Sender: <marv@lancaironline.net> (Marvin Kaye)
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Date: Thu, 09 Oct 2003 12:20:12 -0400
Message-ID: <redirect-2630237@logan.com>
From: RWolf99@aol.com
Subject: IFR and Lancairs
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<<My personal opinion is that IFR is only for professional pilots who
receive a lot of recurrent training, flying multi-engine high altitude,
with the best deice equipment and have an equally rated and trained
co-pilot. Actual (IMC) IFR is not for single engine, low time pilots
who dream of going IMC.>>

Baloney.  Sort of.  I agree that launching into real weather (moderate 
turbulence, heavy rain, embedded thunderstorms and icing) is best left to those with 
aircraft that can handle it and pilots with plenty of recent experience, with 
another pilot to share the workload (or at least to be scared alongside you). 
 But I also agree with Mike Reinath who points out that there are many times 
when the weather isn't *bad*, it's just below VFR minimums.  The California 
marine layer is a classic example.  Smooth as glass, no meteorological hazards, 
but if you can't fly through it -- well, you just don't fly.  Much safer to do 
an IFR approach through a marine layer than scud run.

Further, the military aero clubs do not allow their members to fly VFR at 
night unless they have instrument ratings.  Their safety record puts our civilian 
safety record to shame.  I never flew at night until I got my IFR ticket, and 
now I know why they're so picky.  May not be a factor near cities, but in 
rural California, VFR-at-night just ain't so.  You need to fly with reference to 
instruments to stay upright and alive.  So the IFR ticket helps you there, too.

I'm a fairly low-time IFR pilot that was doing so in a Cessna 150.  You just 
can't handle much weather in that humble little airplane, and I hate 
turbulence, and I'm also just-plain-chicken, so I never launched into "hard IFR" 
without an instructor.  But I flew IFR many times -- what I did was perfectly safe 
and I intend to stay within these limitations as I fly my Lancair IFR.

If you think it's dangerous, don't do it.  I think flying IFR in moderate 
weather is dangerous for me, but not for someone else with more experience in a 
bigger plane.  Even if it's single engine solo.  The key part is to know your 
own limits and stick with them.

- Rob Wolf