknight]

...I am instrument rated. Man, it feels good to finally say that.

MFR

 

[NYCPilot]

Get lost....who cares. Airman stole your $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.















j/k:beer:


Congratulations. It's probably one of the hardest ratings to earn and most rewarding. Start filing whenever you fly, VFR or not.

Somehow, after I got my rating I felt like I flew much better after getting my rating. I think just knowing you've been granted the rating helps your flying so much better.

 

[LewisU_Pilot]

Tell us the details!

I remember mine like it was yesterday. The oral lasted about :45 not too hard. The day was IMC and figured it probably wasn't a good idea to fly in actual. After the oral she asked what I wanted to do and I said screw it lets go flying. I am training to fly in actual IMC conditions there is no reason I shouldn't be able to do this. Found an alternate, filed and we were off. I made the mistake on putting "IFR check ride" on the flight plan under remarks and Chicago gave me one hell of a time. First approach was an ILS. Only problem was we did not hear any type of marker. Double-checked everything and still nothing. Took her down to minimums, went missed and I lost my gyros. Came back around and did the localizer. Approach gave me a crappy intercept right over the outer and I over shot it hardcore. Told me to contact tower. I was thinking DAMN you mag compass why must you be so hyper calm down!!! I panicked a little and started to bank 30-35 to try to get back on course. By this time my timed turn was screwed up and I was full deflection. I flipped over to tower and they had already been looking for me. I checked in and told them I was going miss. They asked if everything was all right. I replied with ya my DE just broke my gyros and approach is giving me a hard time. He just laughed and said good luck on the next attempt. Went missed and the DE said I had done the right thing. When calling approach back up asking for vectors again this time I said DE simulated gyro failure. This time they gave me a better vector way outside of the marker. Anyways I passed and it was a great feeling. It was by far the hardest rating to prepare for. That was until I started my CFI training. I am calling the FSDO in 2 weeks to hopefully not become part of their 80% fail rate statistic.

 

[minitour]

Congrats MFR!

-mini

PS
Who'd ya do it with? Degraw?

 

[User546]

Big congratulations to you MKR! Glad to see you're not letting Airman hold you back!

Your instrument will be the hardest rating you ever get, it's all down hill now!

 

[MFRskyknight]

The devil is in the details...

Tell us the details!

I remember mine like it was yesterday. The oral lasted about :45 not too hard. The day was IMC and figured it probably wasn't a good idea to fly in actual. After the oral she asked what I wanted to do and I said screw it lets go flying. I am training to fly in actual IMC conditions there is no reason I shouldn't be able to do this. Found an alternate, filed and we were off. I made the mistake on putting "IFR check ride" on the flight plan under remarks and Chicago gave me one hell of a time. First approach was an ILS. Only problem was we did not hear any type of marker. Double-checked everything and still nothing. Took her down to minimums, went missed and I lost my gyros. Came back around and did the localizer. Approach gave me a crappy intercept right over the outer and I over shot it hardcore. Told me to contact tower. I was thinking dang you mag compass why must you be so hyper calm down!!! I panicked a little and started to bank 30-35 to try to get back on course. By this time my timed turn was screwed up and I was full deflection. I flipped over to tower and they had already been looking for me. I checked in and told them I was going miss. They asked if everything was all right. I replied with ya my DE just broke my gyros and approach is giving me a hard time. He just laughed and said good luck on the next attempt. Went missed and the DE said I had done the right thing. When calling approach back up asking for vectors again this time I said DE simulated gyro failure. This time they gave me a better vector way outside of the marker. Anyways I passed and it was a great feeling. It was by far the hardest rating to prepare for. That was until I started my CFI training. I am calling the FSDO in 2 weeks to hopefully not become part of their 80% fail rate statistic.

Thanks for the replies, guys!

WOW, Lewis! I wish I had something that interesting to report... or on second thought maybe I don't, LOL. Well, I was fortunate enough to end up with the same DE who taught the instrument ground at Airman (the big W.D. -- mini will know who I'm talking about), so I kinda had an idea what he'd be looking for. I brought my laptop in this morning before the ride, per his suggestion, so he could go over some stuff on the Garmin 430 simulator. OUN was clear and cold and the plane was not fun to get started -- watching him trying with every muscle in his body to shove the primer back into the dash after I couldn't get it in had to be one of the highlights of the ride.

