Real IFR Training

[Oliver]

Hi everyone,

 

As I'm currently full force into my IFR training, I thought I'd make a thread to the real life pilots here that have acquired their instrument ratings. What was your best method of studying and what materials did you use?

I'm trying to broaden my horizons and study the most informative materials I can find. So far I found that the SheppardAir iPad application for IFR was quite great and use it for most my training. Are there any other apps or study guides that you used that could provide extensive knowledge on IFR?

Hoping to have my IR finished by the time November rolls around, and then having my commercial by the May.

 

I appreciate all the advice and feedback,

 

 

 

O.

[eaglewing7]

I decided to forgo the multi-IFR, for now at least.  It all depends on what your career goal is, as to whether or not it will be of use to you.  Depending on who you talk to, it is either an asset or a waste of money while you are getting into the industry.  Of course, that may explain why I'm still looking for work, and instead am getting my instructor rating...  

 

An interesting trick, or a way of saving a significant sum of money, is to go in with as much theory/book knowledge as possible, so that you have a decent understanding of the procedures early on, so that you are not trying to learn on the fly (literally).  And, also to do the bulk of the training in a single engine aircraft, then just a few flights before your check ride, get in the multi, polish your multi flying, and finish off the rating.  Much cheaper than the standard FTU's everything in the multi or nothing schtick.

[Oliver]

I decided to forgo the multi-IFR, for now at least.  It all depends on what your career goal is, as to whether or not it will be of use to you.  Depending on who you talk to, it is either an asset or a waste of money while you are getting into the industry.  Of course, that may explain why I'm still looking for work, and instead am getting my instructor rating...  

 

An interesting trick, or a way of saving a significant sum of money, is to go in with as much theory/book knowledge as possible, so that you have a decent understanding of the procedures early on, so that you are not trying to learn on the fly (literally).  And, also to do the bulk of the training in a single engine aircraft, then just a few flights before your check ride, get in the multi, polish your multi flying, and finish off the rating.  Much cheaper than the standard FTU's everything in the multi or nothing schtick.

Thanks for the feedback! Yeah the reason I'm doing it is because of the aviation company we had discussed a few months ago. I'm assuming that if I ferry airplanes around the world, IFR is going to be indispensable. I'm doing my cross country building time right now with a friend of mine in his PA28. Only paying like $60 an hour so it's definitely significantly cheaper than the $180 at the flight school for the G1000 172. I'm planning to do my last 15 cfii required hours with my buddy's who's a CFI in the G1000. That way it'll save a substantial amount of money. 

[eaglewing7]

Not a bad idea then.  Of course, you will have to ensure that you keep not just current, but proficient at IFR flying.  Too many pilots get their IFR, never use it, or use it so infrequently that they become complacent, they either have a rude awakening during their renewal ride, or mother nature takes no prisoners...
 

Good to hear that you are getting a deal, and have contacts in the industry that are willing to help.  I assume you are taking the route that I mentioned, doing your training in a single, and then will finish off in the multi.  Excellent course of action.

 

Good luck with the training, keep us updated.

[Oliver]

Not a bad idea then.  Of course, you will have to ensure that you keep not just current, but proficient at IFR flying.  Too many pilots get their IFR, never use it, or use it so infrequently that they become complacent, they either have a rude awakening during their renewal ride, or mother nature takes no prisoners...

 

Good to hear that you are getting a deal, and have contacts in the industry that are willing to help.  I assume you are taking the route that I mentioned, doing your training in a single, and then will finish off in the multi.  Excellent course of action.

 

Good luck with the training, keep us updated.

Yep, that's the plan. Thanks for the feedback, I greatly appreciate it! 

[philipp]

I used "Sporty's Instrument Rating Course iPad/iPhone App" though in a version that is seemingly no longer available (It was mostly videos and I paid $139 I think, the current version seems to be beefed up on the interactive part and now costs $199) and took about 6 weeks to go through all the lessons, one evening at a time. My instructor signed me off for the written test after just one hour of additional ground school, so it was definitely worth the investment. 

Same holds true for going into the actual flying with a very solid theoretical knowledge already. My lessons consisted of 98% just flying and only 2% explaining, at least that's how it felt like. 

Of course X-Plane helped a lot to get proficient in all the procedures before actually flying them. To be honest, after most of my actual lessons I was like "I don't feel like I learned anything new today", but of course that's not true. There's so much fun in flying actual IFR! In my opinion, there are few things more rewarding than flying an approach in actual conditions down to the minimums, and then seeing the approach lights appear dead-center in the windshield. I did encounter some actual conditions since I got my ticket, and am now working on converting my FAA IFR to an EASA IFR.

[Oliver]

I used "Sporty's Instrument Rating Course iPad/iPhone App" though in a version that is seemingly no longer available (It was mostly videos and I paid $139 I think, the current version seems to be beefed up on the interactive part and now costs $199) and took about 6 weeks to go through all the lessons, one evening at a time. My instructor signed me off for the written test after just one hour of additional ground school, so it was definitely worth the investment. 

Same holds true for going into the actual flying with a very solid theoretical knowledge already. My lessons consisted of 98% just flying and only 2% explaining, at least that's how it felt like. 

Of course X-Plane helped a lot to get proficient in all the procedures before actually flying them. To be honest, after most of my actual lessons I was like "I don't feel like I learned anything new today", but of course that's not true. There's so much fun in flying actual IFR! In my opinion, there are few things more rewarding than flying an approach in actual conditions down to the minimums, and then seeing the approach lights appear dead-center in the windshield. I did encounter some actual conditions since I got my ticket, and am now working on converting my FAA IFR to an EASA IFR.

