drauk
14th February 2004, 08:37
Various people have asked me to update them on the Morey West Coast Adventure as a way of gaining the FAA IR. Plus with the popularity of the FAA IR for UK pilots I thought this might interest other people too.
The whole experience is quite different from other GA training that I’ve come across, particularly with respect to instrument flying. The basic deal for those not familiar with it is this: arrive in Madison, Wisconsin with at least 15 hours of instrument training (an IMC rating is perfect) and a written IR test pass. Spend two days flying around the Madison area, then seven days flying 5,000 miles west, down the coast and back north east to Madison. Check ride is on the final day and if successful you leave with an FAA IR. The trip is usually done with two students and one instructor in each of the two planes.
The planes are very nice. Cessna 182 turbo retractable (currently with brand new engines and new resprays) with excellent avionics. As well as an STEC autopilot, a standby vacuum system, an HSI and Bose-X ANR headsets there is a Garmin 530 with satellite weather and traffic. The traffic detection system is great – there is an auxiliary display too which shows position and relative altitude, plus voice alerts.
The instruction is great. It is all very well organized – you are given a complete set of approach plates for every airport en-route and all the hotels are booked in advance. Because each instructor is doing nothing but teaching you and one other student IFR flying for 10 days you find that (a) the instructor knows what he has already taught you and what he hasn’t (b) there is no rush, no getting back on the ground for another student, no question of plane availability. The instructors are experienced (the primary instructor has 7,000 hours and his father who designed the course has 27,000; they have some interesting stories to tell) and very much “real world” (they teach and fly charter), so as well as learning what you need to do to pass the test you learn useful tips and techniques. They are keen for the students to experience different types of thing – for example, rime ice (seeing where it forms, how quickly, watching how the performance of the aircraft changes, what you can to do to get rid of it), mild hypoxia (as a passenger), moderate turbulence (apparently most people tend to overestimate turbulence categories, thinking “light” is “moderate”), as well as, of course, plenty of actual IMC. It is all very practical and you learn to use the tools available including the auto pilot and the GPS for both en-route and approaches, plus what ATC will and won’t do for you.
The best aspect of the trip is the variety. In winter the mid-west is mostly well below freezing at ground level (some mornings are –25C) whilst California is warm and sunny. Some of the flying is across flat lands with easy-going controllers and very little traffic, some is across the top of major airports in California with lots of radio work and jets everywhere. You get to fly in to the highest public airport in the USA at Telluride Colorado. One whole day of the trip is flown partial panel and Telluride happened to be on that day. A refreshing change from the common scenario of instructors not willing to train in actual IMC conditions was taking off at Telluride and flying in and above the mountains at 17,000’ in IMC on partial panel. Each pilot flies two or three legs each day, with a missed approach midway on each leg. This makes for a wide variety of approaches, misses, holds, circle-to-lands and landings. Another complaint of much IR instruction is the lack of training for the transition between instrument and visual approaches, and the continuance to actually landing. With this course every other approach results in that transition and landing. At the end of each day is a written quiz which goes in to great detail on various aspects of IFR flight, the results of which are discussed at breakfast at 6:30am the next morning. Wheels-up is at 8am and you generally reach your destination around 4 or 5 o’clock that afternoon.
Over 500 people have done this trip. My instructor had done it about 25 times. Many people have apparently gone on the trip more than once and many of the pilots that all ready have an IR but go for the fun, to brush up or to get better real-world instruction. At $7500 it is not the cheapest IR training in the US, though it is cheaper than doing the same training in the UK and far more interesting. All training, flying, charts, plates, landing fees, test fee and accommodation whilst en-route are included. The views from the back seat can be fantastic and as pilot, when the conditions are VMC en-route, you get to flip your hood and take a look around – the beauty of the mountains and lakes in Oregon, San Franciso bay, Catalina Island, the Los Angeles sprawl, Sedona, The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and various less well known spots along the way (the Rockies were solid IMC all the way though I am sure they are a sight to see). The only down side would be if you happen not to get on with your fellow students. It didn’t happen to me but if it did I imagine it would be pretty rotten. You eat three meals a day with three other students and spend about 60 hours in the plane with one of them. Doing the entire trip with someone you already know would be great.
All in all I can’t really think of a better way to gain not only the FAA IR but more importantly a wealth of real-world knowledge and experience.