The 172 we ended up taking was modified with 190 hp -- haysoos christos, the 1100-1200 fpm we lifted off at took me by surprise!! We did a GPS-based DME arc off the NDB, then back in for a hold at the beacon, then down for the NDB 35, followed by the GPS 03, and finally the ILS 17. Getting vectored over Tinker was fun -- at one point he had me look down out my window while a USAF 707 shot past about 400 ft below us. Trying to scare me, I guess. :roll:

Oral was like 30 minutes, maybe 10 questions. I couldn't believe it, especially after how much I'd poured into studying it, and the fact that my private oral lasted 4.5 hours!

Other than that... fairly textbook ride, other than the fact that it was some of my crappiest approach flying ever. Something to the effect of, "Wow, you sure like to use every inch of those ILS tolerances, don't you?" was the way my examiner put it.

Now seems like a nice time to take a break and do some fun XC stuff. I had also thought about getting some aerobatic instruction, or getting back into gliders, etc. I am also looking into a job at the newly opened MillionAir franchise back home -- anyone have anything to say for the company, or FBO work in general?

Thanks again y'all. This is one rating made that much sweeter in the wake of the Airman collapse.

MFR

 

[minitour]

Congrats man. Don't let WD Scare ya...he's a great examiner (did my CSEL stage check, CMEL checkride and CFI ride) and an even better instructor (passed along some words of wisdom to me for the CSEL...haven't forgotten em).

If you can pass his oral in 10 questions, you know your stuff...which is why it was short. And if you can pass his checkride, you know your stuff. Congrats!

Definitely the hardest checkride (IMO) and the second best feeling (other than the CFI initial) when you pass it.

Go do some cross countries man! Just file now haha.

Hey, if WD gave you his number, can you call him and tell him to call me...I need to get in touch with him.

Congrats again!

-mini

 

[MFRskyknight]

Congrats man. Don't let WD Scare ya...he's a great examiner (did my CSEL stage check, CMEL checkride and CFI ride) and an even better instructor (passed along some words of wisdom to me for the CSEL...haven't forgotten em).

If you can pass his oral in 10 questions, you know your stuff...which is why it was short. And if you can pass his checkride, you know your stuff. Congrats!

Definitely the hardest checkride (IMO) and the second best feeling (other than the CFI initial) when you pass it.

Go do some cross countries man! Just file now haha.

Hey, if WD gave you his number, can you call him and tell him to call me...I need to get in touch with him.

Congrats again!

-mini

Agreed -- he's one of the best out there and I couldn't have been happier doing it with anyone else. I'm cleaning out my stuff today and heading home tomorrow morning, but I believe he's listed (sorry, don't have his number written down), so you might try whitepages.com or something.

Looking forward to all the IFR XC stuff when I get home!

MFR

 

[NW_Pilot]

Excellent MFR, After seeing you do some hood work in my 150 in the right seat down in Norman I had no doubt you would pass it. when you coming Back to Oregon?

Wow, Quick Oral W.D. only 30 min Mine was like 3 hours for 2 days. All he was looking for in my 6 hour oral was the words "Fu*k I don't Know" I said them words and Bam! we went out flying! W.D. Is a Excellent Guy he knows his stuff and if you passed his ride you will be safe in IFR conditions because you know your stuff as well.

MFR wait till you get back home get in the soup & have that runway just appear out of noware. Your first actual single pilot down to min's is a rush!

 

[MFRskyknight]

MFR wait till you get back home get in the soup & have that runway just appear out of noware. Your first actual single pilot down to min's is a rush!

I look forward to coming back and flying IFR in Oregon. That's some "chunky" mountain soup, too -- none of the watered-down chicken noodle variety.

MFR

 

[pilotpat]

Good job on the rating. Besides the CFI it was the toughest checkride - not even the Falcon 20 compared to it! Anyway, not to sound like the old guy, but don't go looking for that heavy single pilot IFR stuff out of the chute. I can tell you after a few hundred hours of actual, give me a beauty of a day and I'm happy. However, you will have to learn for yourself and create your own personal minimums...just don't be too aggressive too quick - its not worth it, not even for bragging rights. Good luck & I'm glad I didn't choose that school when I was looking a few years back!!

 

[minitour]

pilotpat - how would you say a "typical" type rating checkride goes? Mostly systems oral then emergency & abnormal procedures on the flight?

Not that I'll be having one soon but...couldn't hurt.

