VFR pilots taking off into IMC??
 

It seems that in the last few weeks, I have read of more than a handful of fatal crashes that were preliminarily believed to be caused by a VFR pilot taking off into IMC. The most recent one I've seen is here: http://www.indystar.com/articles/1/233390-3381-093.html.

I would like to maybe raise awareness and start a (NON-FLAME - we've all done things that were incredibly stupid in hindsight) discussion on how common this actually is, how many people do it and don't get hurt, how to stop it, etc. We will always have gyros tumble, engines fail, alternators go out, and those are just risks we take. But it seems like accidents with a non-instrument rated pilot taking off into 600 ft ceilings are unnecessary - especially when your passenger is killed alongside you.

Be Careful, Folks
 

Ok, this is probably going to raise a few eyebrows...but here goes:

Yes, I agree completely that VFR pilots should keep their butts on the ground when IMC conditions prevail, but if your airplane has gyros there is no excuse for losing it in the clouds, instrument rated or not.

Even if you're a VFR-only pilot, go up with a safety pilot and put on your foggles/whatever. Fly around, have your safety pilot put the aircraft in unusual attitudes and try to recover.

You should try to avoid it as much as possible...but if you fly often enough you're going to eventually get into some clouds or thick stuff (here in Atlanta the summer haze can cut visibility to less than a mile easily). Be prepared for it and when you do...get on the instruments.

An instrument rating should teach people procedures, not how to keep the right side of the airplane up (they should already know that). BTW: I worry sometimes about some IFR pilots who always depend on autopilots. I've met a few that have to make me wonder if they could keep ahead of the airplane if Otto were to go belly up. There have been plenty of IFR pilots who have flown VFR into IMC and bought the farm, so having an instrument rating doesn't guarantee your health.

Be careful out there folks!

Eyebrows Raised here
 

I flew to work in LA for 15 or so years MANY times IFR down to minimums and NEVER used an autopilot but I don't believe what you say has anything to do with the real world of IMC operations, spacial disorientation, doubt of instrument function, etc. When it hits the fan and you lose certainty of the situation regardless of ratings or experience the mind struggles to regain control and you will grasp onto any piece of data to maintain situation awareness and prevent absolute crippling terror from taking over. Keeping the dirty side down is just one piece of the puzzle and if you lose it in the other areas you will eventually probably lose that piece too. I do not have an autopilot in the RV-6A but after the IFR trip to California from Arkansas and back last week this old candy ___ is going to get one.

Special VFR Story - happy ending
 

I know this guy who decided to ask for his very first Special VFR clearance years ago. He was VFR rated only and there was a large hole over the airport with incoming airplanes reporting tops at only 1200 ft and skyclear only 3-4 miles south in the direction I , whoops, he was planning to go. Well he got the clearance, took off and couldn't make the hole to stay clear of clouds. He tried to turn back to it got in the soup and all of a sudden his artificial horizon, which worked fine, meant absolutely nothing to him. It's amazing how the untrained under stress can look at that instrument and get a total brain freeze. At one point there was a break in the clouds that he was in and out his left window he could see his left wing tip pointing straight down at the ground. There was no feeling of being sideways AT ALL until the visual clue. Training told him that could happen, but it never really registered until that moment. After about 3 seconds of panic, I, I mean he, focused on the turn coordinator and airspeed only, leveled the wings and climbed for about a minute (felt like an hour) out of the soup. He let his heart rate return to near normal and then recognized that he just came within seconds of killing himself. He promised himself he would spend some more time with an instructor and get more comfortable with his instruments. He never went Special VFR again and he lived happily ever after. Jack 9A N489JE flying 1.2 hrs.

Unusual attitude recovery...
 

Every BFR I have been through has always had the routine "close your eyes" the CFI does wild maneuvers, etc. I even had one guy reach over in the midst of my eyes shut time and spin the calibration knob on the directional gyro just to add a bit of confusion.

