Clouding the issue...

[Fozzer]

As I look at the wonderful screen shots in the forum...

....and admire the amazing cloud formations that the Sim Pilots are about to enter...

I pinch myself and remember this little gem of knowledge...>>>

http://www.flyingmag.com/blogs/flying-t ... pPodID=030

Paul...VFR, and staying well clear of clouds!... ...!

[DaveSims]

Like the author of that article, I too have heard too many non instrument (real world, not sim) rated pilots discuss their "in cloud" experiences.  It is no wonder why one of the larger causes of small aircraft crashes is VFR in IMC.  Even as someone with decent instrument training, and soon to finish my rating I hope, I have great respect for what it takes to fly without reference to the outside world.

[Fozzer]

Cumulonimbus clouds on a warm summer day are beautiful to look at, whilst lying on the grass and gazing up at the sky...

..but then recall that terrifying drive you had, a few years ago, through miles and miles of dense Fog, with visibility close to zero, never quite knowing where you were on the road...or even if you were still on the road, and all the time waiting for the crash which would suddenly cut short your life, and everyone else with you!

Take my tip, keep out of bloody clouds..they will kill you!.. ..!

Paul...long-time Motorcyclist...and Fog avoider!.. ...!

[Flying Trucker]

Years ago I remember listening to a tape between a Private Pilot and Air Traffic Control where the Controller told the pilot to take his hands off the controls and sit on them.

The pilot was flying the aircraft directly at the lake.

The aircraft crashed into the lake with the loss of all family aboard.

[Fozzer]

Years ago I remember listening to a tape between a Private Pilot and Air Traffic Control where the Controller told the pilot to take his hands off the controls and sit on them.

The pilot was flying the aircraft directly at the lake.

The aircraft crashed into the lake with the loss of all family aboard.

..whilst flying in dense clouds, with poor visibility, and disorientated?

Clouds are beautiful to look at....but given half a chance, they will attack you, and kill you!... ...!

Paul.... ...!

[Flying Trucker]

Hi Paul...

Taken from the Link:

Once called pilot vertigo or aviator

[Fozzer]

I manage my sim flight, flying in marginal VMC conditions reasonably successfully, using IFR rules...
...and providing that ALL my instruments are operating correctly... ..., and that I am reading them correctly!.. ..

But the work load is enormous during normal level flight, and attempting to land under those condition is extremely daunting, to say the least!

Most of the time I try to stay well clear of clouds in all my GA, VFR flights.

Paul.

[aeroart]

Dave,

When you get your instrument rating, start by filing IFR when there isn't a cloud in the sky. Do this for a few trips, working your way up to progressively busier airports. This will get you used to working with the real Air Traffic Control system before you fly in IMC.

Good luck with your written and flight test.

Art

[DaveSims]

[quote]Hi Paul...

Taken from the Link:

Once called pilot vertigo or aviator

[DaveSims]

Dave,

When you get your instrument rating, start by filing IFR when there isn't a cloud in the sky. Do this for a few trips, working your way up to progressively busier airports. This will get you used to working with the real Air Traffic Control system before you fly in IMC.

Good luck with your written and flight test.

Art

Fortunately I feel fairly comfortable with the ATC system.  It isn't too difficult once you learn the system, as you can anticipate what ATC will tell you before they do.  I did quite a bit of flight training in college, as I was a Pro Av major.  I quit flying and switched majors to Aviation Management just before I should have finished my instrument.  I had already taken both the instrument and commercial writtens at the time.  Right now it is just trying to dust off the instruments and my brain.

[Fozzer]

[quote]

.....Fortunately I feel fairly comfortable with the ATC system.

[GlobalHobo]

Fortunately I feel fairly comfortable ...

"DANGER WILL ROBINSON!" Just when you start feeling "fairly comfortable" is when all hell breaks loose. Art had some good advice. When you're single-pilot and ATC starts handing you reroutes and you're bouncing around in the clag and you're digging for the chart to find some intersection you've never heard of (You don't blindly trust your GPS database, do you?) and you catch a glimpse of what you think is sky where your instruments say is ground and... well, you're gonna wish you'd had just a little more rehearsal time. I know I did. Sometimes still do.  :-?

[beaky]

I have no interest in flying in clouds without the rating. Always did fine "under the hood", but that is very different.
I've gotten "the leans" once, while flying solo VFR: climbing turn; looked at the chart then back outside a bit too quickly, and suddenly the instruments and actual horizon seemed to be lying to me. It passed in a moment, but in IMC it would have been a lot worse.

I've heard that in something like a Cub, when you find yourself in IMC, or need to descend through clouds, the best course of action is to chop the throttle, apply full nose-up trim, then put your feet under the seat, sit on your hands, and wait. Doesn't always work, as Doug's tale shows... sometimes you just need a lot of luck, like this poor bastard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3QU8J8YJIc

... the audio is real; the video is a pretty good dramatization using MSFS.

[Fozzer]

Scary, scary, scary... ...!

I must admit I was fixated on the HSI (Horizontal Situation Indicator) in the video, and not observing the other vital instruments; Airspeed Indicator, Altimeter, and Vertical Speed Indicator...which were all unwinding!

Panic sets in, as soon as you become disorientated, your brain ceases to function properly, and correct procedure goes out of the window!

A Very Scary Situation!... ...!

Clouds are for looking at, ....safely, at ground level!... ..!

Paul...so far, a cloudy beer has been my only concern... :-?...!

[Flying Trucker]

Hi Sean...

If the pilot I mentioned had of done exactly what Air Traffic Control had said they would have been alive today...perhaps.

He was not Instrument Rated and he did not believe his eyes...he was flying by the seat of his pants when he should have been on the ground.