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.