Snapshots (http://www.dadams.dsc.net/flying/wca/photos) from the trip.
(edit for typos)
The whole experience is quite different from other GA training that I’ve come across, particularly with respect to instrument flying. The basic deal for those not familiar with it is this: arrive in Madison, Wisconsin with at least 15 hours of instrument training (an IMC rating is perfect) and a written IR test pass. Spend two days flying around the Madison area, then seven days flying 5,000 miles west, down the coast and back north east to Madison. Check ride is on the final day and if successful you leave with an FAA IR. The trip is usually done with two students and one instructor in each of the two planes.
The planes are very nice. Cessna 182 turbo retractable (currently with brand new engines and new resprays) with excellent avionics. As well as an STEC autopilot, a standby vacuum system, an HSI and Bose-X ANR headsets there is a Garmin 530 with satellite weather and traffic. The traffic detection system is great – there is an auxiliary display too which shows position and relative altitude, plus voice alerts.
The instruction is great. It is all very well organized – you are given a complete set of approach plates for every airport en-route and all the hotels are booked in advance. Because each instructor is doing nothing but teaching you and one other student IFR flying for 10 days you find that (a) the instructor knows what he has already taught you and what he hasn’t (b) there is no rush, no getting back on the ground for another student, no question of plane availability. The instructors are experienced (the primary instructor has 7,000 hours and his father who designed the course has 27,000; they have some interesting stories to tell) and very much “real world” (they teach and fly charter), so as well as learning what you need to do to pass the test you learn useful tips and techniques. They are keen for the students to experience different types of thing – for example, rime ice (seeing where it forms, how quickly, watching how the performance of the aircraft changes, what you can to do to get rid of it), mild hypoxia (as a passenger), moderate turbulence (apparently most people tend to overestimate turbulence categories, thinking “light” is “moderate”), as well as, of course, plenty of actual IMC. It is all very practical and you learn to use the tools available including the auto pilot and the GPS for both en-route and approaches, plus what ATC will and won’t do for you.
The best aspect of the trip is the variety. In winter the mid-west is mostly well below freezing at ground level (some mornings are –25C) whilst California is warm and sunny. Some of the flying is across flat lands with easy-going controllers and very little traffic, some is across the top of major airports in California with lots of radio work and jets everywhere. You get to fly in to the highest public airport in the USA at Telluride Colorado. One whole day of the trip is flown partial panel and Telluride happened to be on that day. A refreshing change from the common scenario of instructors not willing to train in actual IMC conditions was taking off at Telluride and flying in and above the mountains at 17,000’ in IMC on partial panel. Each pilot flies two or three legs each day, with a missed approach midway on each leg. This makes for a wide variety of approaches, misses, holds, circle-to-lands and landings. Another complaint of much IR instruction is the lack of training for the transition between instrument and visual approaches, and the continuance to actually landing. With this course every other approach results in that transition and landing. At the end of each day is a written quiz which goes in to great detail on various aspects of IFR flight, the results of which are discussed at breakfast at 6:30am the next morning. Wheels-up is at 8am and you generally reach your destination around 4 or 5 o’clock that afternoon.
Over 500 people have done this trip. My instructor had done it about 25 times. Many people have apparently gone on the trip more than once and many of the pilots that all ready have an IR but go for the fun, to brush up or to get better real-world instruction. At $7500 it is not the cheapest IR training in the US, though it is cheaper than doing the same training in the UK and far more interesting. All training, flying, charts, plates, landing fees, test fee and accommodation whilst en-route are included. The views from the back seat can be fantastic and as pilot, when the conditions are VMC en-route, you get to flip your hood and take a look around – the beauty of the mountains and lakes in Oregon, San Franciso bay, Catalina Island, the Los Angeles sprawl, Sedona, The Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and various less well known spots along the way (the Rockies were solid IMC all the way though I am sure they are a sight to see). The only down side would be if you happen not to get on with your fellow students. It didn’t happen to me but if it did I imagine it would be pretty rotten. You eat three meals a day with three other students and spend about 60 hours in the plane with one of them. Doing the entire trip with someone you already know would be great.
All in all I can’t really think of a better way to gain not only the FAA IR but more importantly a wealth of real-world knowledge and experience.
Snapshots (http://www.dadams.dsc.net/flying/wca/photos) from the trip.
(edit for typos)