IFR Training: a Journey to Be a Better Pilot and Better Self

I passed my IFR check ride on June 30^th.

When congratulations came in from friends and families, I sat in my office and took a moment to reflect upon this period of 6 months of training.

The Seed

Everything started on April 23, 2010, the day I got my private license.

The encouraging and friendly examiner Joe Puglia handed my temporary PPL paper, “Congratulations on getting your license to learn!”  Then he added a question, “When are you going to start your instrument training?”

I looked at him, not sure how to answer. Seriously, I just got my private license. Do I really have to start a higher rating right away? Why do I have to do it? Can I really do it?

I made up a number and told Joe that I would consider learning to fly instrument after I accumulated 150 hours of flight time.

That was a huge number to me at that time, as I had a meager 50 some hours in my log book.

The Catalyst

Christmas time of 2010, my friend Terry and Ellen were organizing a party for 99s Paradise Coast Chapter. My husband Matt and I were invited.

However, the day of our departure, heavy fog loomed our airport Pilot Country (X05) at two hundred feet. Dissipation would not happen till we were sure to miss the party. The only way to get out was to fly instrument rules. Luckily, Matt is instrument rated and he filed an IFR flight plan.

A few minutes later, we were on top of the clouds at 5000 feet, looking at blue sky with golden sun beam showing down.

What a different world! And what a freedom!

As I was all amazed and got fueled up by the desire to get an instrument rating, I expressed my passion.  Wise Matt put a cooling mask for my head right away.

“My dear, instrument rating is not to help you fly in any kind of weather, but to help you become a better pilot and know when to fly and when not. You will get better aviating, navigating and communicating skills. But more importantly, you will also learn the limitation of yourself and your airplane.”

Right there and then, I was enlightened by Matt and transformed my “want” a rating to “need” a rating.

 ““Yes, I need the rating to be a safer and better pilot.” I assured him.

The Journey

It turned out to be a good time to start instrument training.

Winter in Florida is very conducive to flight training. My instructor Mr. Don Richardson, a seasoned flight instructor as well as a veteran snow bird was down here in Florida. Don is 82-year-old, the sharpest 82-year-old I ever met in my life.

As an instructor, he is knowledgeable and a great master of teaching techniques. As a friend, he is really compassionate and empathetic. He called me his “granddaughter” and shared many things with me, including his love for flying and teaching, and a sweet tooth for chocolate and desert.

Just like my attempt to start private training in December 2010, I needed to make a few extra steps as a Chinese citizen to go through TSA’s Threat Assessment before I was allowed to train.

Whilst await TSA’s approval, Don started to help me fly more precisely and work on the radio shyness. Everything was still VFR, but the tolerance of deviation was intentionally set to be very small.

On January 12, the journey officially began. My IFR written was out of way by then.

Very soon, I realized that acquiring IFR flying skills was similar to solving a jigsaw puzzle. You pick up pieces of knowledge first and apply them to the flight as a whole. But sometimes, piece to piece connection may not be easy and may not even make sense till the “Eureka” moment arrives.

When I just thought I was ready for one task, another one unexpectedly would strike me and exposed my weak link.

I can never forget the day I flew to Orlando Executive with Don.

Jets in front of and behind me, I must apply full power to get there and quickly descend for the landing. My Mooney is not a good girl for shedding off airspeed. I did everything I could to slow down, including slipping. I still landed hot and long.

All of sudden, I was tearing up. The pressure got me. I was very unhappy about my performance or even myself. Quickly, Don recognized my internal turmoil and gave me a good antidote: Everyone has to go through such a process. You are no exception.

That was a wake-up call.

Unreasonable high perception or low perception of ourselves leads us nowhere.  Instrument training is a process. Whether you like it or not, you will have to sweat or even cry to get through. Patience and perseverance are our friends to the success.

The decision to buy second-hand ASA PCATD flight simulator was the best one I made for the IFR training. It is a direct solution to make sure that I understand every procedure well before putting them into practice.

It was not very expensive comparing to the investment on actual airplane flying. But the comfort at home with no pressure and pause at any moment to get a question answered is great!

Comm1 Radio software, both IFR communication and Clearance Delivery made talk really easy with ATC. They are always sweet and helpful. They will do what they can to accommodate your request for approach practices unless the wind and traffic is affirmatively against your intention. If you are not sure about any instruction, ask them to “Say again!” It’s better to appear green but correct than macho and wrong.

Around the beginning of May, I was quite ready in the skills, but Don had to go back to Maine. Looking for a good instructor to finish me off was almost the most challenging thing I experienced in the training.

An instructor friend agreed to do the finishing up but had to de-commit as his knee had to be replace. It was a bit grilling, watching my skill perishing in that 4 weeks.

For a moment, I was wondering if I would ever get my instrument rating at all. The self-doubt was easily cured with “I can do it. Just hang on there.”

Fortunately, Jim Spears, a wonderful instructor that taught Matt his PPL stepped in and after a few more hours with him, I was all set for the check ride.

Big Day

After a hearty breakfast at home, I started my final preparation before the exam.

Doppler Radar was showing mostly yellow and red cells from Crystal River all the way to south of Venice, from the coast to the east of Lakeland. Pilot Country was right in the middle a big red.

DPE Mr. Richard Hirsch drove all the way from Lakeland to Pilot Country for my exam. It was very kind of him to do so.

We spent 2.3 hours for the oral and then as the rain seemed to lessen, we got in the airplane.

It was a real instrument rating check-ride. 1.2 hours were in actual IMC. Good part of the story is that I didn’t have to wear foggles much. The down side was that I couldn’t even finished shooting all the approaches at Lakeland (KLAL). 

A naughty thunder shower decided to sit on the inbound course of ILS Rwy 5 approach. I did the ILS approach at Tampa Executive (KVDF).

Coming back to Pilot Country was in pouring shower rain for the last 10 miles. Visibility was barely 1.5 miles. Ceiling was right around 1500 feet. I went visual for the landing and we got down safe.

Just like my private license, I understand that this rating, again, is just another step to further learning. Thanks to the wisdom IFR training endowed me though there will be more challenges along the path, I am confident, patient and resilient to keep going.