-mini

 

[pilotpat]

Minitour - to be honest with you the most difficult thing about going for a type rating is the training itself. Both the Diamondjet/Beechjet and Falcon 20 were done with FlightSafety, Wichita and Dallas respectively. 2 weeks of training is "all" it takes to get a type for those. I'll break it down quickly.
Week 1 is mostly ground school. Systems and systems and a little more on systems! LOL At the end you take a pretty easy (if you studied) test that's graded to 100%.
Week 2 is usually all simulator training. The tough stuff. You will get every emergency procedure they can think of, plus you will shoot 4 or 5 different approaches - landing with only one of them - the last one! OH - did I mention you will also do steep turns and stalls? Yeah, we all thought they were over after the CFI stuff, right?!? Nope, you will continue to do them throughout your career!
The checkride. Your instructor will only sign you off if they know you are gonna pass. BUT....and this is a big but...remember FlightSafety is in the business of training. If your company, like mine, has a lot of airplanes and everyone goes through FSI, it is in their best interest to help you pass. They only "train to proficiency" - not that you'll be Joe Pilot once you have the ticket. They're depending on you getting your experience on the line. Anyway - yes, you will oral on systems and emergency memory items. You must know those memory items cold or you will fail and go back for "more" training. Actually, they try to get you to have them down before you even get to training - this helps a ton! The ride in the sim itself is a non-event. Honestly. The emergency they usually throw at you is something you may actually see. Like a Generator light or a Low Fuel Pressure light. Use the guy in the right seat properly and it's not a problem. One of the harder things to do are the V1 cuts. Basically, you lose an engine at rotation and continue the takeoff. This is something that usually bites the ones who are having problems. Remember, the sim is digital and responds to the slightest inputs! Be more gentle on it than you would holding an infant.
If you're going to a regional or major airline - forget everything I've just written!! Usually 6 weeks of training with like a week and a half of sim. If you don't cut it.........well, the chances of keeping your job are pretty slim.
Hope this helps - and even if you're not going for a type ride tomorrow, you can never tell what's around the corner. Be assertive but not cocky when you meet anyone who is a chief pilot/director of ops anywhere.

 

[minitour]

Thanks!

 

[MFRskyknight]

Good job on the rating. Besides the CFI it was the toughest checkride - not even the Falcon 20 compared to it! Anyway, not to sound like the old guy, but don't go looking for that heavy single pilot IFR stuff out of the chute. I can tell you after a few hundred hours of actual, give me a beauty of a day and I'm happy. However, you will have to learn for yourself and create your own personal minimums...just don't be too aggressive too quick - its not worth it, not even for bragging rights. Good luck & I'm glad I didn't choose that school when I was looking a few years back!!

No, definitely not looking to do single pilot IFR stuff right away. Probably go up with someone with more experience and get familiar with the area.

MFR

 

[NW_Pilot]

No, definitely not looking to do single pilot IFR stuff right away. Probably go up with someone with more experience and get familiar with the area.

MFR

Familiar with the area? Why you cannot see anything in IMC anyway! And Every thing you need to know is on the Chart & Approch plates.

 

[User546]

Familiar with the area? Why you cannot see anything in IMC anyway! And Every thing you need to know is on the Chart & Approch plates.

Never hurts to have a second set of eyes and intellect sitting next to you until you get comfortable enough of your capabilities to start flying single-pilot IFR.

He's just being cautious and is setting his own personal limitations until he's more comfortable... you can't give him a hard time for that!

 

[pilotpat]

Familiar with the area? Why you cannot see anything in IMC anyway! And Every thing you need to know is on the Chart & Approch plates.

I agree what you need to know is on the IAP plate, however - go to Aspen in IMC without a bit of local knowledge and its pretty f'n hairy. I'm from the East Coast and we have a Beechjet based in Rifle that I got to fly before having to go into Aspen with another flat-lander. It certainly helped my SA!

 

[NW_Pilot]

Never hurts to have a second set of eyes and intellect sitting next to you until you get comfortable enough of your capabilities to start flying single-pilot IFR.

He's just being cautious and is setting his own personal limitations until he's more comfortable... you can't give him a hard time for that!

Not giving him a hard time at all I know him personally & have flown with him.

You may not always be comfortable flying in to unknown places while in IFR but that's the fun part of flying IFR getting there, going places in IMC and seeing that runway just appear ware you want it when you break out.

 

[phantomdriver]

good job