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prkaye

Well Known Member
I passed my ride this morning and got my Instrument Rating! (and I did it without an autopilot :) ). I'll be grinning the rest of the day.
To celebrate, I'm planning to file and fly IFR to CYTZ with a buddy (an airline pilot) on Monday!
 
Nicely done!

Congrats Phil! That’s a big accomplishment that frequently makes travel on a schedule much easier & safer. Way to go!

I’ve been planning to re-blue my instrument skills. Wish I could say my level of IFR proficiency was as high as I’d like/back when I got my ticket… It’s now a dedicated project for the fall once I’m back home!

IFR flying (while avoiding icing risks) in RVs is a treat.
 
Thanks Ryan!
Wish I could say my level of IFR proficiency was as high as I’d like/back when I got my ticket…
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Indeed, during the debrief the examiner was cautioning me about the importance of keeping it up. He said "you are probably at the peak of your IFR flying skills right now...".
 
prkaye said:
Thanks Ryan!

Indeed, during the debrief the examiner was cautioning me about the importance of keeping it up. He said "you are probably at the peak of your IFR flying skills right now...".
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I remember a similar caution on my exam day. Universal words of wisdom, eh? ;)
 
Congratulations! That's a great accomplishment. I tell everyone that every pilot should have an instrument rating, and I'm glad I don't need to tell you!
 
Congratulations! Definitely a lot of work, but very rewarding. First time you fly by yourself in IMC down to near minimums and pop out with the runway right where it's supposed to be is amazing.
 
That's the big one, congrats!!

Best thing I ever did, for allowing long distance travel and really using the airplane.
 
Congrats Phil! Getting your Instrument Rating is a great accomplishment. Now get out there and use it. Instrument skills atrophy quite rapidly so try to file as often as you can regardless of whether it’s VFR or not.
 
Congratulations, having recently accomplished the same thing in my RV (also hand flown) I know how much work went into that rating. My examiner after flying the RV also said "use the autopilot" for reducing the workload. Good advice.
Figs
 
Congratulations! I’ve been hoping you’d give us an update. No autopilot… that’s something that you can be very proud of!!
 
Hand flying the check ride is fine (kinda surprised your DPE didn't want to see you do at least one coupled approach). However, just in case please don't feel using the autopilot is a crutch or makes you less of a pilot somehow. It can be a life saver in single pilot IFR. For those who aren't IR, you can't believe how task saturated you can become and doing a simple task like changing a freq can became overwhelming while keeping the plane up right and tracking in bumpy IMC. For currency and proficiency (the two terms are not synonymous BTW) I personally shoot 50% of my approaches coupled and 50% hand flown.

EDIT: When I originally posted this reply, I didn't know at the time that Phil's plane didn't have an autopilot installed. In this day in age that's the exception rather than rule which is why I assumed he had an A/P. In any event, a remarkable achievement, nevertheless.
 
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Congratulations- I’m working on mine too - trying to use the hot weather to force me to do more studying and sim work.
 
congrats on one of the best ratings. ;)
I always hand fly some of the time in imc when on an ifr flight. good for your confidence in case the AP goes south.
keeping up on the buttonology is key also.
the ease of filing with foreflite and getting expected route changes thru email is great.
 
thanks!

Thanks everyone! Installing an autopilot is probably next year's project. I'll need to find something affordable.... between my IRAN and the IFR equipment upgrade, i've sunk about 60K Canadian into my plane in the last year... plus the training cost... Yikes!
 
Congrats on joining the "Club" Pro-Tip - Learn to use the automation well, then use the automation, but don't depend on the automation, hand fly enough to make it a "balance".
 
Thanks for the inspiration!

I've been meaning to get IR for a long time and really want to make this the year it happens. How guilty I feel with my beautiful Garmin G3X/750 panel and no instrument rating (a bit like having a Stradivarius and only playing Mary Had a Little Lamb...)
 

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I installed a 430W in my original panel from the very beginning, as a driving force to make me go get mine. :D
 
Congrats!

I also did my checkride in a plane without an autopilot. The examiner must have been been doing too many Cirrus rides because afterwards he commented multiple times to my instructor, "He hand flew the entire time!"

I would agree with your examiner that you are at the height of your skills. At least I was. That's something to think about.

Now....go get an autopilot. As others have said, it makes life infinitely easier, and IMHO, safer. It's not "cheating", because you still need to monitor the autopilot as they will occasionally surprise you. (I had to punch mine off on an ILS the other day.) It's actually about the same amount of work, however the autopilot allows you to do things faster. I.e. instead of 10 seconds to change a frequency it's 4 seconds. That type of thing. Finally, it's fun! Correctly setting up and then watching the autopilot perform a perfect RNAV is really neat.
 
Congrats! That is a big one! Now just make sure you keep flying in the system to keep the spirit of IFR alive, I know too many people that didn't and they lost currency very quickly. Commercial next? :D
 
Congratulations! The instrument rating is a big one! I'm dating myself a bit but I received my instrument rating in 1990 in a 172RG with no GPS and no autopilot (and of course, with paper charts)! When I restarted flying a couple of years ago after a 30 year break, it was quite amazing to see how much cockpit technology has changed! The current generation of autopilots are quite amazing in reducing IFR workload.

As someone else on the thread said, now one has to practice approaches with the autopilot but then also practice for various failure scenarios - AP failure, PFD failure (use the MFD or backup EFIS), full ship electrical failure (use an iPad with portable ADS-B/AHRS).
 
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Thanks everyone! Today was my first IFR flight as PIC. My buddy Kyle and I went to Toronto City Center for lunch in the CN Tower :)
 
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