Instrument Flight Rules

Getting an Instrument Rating

What goes before that, in planning and training, determines what kind of instrument pilot emerges from the process. Here we want to go through what it takes to produce the best and most complete instrument-rated pilot. When we were writing about learning to fly, it was suggested that a private pilot course should be completed […]

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Practical Tips For Flying IFR

I still believe my instrument-rating check ride was my toughest, but then maybe it just seemed that way because the technology in the Cessna 172 I flew was pretty basic: two communications radios, two VORs, an ADF and a transponder. Keeping an airplane upright in the old days demanded constant brain work to scan the […]

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How To Fly Single-Pilot IFR with a Digital Copilot

Like many aviation enthusiasts, my introduction to general aviation and piston airplanes was Flying magazine. As a kid in the 1990s, I always looked forward to heading to the barbershop with my dad where I could read the latest copy of Flying while waiting my turn for a haircut. I hoped to see a full […]

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Chart Wise: Approaching to Minimums

Many instrument procedures, such as ILS approaches, allow you to fly your airplane very close to the ground while in clouds. When the decision altitude or decision height is as low as 100 to 200 feet above the ground, it is particularly critical to know the approach procedure and make sure that your altimeter is […]

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Aftermath: Failure to Focus on the Overall Situation

“The entire normal operating checklist for the new Embraer Phenom 100 light business jet fits on both sides of a laminated card that you can slide into a shirt pocket,” former Flying editor Mac McClellan wrote approvingly in his 2009 report on the airplane. “The Phenom is designed to cut pilot workload to a minimum […]

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On the Record: Piper PA-24

Piper PA-24 Sturgis, South Dakota / Injuries: 1 Serious, 1 Minor The pilot reported that he was conducting an instrument approach in instrument meteorological conditions. Upon reaching the decision altitude, the front-seat passenger reported the runway was in front of the airplane. The pilot looked up from the instruments, but could not see the runway […]

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