The private pilot was well into earning his instrument rating. Every training flight consists of multiple approaches that terminate in a missed approach, followed by the return to the home airport for a full-stop landing.
His flight planning skills were good, his scan was spot-on, and his radio skills were improving with each flight. Unfortunately, his landings had become a bit rough. Too fast. Not on centerline. They were passable, but not the level of precision on which he prided himself.
The pilot was frustrated with his performance until his CFII assured him that “losing one’s landings” was not unexpected during the pursuit of the instrument rating. One of the common complaints of instrument applicants (and their instructors) is that the applicant’s landings suffer because they don’t get the same level of landing practice that they did as private pilot candidates, where pretty much every lesson concluded with a few laps in the pattern for touch-and-goes.
Landings Fade First
Of all the flying skills that are perishable, landings top the list. As you need at least a private pilot certificate to pursue the instrument rating, you (in theory) already know how to land the airplane—and you have many hours doing it.
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For private, recreational, and sport pilot certificates, learning to land is a very integral part, which is why most flight lessons end with multiple touch-and-goes.
Sometimes there will be days when you never leave the pattern because the objective is to learn or practice your short field, soft field, and go-arounds to perfection, and Airman Certification Standards in preparation for your check ride.
The IFR ticket is to get you from here to there when the weather is below VFR, or to help you get safely back on the ground when it isn’t.
Much of instrument rating consists of flying instrument approaches at different airports and executing the missed approach, then heading back to the home airport for a single landing. If you have the time and money to do multiple touch-and-goes (after you have canceled your IFR clearance), go for it. If you are flying on a budget, it may be a challenge to stay proficient.
What Else Gets Rusty?
After getting their instrument ratings, many pilots will file IFR flight plans for cross-country flight even when the weather is VFR. Working within “the system” is a hard-earned skill, and for people who want careers as professional pilots, that’s the environment you will most likely be operating in, so you might as well get used to it.
During your instrument check ride, you may have to demonstrate how to plan a cross-country flight using VFR procedures and then transfer the information to an IFR flight plan.
It is not only landings that get sloppy when you focus on instrument flight—you can expect to see some rust forming on your ground reference maneuvers, slow flight, and stalls.
Go out and practice those to make sure you (still) remember how to do them. You will also be doing a few of these maneuvers—slow flight and stalls—under the hood, along with unusual attitudes (more likely to occur when you lose outside visual reference).
Steep turns in the instrument environment are limited to 30 degrees of bank. There’s less chance of a loss of control with less than 45 degrees of bank, but that doesn’t mean a pilot can’t become confused and overbank and end up in an unusual attitude. Make sure you practice those and the proper recovery, so if you encounter one in the real world, it won’t result in an accident or incident—it will just be a story to tell over coffee at the FBO.