Funny You Should Ask.....
I'm sitting here in my study in Houston, watching a steady rain that has been going on for several hours. Of course, I know that because I flew home from LOE in part of it, and have been watching the weather since last night. I timed my arrival between bands of storms coming in off the gulf (a couple hours apart - not tough), and flew the last half hour in light rain, in the clouds, to a satisfying GPS approach where I broke out about 1000' AGL. This was the first time in the year of flying the Val that I have done more IFR than simply popping up to VFR on top, or shooting a quick approach.
Interestingly enough, as I was typing that paragraph, I got a call from Doug Reeves, who is part of a flight of four returning to Dallas - VFR. We all got to the airport this morning before sunrise, knowing we could be in for a long day. They are now sitting in Abilene, waiting for a chance for the weather to get good enough to fly the rest of the way home. Having to fly under the kind of weather that is covering Texas today, all the way from El Paso, is probably a lot more tiring than what I did - but doing it IFR takes the right equipment!
I agree with all of the well-thought-out replies above - whether or not an RV works in IFR depends on how you approach it as a pilot and as a builder. I set out to make the Valkyrie a very capable traveling machine from the get-go. redundant GPS's, EFIS displays, and reliable power systems - along with a two-axis autopilot so that I can "manage" the flight, rather than try to keep up with just flying this fast and sensitive airplane.
I flew a big-engined Yankee IFR for many years, without an autopilot. It was, to say the least, a "high gain" activity. Hand flying in the clouds for more than a half hour was exhausting, and I wouldn't try and do that today, with the capability you can build in to an RV.
I left Donna Anna this morning with scattered clouds at about 300', and climbed between low layers as I turned towards El Paso and points east. I had the full route programmed into the GNS 430 ahead of time, and the course line was displayed on the EFIS. I engaged the autopilot after I had a good rate of climb, and let it turn to the assigned departure heading. I used my available time to make sure that what I was being asked to do - and what the airplane was doing - looked reasonable. I Didn't have to worry about keeping it right side up. In a couple of minutes, I was level at 9,000', adjusting power and mixture as I was cleared direct Fort Stockton VOR. A quick keystroke, and we skipped the intermediate waypoints. I crossed my arms, sat back, and scanned the panel to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Then I grabbed the apple that Martha Jane King had given me, and had breakfast. I was above the lower layers, and had only an occasional high cirrus above - glorious sunshine through the canopy. Of course, the rest of the folks were standing in the drizzle at Donna Anna.
I had little to do for several hundred miles but take the occasional frequency change and look at the weather ahead on my Garmin 396 . It was nice to not worry about staying on course and altitude while I scanned the METARS and looked at the Nexrad to see if my plan was going to work out. The Texas Hill Country was covered with low clouds - I was sure glad I wasn't trying to cross that scenic part of the world down low today, below the overcast (Which varied between 300 and 1000 feet!
It was clear to me that the ceilings and visibilities were improving in Houston, and I kept looking at the flight plan summary on my EFIS, which was telling me the time to each waypoint and the fuel remaining when I got there. My reserve stayed steady at about an hour and twenty minutes all the way, which was more than adequate with all of the ILS runways in the area. Aside from the climb out, the only cloud flying I got was in the last half hour in Houston, taking some vectors around rain showers as they set me up for the approach - and watching the same showers on my in-cockpit NEXRAD made me feel like I was able to keep Approach honest. I handled vectors by diddling the heading select knob on the EFIS as I was given each new heading, and only touched the stick to trim nose down for the step-down descents. Punch off the Altrak, get to the new altitude, punch on the Altrak.
The total flying time was 3:35, over a distance of 606 nautical miles. I landed with 11 gallons of fuel in the tanks, and was more relaxed than I can ever remember after flying a trip of that length with "iffy" weather. It takes equipment, training,and practice to do it all, which I guess is the point of this rambling story. You have to know how to say "No, I'm not going today!", but you'll have to say that a lot less often if you set your machine up properly.
The coolest part of the day? I got handed off from Center to Approach while I was descending to cross the first fix on the STAR, and after I made contact with approach,the controller asked "And sir, is that RV a turbine or a piston aircraft?" (It makes a difference in the crossing altitudes) I could only chuckle.....
Yes, properly equipped, the RV is a magic carpet, so long as you understand your systems completely, and keep a good eye out for escape routes if the weather gets bad. It's fast enough that I probably wouldn't recommend it for a new instrument pilot fresh out of Cessnas, but with the right experience, it is perfect.
Charts? I use the bound Air Charts system, and with the book folded over, it rests perfectly on my left thigh, with my kneeboard on the right leg to write down all those frequency changes.
And LOE was well worth the trip!
Paul
