Clacton Aero Club IMC

[barne_as]

Hi

Anybody done an IMC with the above? Was planning on doing it this summer and wanted to do an intensive course.

Any comments or feedback, positive and negative appreciated.

Any other suggestions on intensive courses also would be useful. Clacton seems to be good rates advertised

[deanoplane]

Did my initial IMC with Clacton. Passed in minimum hours, good instructors, aircraft basic but good value hourly rates and helped me greatly with the Instrument rating that I did a few years later.
If you don't mind grass runways and the occasional delay due to crosswinds then you wlll have a good time.

[DBisDogOne]

Did mine there in summer 2009, took longer than minimum hours (did intensive course but split in two chunks due to work) but that's because I was a bit crap and slow on the uptake, plus initially I suffered from air-sickness while in solid IMC but got over it after a couple of hours. Don't get hung up with the old 'Minimum hours' bit - IMC takes time and I'm told not too many do it in 15 hours - although you may be a brilliant pilot and prove me wrong! - so budget accordingly (though CAC's rates are some of the cheapest I've seen).
They use Southend for NDB/ILS approaches and they are reasonably priced and were very friendly (to me anyway) and invariably helpful in booking slots and putting up with an IMC student flying a slow-ass 152 generally getting in their way. SRA/PAR's were done at a local military field whose name escapes me - again, very helpful and patient ATCO's.

Did most of mine with Jo, a great instructor, really experienced and patient as hell (which you need to be with me....) but won't allow shortcuts/sloppy procedures which is how it should be. She gets the info across making learning what I consider a difficult subject much easier. Did my tailwheel with her in the SuperCub (MikeMike) last summer too.
Aircraft are basic but well maintained (on-site), you'll probably have 152 Hotel-India unless the resto of their IFR equipped 172 is complete, not exactly comfortable but I'm 6'1" and 13st/medium build and had no big issues, don't know about how that suits you but it flys well enough and does the job. (If you want a fancy-nancy flash ship that's fine, you'd best go elsewhere but you'll pay dearly for it).

Clacton is a great little 500m grass strip airfield, a pleasent challenging change if you are used to big surfaced airfields, as far as I'm concerned, it's much more fun than big fields. If your crosswind landings are not up to scratch, they soon will be as the place is rarely into wind being perpendicular to the coast so you'll get plenty of practice and the 36 landing and climb out are huge fun too!!! Oh and there's a public footpath halfway down the runway so watch out for idiots walking across the active runway despite the signs and the noise (I'm serious - look it up in a flight guide).
Personally, I can't recall losing more than a morning to weather/winds during IMC or tailwheel, maybe I was lucky, the one morning I lost right at the end of my IMC, I did the ground exam so no loss there then (this exam is pretty easy - mostly a PLOG a la your PPL nav exam with ref to IFR plus some general Q's on IMC)

You may get to stay at the airfield managers (John) place - basic but cheap, Clacton itself aien't exactly great but you're there to fly not be a tourist.

I'm almost certainly going back there this summer for my IMC renewal and for a play with the SuperCub.
If you are a down to earth sort (not a flash hero-type) I think you'll like the proper flying club attitude of CAC as it gives you what you need for a low price, if you want all the frills and fancy dressing/corperate image - best go elsewhere.
Hope this has helped - good luck.

[Zulu Alpha]

Get Microsoft flight simulator and set up some approaches with 3/4/500 ft cloudbase. Try setting different winds.

It has a feature where you can store settings so I stored each of the start points and winds etc. I could then re fly an approach just by pressing one of the function keys.

I found this helped practice ILSs. It costs less than 30 mins in the air and I think it saved me more than that. Its also good for a practice every now and then as well as renewal time.

It is not a replacement for IMC training, but I felt it helped get my eye in before getting in the aircraft.

[Booglebox]

Clacton is fun for flying and the instructors are all pretty good (flew with all of them). The a/c are a bit knackered cosmetically, and quite old but they are mechanically sound. Would recommend 172 as it has better nav fit and is less of a squeeze.

As stated the strip has a crosswind a lot of the time and is fairly short, so builds good flying skills. Good fun approaching over the beach :cool: They have their own mx facility on site for any snags and some of the instructors are also mechanics so the a/c are treated well.

Clubhouse is a bit basic but has all you need, girls behind the desk are friendly, the chief pilot can be a bit of an arse but he is skilled and experienced. You can walk into Clacton which is a bit of a dump in a charming sort of way, lots of good places to eat.