Thanks a lot for the feedback, Phillipp. I'll definitely check it out and pick it up. I feel as if I've learned a lot of IFR through X-Plane. Each day I try to get current in the sim and practice my approaches and holds. Even doing my PPL training I was doing quite a bit of approaches to practice and I ended up knowing quite more than I thought. Yeah I totally agree, I've only been in full IFR conditions a few times with some CFII buddies and I can definitely say it was an amazing and beautiful experience.

[ryanbatc]

Hi, have fun while training too!

 

Also I highly recommend taking a look at Pilot Edge....  would be beneficial during your training to get ATC while flying... there's a two week trial period it's pretty easy install for XP10... I actually use it with all three major sims.

http://www.pilotedge.net/

 

Keith Smith is the founder and an avid XPer

[Oliver]

Hi, have fun while training too!

 

Also I highly recommend taking a look at Pilot Edge....  would be beneficial during your training to get ATC while flying... there's a two week trial period it's pretty easy install for XP10... I actually use it with all three major sims.

http://www.pilotedge.net/

 

Keith Smith is the founder and an avid XPer

Will definitely check it out. How does it compare to Vatsim?

[ryanbatc]

I'll just make a direct comparison

 

Pros:  Super high quality ATC, Realistic routing/procedures, frequencies found on the real charts - so you'll call clearance for clearance, not the overlying ARTCC, staffed from 8am-11pm Pacific time

 

Cons: Small area of operation... socal only with one exception - service at KSFO if going to socal, typically only 2-3 people working all positions...  so to separate it from my above statement, you still use all the freqs you would in real life, but one physical person might work clearance, ground and tower - while someone else would work approach/dep and enroute... IE- you'll hear the same person sometimes along most of your flight.  However in the real world you get a bit of that too - some sectors are combined with mult frequencies.  And I don't think the cost is a con - it takes people to staff this sort of operation, but I think its 15-20 USD/month after your trial period expires.

[Oliver]

I'll just make a direct comparison

 

Pros:  Super high quality ATC, Realistic routing/procedures, frequencies found on the real charts - so you'll call clearance for clearance, not the overlying ARTCC, staffed from 8am-11pm Pacific time

 

Cons: Small area of operation... socal only with one exception - service at KSFO if going to socal, typically only 2-3 people working all positions...  so to separate it from my above statement, you still use all the freqs you would in real life, but one physical person might work clearance, ground and tower - while someone else would work approach/dep and enroute... IE- you'll hear the same person sometimes along most of your flight.  However in the real world you get a bit of that too - some sectors are combined with mult frequencies.  And I don't think the cost is a con - it takes people to staff this sort of operation, but I think its 15-20 USD/month after your trial period expires.

Perfect. Thanks a lot for the insight! 

[Keith Smith]

Oliver,

 

Suggest checking out the IFR workshops (available for free) here: http://pilotege.net/workshops

 

Additionally, there's a decent IFR training program (focusing on IFR procedures, not stick and rudder) here: http://training.pilotedge.net

 

And here's a comparison to VATSIM and other online networks: http://www.pilotedge.net/pages/comparison-to-other-networks

 

Simply put, if you logged in at 8am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, and 8pm PDT for the next 7 days in a row, PilotEdge will have ATC available during 100% of those flights. You simply do not know what you'll get if you fly on VATSIM, and it certainly won't be consistent. Sometimes you'll talk to approach...other times you'll only talk to center. Other times there will be nobody there.

 

Additionally, if you were to fly from a Class D airport to another Class D airport, on PE you'll go from Ground to Tower, to approach, to tower, back to ground...5 freqs at least. On VATSIM you'll very likely only work with a single freq the entire time (because when they do have multiple controllers, those additional controllers are typically working individual positions at the popular airports, such as LAX_GND or LAX_TWR). So, even though we have a limited number of controllers online, the same is generally true for a given geographic area on VATSIM, too...but we cover all the frequencies, so the pilot workload is higher.

 

Hope that helps!

[Oliver]

Oliver,

 

Suggest checking out the IFR workshops (available for free) here: http://pilotege.net/workshops

 

Additionally, there's a decent IFR training program (focusing on IFR procedures, not stick and rudder) here: http://training.pilotedge.net

 

And here's a comparison to VATSIM and other online networks: http://www.pilotedge.net/pages/comparison-to-other-networks

 

Simply put, if you logged in at 8am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, and 8pm PDT for the next 7 days in a row, PilotEdge will have ATC available during 100% of those flights. You simply do not know what you'll get if you fly on VATSIM, and it certainly won't be consistent. Sometimes you'll talk to approach...other times you'll only talk to center. Other times there will be nobody there.

 

Additionally, if you were to fly from a Class D airport to another Class D airport, on PE you'll go from Ground to Tower, to approach, to tower, back to ground...5 freqs at least. On VATSIM you'll very likely only work with a single freq the entire time (because when they do have multiple controllers, those additional controllers are typically working individual positions at the popular airports, such as LAX_GND or LAX_TWR). So, even though we have a limited number of controllers online, the same is generally true for a given geographic area on VATSIM, too...but we cover all the frequencies, so the pilot workload is higher.

 

Hope that helps!

Keith,

 

Thank you very much for the links and for the info. I've got quite a lot to take care of at my office this week, but I'll definitely check out PilotEdge this weekend!