I hate instrument flying

[Tailwind W10]

"I know.  Buzz kill.  But Canadian homebuilts seem to start out as non-aerobatic, then there is a paper dance (and one flight - wheee!) that you have to do, to remove the non-aerobaticrestriction.  I've done it several times."


I find it ironic.  One would presume that you have to do some aerobatics in the airplane in question with the restriction in place.  You'd have to be familiar with its characteristics before doing the demo flight wouldn't you?  That's Transport Canada for ya!


I've got a long unflown Mong Sport in the hangar now.  After I get the Tailwind flying I'll have a go at rebuilding that little gem, go through that little paperwork shuffle, so I can do some 'whoopee' flying.


Cheers
Gerry

[John Swallow]

I must be the odd man out…

I’ve been high.  I’ve been low.  I’ve been fast.  I’ve been slow.

I’ve loved it all.

From racing across the ground in a fighter at 200 feet doing 450 knots to crawling across the trees in a Citabria at 70 knots.  From VFR at 500 feet in a helicopter from New Brunswick to California to British Columbia back to New Brunswick to IFR in a biz jet doing the same thing.

There’s nothing like doing 3000 miles using a map in VFR conditions, nor is there anything like taking off in 1200 RVR and landing 1200 miles later in similar conditions.

Retirement has brought about full time VFR flight, but I still miss the ability to avail myself of the IFR world.  VFR is so limiting…  (Especially mountain VFR)  ((Although Skyview and synthetic vision are a game changer...)

There’s always the lotto; I guess I should buy some tickets...

[Colonel]

[quote]One would presume that you have to do some aerobatics in the airplane in question with the restriction in place[/quote]

Yes, that little bit of reality intrudes into the paperwork process.

What you do, is apply for a flight permit (valid 30 days) which
allows aerobatics to be conducted.

Then you do the aerobatics, and scribble the maneuvers
performed in the journey log and submit a report to TC.

IIRC, only the aerobatic maneuvers cribbled in the logbook
are permitted.  So for example, on one RV-7 I do h-heads
and the other, I don't.  The one I didn't do hheads in can
never legally do hheads.

Stop laughing.

Oh yeah, only certain people can do the flight.  Yada yada
yada.

PS Leaving the airport today, I was on the bike riding past
the ends of [font=verdana]rows and rows of hangars, and inbetween, I [/font]
[font=verdana]see a BD-5J [/font]running up.  I didn't know there were any
still around.

I go out the security gate and wait for traffic to turn right
on the boulevard.  A new, bright red Ferrari boots it and
howls past me.  Very cool sound.

I am not in Kansas any more.

[John Swallow]

Shiny:

I should have made myself clearer: I was not talking about the pleasures of flying on a Barbra Streisand afternoon (On a clear day, you can see forever...). 

I was referring to the situation of wanting to get airborne and the weather not cooperating  - those times when the best it can do is struggle up to VFR minima and sit there.  That is when it would be nice to still have a valid instrument rating.  Flying in Swedish CAVU is a delight; doing so in bare VFR minima not so much - especially in the mountains.

And we do still fly for fun in the mountains, even when it's 1000-3 in smoke, mist, or snow.  But, we are pretty much restricted to whichever mountain valley we inhabit.  However, in the Okanagan, that still gives us Salmon Arm, Kamloops, Penticton, and Oliver as year-round coffee/lunch destinations.

So, I reiterate that I miss the IFR capability as flight in bare VFR limits is restrictive; however, maintaining a rating as this stage is not cost effective. 

[Colonel]

In a little airplane, it can be delightful to use an instrument
rating to fly from terrible wx into nice wx.

Example:  in the morning, a low overcast hangs over the
airport.  Dark and gloomy.  You file IFR, climb up into the
clouds on the dials and pop out on top into the blinding
sunshine, fumbling for your sunglasses.

You fly on top of the puffy white clouds - they're always
much more friendly on top, than dark and foreboding
underneath - and the layer starts to break up.  You start
to see holes in the undercast, and see stuff on the
ground underneath.

The layer continues to break up as you get closer to
your destination, and you have a nice hole to descend
down in the sunshine to your destination.  Fuck the
approach to minimums hero bullshit, this is the way
to fly IFR in a little airplane.

[Nark1]

^^^^^100% agree.

I always love taking off in shit weather. Popping out of the clouds to a clear sky.

We started service from ORD to CUN (Cancun).  I look forward to doing those flights.

[Liquid_Charlie]

you can always recognize Cancun by the smell, not offensive but very distinct.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

you can always recognize Cancun by the smell, not offensive but very distinct.

Is she still around?

[Slick Goodlin]

I always love taking off in shit weather. Popping out of the clouds to a clear sky.

I often say it’s always sunny somewhere, we just have to climb high enough to find it.