The last unusual attitude recovery I had was with a business acquaintance who is also an airshow rated aerobatic pilot with a waiver down to the surface. This guy rolls his Pitts just after take off. We flew out of his airport in Spokane last September in his A-36 Bonanza. I sat right seat and he gave me the airplane right after takeoff since I have never been checked out in a high-performance retract single. We headed north a few miles and he asked if I knew what a "whoosh" was. Of course, I had no idea. He took the airplane into a shallow dive to gain some speed then started up into a parabolic arc and zero G. Just as he got to the top, he rolled left to knife edge and said "You've got it". We were VFR at the time and the instinct took over quickly to recover to wings level and pull out slowly since the airplane was headed down after going over the top of the arc knife-edged.

And no, I did not want a ride in his two-seat Pitts. The photos from that day are posted here: http://www.n2prise.org/Antcliff.htm

Jerry K. Thorne
East Ridge, TN
RV-9A N2PZ

I was coming home from a business trip in my 172 when the clouds kept creeping lower and lower and started a light rain. I could see the ground OK and was only an hour from home. It was also late in the afternoon. I made the decision to land about a half hour from home and rent a car to go the rest of the way. So far so good! The weather went down hill very quickly and I was having trouble seeing the ground by this time. I couldn't find the beacon at the airport I was trying to land at and was as low as I dared to go. I had no GPS at the time. I got the FBO manager on the radio and told him I was having trouble finding the airport. He reminded me of the VOR frequency and told me what radial to fly on to get back to the airport. I was having trouble doing this simple task by now because of fear. I had received my pilots license only a year earlier and this procedure should have been a no brainer. I finally located the beacon and landed safely and drove the rest of the way home. I was never so glad to be in that old crappy 200,000 mile rental car. Until you are in a bad situation, you will never know for sure how your mind will function under pressure. A good GPS would have cut down on the confusion a great deal. :o
Jim RV-9A wings Arkansas 90919

I was at the airport the morning of this accident. Down in Indianapoplis, the weather was really crappy. I can't believe it was much better up in Lafayette (~60 miles). For this guy to take off with a 600 foot ceiling is just insane. The visibility was less than a mile or two as well.

In 600 hours of VFR flying, I've had a few minor encounters with marginal VFR weather. If you fly in the Midwest much, you learn how to dance around fronts and storms in the summer or you don't fly much. I think it is important to set personal minimums for ceilings and visibility and stick to them. I don't mind a low ceiling as long as the visibility is at least 5 miles. Once the visibility goes below 5, I sit. It's not fun groping your way through the soup.

My RV-6 didn't have an A/P, but my Rocket does. With the cost of these things coming way down, I think it's a cheap insurance policy if you know when and how to use it.

Raised eyebrows
 

Well, my eyebrows are raised. I hope you really don't believe what you wrote. A good percentage of instrument rated pilots would be unsafe operating in IMC. IFR requires more than training. You must maintain proficieny, or the skill fades over time. Knowing what the attitude indicator is for, and using it when you suddenly find yourself in IMC are two different things. I wish I could post the "You have 138 seconds to live" article. It tells in a chilling way, what happened to the average non IFR pilot when encountering IMC in a simulator. You simply don't have very long to live!
Yes indeed... becareful out there!
Danny King
Beautiful Doll 80434

You hope I don't believe what I wrote? Which part, Danny? It looks like I agree with all your statements. My point is simply that we should all be prepared to keep our aircraft under control if we suddenly lose outside references to attitude. Going into IMC shouldn't be an automatic death sentence. We should practice for it even if we are only VFR guys.

We VFR pilots should also avoid IMC at all costs....please don't misunderstand what I was saying. I'm definately a firm believer in the fact that we should all wait and live to fly another day. Just ask anyone who has flown with me -- I'm a very conservative and cautious pilot. I'm not excusing the gentleman in the referenced article who took off and killed himself and his friend. He definately screwed up. I would never recommend a VFR/SVFR departure to anyone with prevailing IMC.

I suppose I'm lucky because I have pretty good (and free!!) access to Frasca-132 simulator, so I've done quite a bit of simulated instrument work. And yes, I'm a VFR-only pilot (for now), but for me feeling comfortable on instruments is a personal requirement for even day VFR flying.

What's wrong with believing folks should be prepared for all eventualities in flight? For me, it's on par with practicing for engine failures.

Kind Regards,

Danno and all, John Phillips found the URL to the article '178 seconds to live'. It's:

http://www.aviation.uiuc.edu/institu...ndstoLive.html

B,
dr