So what was your first ever IMC solo trip like??
 

For the pro's out there who now fly fancy IFR kit, what was your first ever IFR/IMC trip like. How did it make you feel when you first punched into the cloud on your own and what did you learn from it?:uhoh:

I learned that it was time the RAF spent out for some decent IFR kit.

Puma: One VOR box (no Y channels, mind). One DME. One ATC radio. No mode C. No ILS. And a bloody boat nav - Decca, with turret switches in it, a "clockwork" navaid, like something out of a Jules Verne film! Oh yes - and a compass card with no heading bug on it but a redundant ADF needle, not connected to anything at all.

Bulldog: No IFR navaids whatsoever. However, we were often required to instruct VMC on top after a back bearing departure to keep us out of CAS. We would then obtain true bearings from local RAF stations to keep us over the correct county. For us the "Trent beacon" was plumes from the power stations along the river Trent bubbling through the cloud, sometimes visible, sometimes not. We then did QGH airfield letdowns back into base. Barking mad, really, especially when we did close formation letdowns in solid IMC.

It was a terrifying, but mercifully short trip in a Scout. Which had two comms radios, no navaids, a transponder and the worst intercom / radio controller I've ever seen.
Going from Boscombe Down to Lee-on-Solent - perfect day for an IFR trip I thought. Checked the weather, checked the NOTAMS, checked the enroute supplement - everything in order. Maps etc. all sorted out. Launched into the goo and promptly discovered that a) the Scout was bloody squirrelly and b) that the black on black attitude indicator was worthless. Partly terrified at this stage, I continued, and managed to make the radio change to Southampton without going out of control. Asked how I wanted to get into Lee-on-Solent, I replied - "Radar approach". The response of 'The Radar's off the air for planned maintenance' was a bit unnerving - I'd checked the enroute supplement and knew that it was normally scheduled to be off on that weekday, but assumed that this would be like it was nearly everywhere else - off only if the weather was VFR. I mean, why turn it off if the weather was IFR and you needed it? This didn't help my stability, as I tried to figure out what I was going to do - radar to radar doesn't give you a good 'air picture' of where you are. Flying accuracy definitely suffered, and there were long pauses between communications while I struggled to keep the machine upright.
Eventually got a radar approach from Southampton and became a blurr of trying to unfold VFR maps at the end of the approach and motored on to Lee-on-solent. But I never, ever went IFR alone in the Scout after that.

Compared to Shawn and Shy T, mine was a comparatively straightforward affair. En route solid IMC at 5000ft from departure to an ILS an hour away but I was spoiled by being fully coupled in a SPIFR 109C the day after I got the Rating on my licence. It was several months later before I summoned enough courage to do it manually, self-positioning from Initial Approach to establish on the LOC at about 10 miles, then got the lights at 250ft - felt about 7 foot tall after that!

As I said, compared to the others, all very straighforward in a properly equipped IFR twin. However, the first time you get the lights, all on your own, is a particular thrill!!

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And the first time you DON'T, is also a particular "thrill"......... :eek:

SPIFR in a Helicopter - WHY?

Im still amazed when i see the lights, fully coupled or not. the fact i pressed the buttons in the right sequence amazes me, i cant even button my shirt properly.

First IMC flight, was dark, lonely and long.
Left the landing light on didnt notice until i flew into a rain shower and saw a million little white dots coming at me out of the dark. scared the bejeebus out of me!

Just remember what you were taught and youll be fine. :)

There was nobody more amazed that I that I actually found it a bit easier.

I didn't have an engine failure half way down the ILS, the auto pilot didn't fail and all the instruments seemed to work as advertised.

But then again it was only a short flight over a couple of aids and down the ILS.

Cheers,

It was nearly imc on that long ferry through the South Pacific, especially that long over water leg, couldn't tell the sea from the sky. However, at 5000ft or so the only thing we could bump into was ourselves. Hope your plastic recovered Mitch.

Agree with that Scout story, terrible thing to fly IF.

Inadvertant IMC in an R22 at night.....popped in the cloud at 2000ft, popped out at about 900ft and 90 degrees off my original heading.:eek: Longest 20 seconds of my life!

My first IMC solo was in a VFR Longranger at 10,000'. Needless to say the next 20 minutes until I broke out of cloud at 500' were very interesting. The landing was quite uneventful. I stayed on the ground for the next 3 days waiting for the weather to clear before returning.

Bet there's a certain old timer, not far from the sea, who could enlighten us on some wobbly S58T IMC stories!!

As for me, not my first IMC flight but certainly one of the more interesting.. BO105, no SAS, no ILS, full IMC for over an hour and a half from Wales to Cornwall with a SRA at the bottom (foggy bottom!!) NOT RECOMMENDED :eek:

Safe flying all.

...beginning to realise how easy I have it really, having someone in that right seat to make the final decisions! :ok:

Hate it when they do that 'pilot incapacitation' thing on me though. Why do I still read the checklist out loud I wonder?

Single pilot IFR for us? we're not even allowed to taxi the a/c to the hangar solo!! Bit of a waste of the £20k they spent on my type rating.

Er, because there isn't another crewmember on board...? :confused:

If the boss wants to go, cloud is not a reasonable excuse (certainly wasn't, yesterday). It can be done quite safely with the right equipment, training and attitude. Single pilot is better because I need the left seat to lay out charts, plates, PLOG etc. And the co-pilot's weight is better spent on an extra 85 kgs of fuel.... :p

85kgs? Hey...watch it! :)

Helimutt,

In accordance with JAR-OPS 3.615(a)(2).

Jim

My first "solo" IMC was a training trip as a brand new captain with a brand new copilot. On departure we had the wrong NDB tuned in (256 instead of 266 which where two miles apart, hard to tell when they were on the same rough bearing). After ATC kindly informed us we were two miles north of track, we had a radio failure right where we'd flight planned an altitude change. Copilot changed altitudes while I was heads down sorting out the comms issue. Just as I got terminal up on a backup radio they politely informed me we had descended without clearance. Later as we are breaking out from the enroute ILS at 400' it occurs to me that this is substantially lower then the 1000' or so forecast and our destination (NDB only) requires 600'. We amend our route to try to get into the home base (which is at minimums now despite the VFR forecast) with enough gas to divert if necessary. During the approach at MDA in heavy rain my wipers fail (thank you Bell for those wonderful things) and the NDB goes intermittent. Just as I am about to overshoot we become visual with the pad and land.
The only system that didn't fail me that flight were the engines and I am forever grateful to have learned all those lessons, the hard way, early in my career. Now I never trust the weather or rely on Bell wipers and always confirm the copilot's navaid settings.

SPIFR in an adequately equipped aircraft...why not?

Jesus, I just got chills up my spine thinking about that 1.