Cloud Time

Yesterday I logged some cloud time. I must admit it was pretty cool. My CFII called up Indy Approach and grabbed a pop up clearance. Indy gave us a squawk  code and cleared us up to 4,000 feet.

Once we entered the clouds it was a very different feeling. Throughout my entire life as a pilot I have been trained to AVOID the clouds. Remain 500 feet below them or 1,000 feet above them. Now we are purposely going in the clouds. I have to tell you it is the strangest feeling ever.

Once I entered the clouds I was engulfed in whiteness. The best way to describe it to non pilots is imagine  being in your car with a white sheet being placed over your windshield and you are traveling 130 mph while 3,000 feet above the ground.

Reality hit that I'm no longer in a scrimmage game. I'm in the real deal. I'm flying under REAL Instrument Flight Rules, under REAL instrument conditions. Instinctively I buried my head even further down into the instruments performing my scan.

See the imagine above. This is what's called the 6-pack. Virtually every plane is equipped with the same instruments in this similar layout. The instrument on the top row in the middle is the attitude indicator. Some people also call it an artificial horizon. When you are in the clouds and lose all visual references this becomes your window into the world. You then scan between it and your other instruments to get a mental image of what the aircraft is doing. This is also away to cross track your instruments to make sure you are getting good information.

This is important because while in the clouds I began to get the leans. What this means is I felt as if I was turning and climbing, when I was actually flying straight and level. If I didn't trust my instruments I would have corrected for the turn that didn't really exist, thus putting the plane into a turning descent.

Flying under IFR is serious business and I was reminded again why pilots say this is one of the HARDEST rating to get.

There were pockets of flying when I would briefly pop out of the clouds and be able to see the sky above me. It is absolutely the prettiest thing in the world. It almost makes you feel as if you are touching the hands of God. You look below and you see fluffy cotton candy, above you blue sky shielded by wispy cirrus and stratus clouds and the flicker of sunshine. We were then interrupted by Indy Approach. "Zero-Papa-Foxtrot, traffic 5 miles, 3 o'clock level at 5,000, Heavy - DC-10". My CFII replied "Looking for traffic  0PF". We entered another cloud, and popped up and sure enough a FedEx DC-10 was flying over head us. I really wanted to take a picture, but it was getting bumpy so my hands were a bit busy.

We then asked to return to EYE and got vectors from ATC to shoot the localizer 21 approach at Eagle Creek. I shot the approach, landed, refueled, and put the plane away safely in the hangar.

Instrument Training and IFR Flying 101

Well since March began I have hit my instrument flight training pretty hard. I'm somewhere at about 10 hours or so into it and I can tell you that it is CHALLENGING!! This is honestly one of the hardest things I've done in aviation. I remember back when I first started learning how to fly that landing was the hardest. Now it's tackling these advanced maneuvers and procedures.

I've touched on this before in previous post but I'll try to summarize things again. There are two types of flying "rules". These rules are Visual Flight Rules 'VFR' and Instrument Flight Rules 'IFR'. The rules vary depending on your altitudes and airspace, but for the purpose of the blog VFR minimums are 3 statute miles of visibility, and 1,000 foot ceilings. IFR flying minimums are essentially 0 ceiling and 0 visibility. However to land using an Instrument Landing System you need 200 foot ceilings and 1/2 mile visibility. (Pilots, remember this blog is geared towards non pilots, so I know these minimums vary and depends on a ton of factors).

Currently I am a non instrument rated pilot. Which means I can only legally fly under VFR rules. In essence VFR flying requires me to have my head outside the window and using the see and avoid method to avoid obstacles, and visual methods to navigate. This is similar to driving a car, you look outside to see where you are going while occasionally glancing at your speedometer, gps, or whatever gizmo you have in your car.

Instrument flying is the complete opposite. Since you cannot see outside and have no visual references since you are in the clouds; you are relying on the aircraft's instruments to maintain proper attitude, and to navigate.

Flying a plane under real IFR conditions by hand without the use of an autopilot is the equivalent to driving in a construction zone, while eating dinner, changing radio stations, while its raining, speeding, and talking on the cell phone to that person you really don't feel like talking to but you've hit ignore too many times before. Oh yeah, and don't forget the mental math you must be doing, so let's equate that to balancing your checkbook. Now doing any one of these task by hand is really simple and not difficult at all, but doing them all at once is a balancing act which is very challenging and mentally tiring.

My lessons are anywhere between 1 - 1.5hrs long and I can tell you I'm BEAT afterwards. I can fly VFR for about 3 hrs before I get tired and need to stretch my legs.

Navigating under IFR is done just like it was back in WWII. There are 'fixes' or navigational aids located on the ground. These navigational aids are all radio based and basically send out signals. These signals are then picked up by equipment in the airplane to tell you how far you are from the fix, and what radial or angle you are in relationship to the fix.

This is a VOR receiver. VOR's transmits radials in 360 degrees out from the station. My plane's VOR receiver then can be tuned to the radial and I can fly either to the station or from the station. These stations are interconnected throughout the country to form what are called airways. Ever wonder why you always hear planes flying over head? Maybe more so during cloudy days? It's possible you have an airway over your home. These airways are crucial for not only general aviation, but commercial travel. 

This is a visual depiction of what a radial is and how a plane fly's on it. As you can see the top planes are flying to and from the station, while the plane at the bottom is transitioning the area and using the VOR to determine it's location relative to the station.

The instrument above is the primary navigation receiver called an Omni Bearing Selector OBS. The numbers on the outside can be rotated with the OBS knob to select what radial you are tuned to. Then the needle points to tell you if you are tracking from the station or to the station.

This last picture shows an OBS which is tuned to the 360 radial. If the pilot the plane on the 360 radial the needle will swing and line up like the picture above. The key is for the pilo flys t to keep the needle lined up on the radial he/she wants to fly on.