The private pilot’s certificate is a magic door that opens to the fantastic world of flight. And for many pilots, the sheer pleasure of recreational flying is sufficient. But others soon bridle at the limitations of VFR-only operations when they realize many flights have to be cancelled or delayed because of weather. Often that weather is relatively benign but sufficiently adverse to preclude prudent pilots from venturing aloft under visual flight rules. The instrument rating increases the utility of even the most basically equipped airplanes and eliminates many-although not all-cancellations and delays. Unless you’re lucky enough not to be a slave to a schedule, and if you have no intentions of using a general aviation airplane for relatively reliable transportation, then the instrument rating isn’t a necessary add-on rating. On the other hand, if you do want to use an airplane for going places, the instrument rating really is a prerequisite.
Learning to fly by reference to the instruments requires three different skills-control of the airplane, the ability to navigate from waypoint to waypoint to the destination, and the competence to communicate effectively. Controlling the airplane under instrument conditions means flying with precision; navigating requires you to know where you are, where you’re going and when you’re going to get there; and communicating effectively means learning to understand what you’re told and being able to express yourself succinctly.
