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  #11  
Old 12-14-2011, 07:54 PM
bluemaule bluemaule is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Nashville TN
Posts: 19
Default My Solution

I found a local pal who is an 80 year old ex AA pilot who flies a Debonair... I try to find excuses to fly with him a lot in IFR conditions... he swears that I'm fine and don't need a babysitter, but my confidence soars when I have an experienced co-pilot... the two heads is always better than one perspective...

I find that taking trips with him does more to build my confidence in single engine IFR and myself than IPCs with a flight instructor, although I do those too.

This time of year, in the southeast, we get a lot of warm fronts that come with layered stratus, which is a great practice environment...

best of luck.
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  #12  
Old 12-14-2011, 11:04 PM
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RV10inOz RV10inOz is offline
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Brisbane Qld. Aust.
Posts: 2,271
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Well it is like anything, if you don't use it you lose it.

As said above, you need to do some with experienced folk for a bit. I do not think you have to do renewals like we do here, but maybe you should self impose a CIR renewal every year with a testing guy. Keeps you on your toes.

As for reading weather....FIX THIS>ASAP. This needs to be learned. I struggled for a while until the IR instructor I had started to break the wx up into each segment and sketched it on a rough hand drawn map. All of a sudden I knew what was applicable to me and what was not.

Last weekend I did a trip that was cloud and moderate to heavy rain, Takeoff and into the soup at 300' with a Vis of just over a mile and a quarter. Flew the RNAV approach (no LOC or ILS at most fields in Oz) and ran along at the minima to the MAP, saw the runway with seconds to spare.

Was this hard work? You betcha....but can you do it? Sure, but be current. we have pretty heavy recency requirements too, so maybe impose these on yourself for a while until you are back in the groove.

My favourite saying is .....Be a LIVE Chicken, not a DEAD Hero.
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  #13  
Old 12-15-2011, 06:15 AM
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Ironflight Ironflight is offline
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Location: Dayton, NV
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There have a been a LOT of great suggestions here.

The one I would think might be very appropriate in your case Jeff is to plan a flight every single day - make it part of your morning routine. Look at the weather, decide if it is Go/NoGo, then don't actually fly it...just watch the weather reports to see how ell they match the forecasts,and see if your Go/NoGo was the right decision. Concentrate on the two big "killer" items that you mentioned - ice and thunderstorms. You can check Pireps (sketchy)/temperatures aloft/precip to see how the icing turned out and NEXRAD to see if you got it right on the T-storms.

You don't learn to read weather instantly. You don't learn it from a book. And you won't learn it in a few hours of instruction, whether it be in a classroom or in a cockpit doing an Instrument Proficiency check. You have to apply yourself to the study of the atmosphere, and it takes time. And...you'll be surprised how many times you still get surprised throughout your life. But it will come if you want it to.

It sounds like you are being a little conservative, and that's the right side of the "error line" to be on...but see if you can move the line a little to give you more flexibility.

Paul
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  #14  
Old 12-15-2011, 08:29 AM
Phlyan Pan Phlyan Pan is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Rochester, NY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironflight View Post
There have a been a LOT of great suggestions here.

The one I would think might be very appropriate in your case Jeff is to plan a flight every single day - make it part of your morning routine. Look at the weather, decide if it is Go/NoGo, then don't actually fly it...just watch the weather reports to see how ell they match the forecasts,and see if your Go/NoGo was the right decision.


Paul
I would add that it would be helpful to keep a diary of these exercises so you can try and notice any patterns. If you're having trouble with one particular type of weather, this might help to point it out. If nothing else, it could help to give you confidence when you can look back and see that "hey, I'm right 90% of the time, and the other 10% I was just too cautious".
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  #15  
Old 12-15-2011, 09:09 PM
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RV10inOz RV10inOz is offline
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Brisbane Qld. Aust.
Posts: 2,271
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Paul

I often do something similar to this, on my iPhone, look at the area forecast while at the traffic lights say (yes I know a bit naughty ) and look at the sky.

I never really thought of it as a formal exercise.........but yet again, you are on the money with a great suggestion.

On the strength of that we will renew your VAF contributors contract for another year. Keep up the good work.
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  #16  
Old 12-17-2011, 07:51 PM
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Gsuit Gsuit is offline
 
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Location: Beaumont, TX
Posts: 210
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ironflight View Post
There have a been a LOT of great suggestions here.

The one I would think might be very appropriate in your case Jeff is to plan a flight every single day - make it part of your morning routine. Look at the weather, decide if it is Go/NoGo, then don't actually fly it...just watch the weather reports to see how ell they match the forecasts,and see if your Go/NoGo was the right decision. Concentrate on the two big "killer" items that you mentioned - ice and thunderstorms. You can check Pireps (sketchy)/temperatures aloft/precip to see how the icing turned out and NEXRAD to see if you got it right on the T-storms.
This is exactly the trick they taught us in the military - and I still use to this day. Be sure to take your practice-plan just as serious as you would an honest, real flight's plan.
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  #17  
Old 12-18-2011, 06:56 AM
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flywithme623 flywithme623 is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Somerset VA
Posts: 77
Default www.faasafety.gov

www.faasafety.gov

You find a very good training course on this web.
It is a fantastic lesson to understand where you find ice and how to avoid it.

I fly for a living and that knowledge helps me every day.

Really great inside on this threat. Stay conservative and listen to those great advises I have just read here. Keep talking to other pilots about there experience and share yours, even if it was a bad one. You will learn a lot.

I still learn, just by reading this threat though I been doing it for 15 years. You never stop learning because no weather is ever the same.
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