Flyin'Dutch' wrote:TomWW wrote:I well remember the first time I deliberately flew into a layer of cloud with a passenger next to me. It was a bit scary even though I was IMC qualified at the time.
Flying into IMC deliberately with only an IMCr/IR(R) is scary.
Chocolate teapot rating.
Disagree entirely.
It all depends on whether you stay current in flying on instruments, and on your aircraft’s equipment. I regularly undertake flights during which I expect to spend an hour or more in solid IMC and to fly an instrument approach down to IFR minimums.
My ancient Century 3 autopilot was repaired last year and will now maintain a heading for me. However it was totally u/s for more than 10 -12 years, during which I had to hand fly in IMC for hours at a time.
Like all skills, you need to keep in regular practice. I take every opportunity to fly in IMC, or under the hood with an IR or IRI in the other seat, both for safety, and to critique my flying.
I would suggest that IR(R) rated pilots should do the same.
As a CRI, I do many Biennial instructor flights and I always suggest that the pilot might like to take the opportunity to do at least a little bit of simulated Instrument Flying with me acting as Safety Pilot. Some are quite good and go away with renewed confidence, some are spurred on to do some refresher IMC trying with an IRI.
Interestingly, one of the main skills that fade, is how to get the aircraft fully and correctly trimmed, which is obviously a major factor in Instrument flying