My Instrument Rating

After I became properly licensed as an FAA 'private 'pilot',  I was eager to take on the next step. I was ready to 'go under the hood' and train for an instrument rating. That's something every flier needs if they have aspirations for a career as a commercial pilot.  Basically, it's about learning to fly without normal visual reference. We're talking flying in clouds  or at night, with no visible horizon or ground in sight. If you lose visual reference, things can get ugly pretty quickly. You can get disoriented, your airplane can end up stalling or going into a spin. The easy way to avoid this kind of trouble is to be competent flying on instruments, using the horizon indicator, airspeed, altimeter, etc to maintain the aircraft in proper flight orientation. 

I took my instrument training at Berg-Branham Aviation at the Van Nuys Airport in California.  Adam Berg, who wrote seedy detective novels between logging hours in the air, was my primary instructor. 

Now, training on instruuments, was a challange for a number of reasons.  First and foremost, it wasn't fun like my earlier training had been. The training flights were intense.  Once airborne, you, the student, have to put on a hood that blocks your vision from everything except the primary flight instruments on the panel in front of you.  You fly that way for the next hour or so, with the instructor directing you through various exercises.  After you get comfortable with flying straight and level with no outside visual reference, you learn to do maneuvers,  turns, climbs, descents, etc.  Adam Berg was a good teacher. I recall that one of his things was to suddenly take control and push the airplane into an 'usual attitude'.  I had to recover from that unexpected circumstance while staying under the hood.  Eventually, I got comfortable with it, but it was nerve rattling to say the least. 

When you are flying on instruments, you are being monitored by an FAA Air Traffic Control Center at all times.  The biggest challenge was to learn to operate in controlled airpace.  In Southern California, air traffic is heavy. Flying an instrument approach and landing, especially in a busy traffic area like that, is where the wheat gets separated from thr chaff.  

Every airport has different procedures for instrument approaches. Back then, a pilot had to subscribe to the Jeppeson book, a thick volume in a loose leaf binder, that had all the instrument procedures for all the airports within one's flight region. Every week, a bunch of revised pages would come in the mail, with up to date FAA notices, changes to procedures, etc.  Every week, the Jeppeson book had to be updated; replacement pages in, the old pages out.  Just that task was a pain.  These days, pilots carry  a tablet; everything is updated automatically. 

Flying on instruments under the hood, while at the same time properly maintaining a holding pattern, or executing an approach procedure is the big casino.  At first, it's very difficult. Success comes only after a lot of failure. 

The image below shows the current instrument guide for the Van Nuys airport. For professional pilots, it's not terribly daunting,  but for a newbie like I was, getting it right was grueling.

Eventually, I did get it right often enough that I went up for my check ride with an FAA examiner. I recall the big test that day was executing a 'localizer' approach to Long Beach Airport. Fortunately, the  stars were aligned for me that day. I passed the test and became instrument rated.  

At that point, I rolled right into the training required for a commercial pilot's license. It seemed like I might even have a career as a professional pilot. Three things killed it for me: color blindness, cost, and precision maneuvers.   I am mildly color blind.  At least back then, you couldn't be color blind and fly for the airlines.  So, my prospects as a professional pilot were somewhat limited.  Then, their was the cost of continued training.  It was getting ever more expensive and the support I was getting from the GI Bill was running out.  The last straw was the requirement to train heavily to do precision maneuevers...perfectly executed turns, climbs, and descents.  I hated precision maneuvers. It wasn't fun. I stopped looking forward to going to the airport.  About halfway through the training to be a commercial pilot, it became clear that I was not cut out to be a commercial pilot, which in most instances has some serious kinship with driving a bus. I don't say that to denigrate commerical pilots or bus drivers. You have to be focused and professional in either vocation.  But, that kind of life was not for me.

Flying, any kind of flying, is something that requires a serious committment to maintain proficiency. At the time, I didn't have the money for that, so I chose to end my romance with flying.   I have piloted airplanes a couple of times since then.  The last time was while on vacation in Kalispell, Montana a couple of years ago. If I ever have the money, I will start flying again. When that happens, it might be in some kind of ultralight aircraft. They fly low and slow.  That's okay with me, because it would be entirely about having fun.