From: davea@col.hp.com (Dave Allen)
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.misc
Subject: Re: why IFR = "real pilot"
Date: 27 Jan 1993 20:07:17 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division
NNTP-Posting-Host: qadata.col.hp.com

Whew. It doesn't seem to take much to declare open season on IFR pilots.

 From: spenny@sw.stratus.com (Steve Pennypacker)
>If you want to "play with the big boys," go right ahead, but for Pete's
>sake don't refer to the rest of us as lesser pilots than you because you
>happen to have spent the money to get an IFR license.

 From: dsnyder@falcon.aamrl.wpafb.af.mil
>  Shooting an IFR approach can't possibly be any more difficult
>than landing a taildragger in a stiff crosswind!

 From: venky@thelonious.bellcore.com (G A Venkatesh)
>IFR rating is quite silly as a religion.

Steve P says exactly what I'm wanting to say...

 From: spenny@sw.stratus.com (Steve Pennypacker)
>Why do pilots have to look down on other pilots who don't do the same type of 
>flying that they do?  ...But when pilots talk down about other groups of
>pilots, I don't blame the public for being afraid of us.

Unfortunately most of your article was contrary to your own advice...

>On the 
>other hand, most [ATPs] would make a mess of their nice blue uniforms if 
>they ever had to land any airplane at all in the field I soloed from.  The 
>same is true of a lot of IFR types, and even some instructors I've flown with

There are a lot of flying skills that give us challenge and satisfaction.
Sweeping generalizations don't work. ATP's (well, the older ones anyway)
didn't start out in a B-747. Dave T simply stated a fact...

>the IFR ticket that lets you play with the big boys.  Filing IFR means that
>you share critical skills and knowledge with the pros, and with the ATC
>system designed to support them.

He didn't say IFR pilots are "better", but a lot of folks went non-linear.

 From: spenny@sw.stratus.com (Steve Pennypacker)
>I don't judge my piloting ability by what groundhogs think.

Remember, Dave T is talking about how to get your company to let you fly on
business. If you wanted to convince your company of this, you would be
forced to contend with the groundhogs.

 From: tpickett@auspex.com (Tom Pickett)
>Believe it or not, it is possible to use an airplane for transportation
>even without an IFR ticket!  I have for the past 15 years, having managed
>to fly to Canada, the Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Oshkosh,
>and Indiana twice.  I did all that without an IFR license and with a
>minimum of delays.

Yes. I'd hate for folks to think you can't get places by airplane. But the
places you mention have more VFR days than most parts of the country. I
hardly get to use my IFR ticket unless I go quite a ways east. Our family
vacation two summers ago to S Dakota, Mich, Ohio, Niagara, NY, CT, Martha's
Vineyard, Virginia, W Va, and Missouri would have ended in S Dakota if not
for IFR flying.

I've been a VFR pilot for 29 years and IFR for 2. I'm not an IFR pilot. I'm
both. The delays are a small part of the "problem" with VFR flying. Consider
also the trips that are "no-go" from the start. If it works to postpone or
drive, ok. Most of the trips I've made in the past 2 years would have been
"sorry, we can't go" without IFR. But utility is only one factor.

Passenger comfort was a major motivator for getting my IFR license. Some years
ago we were coming up on Hays KS, with a fuel stop planned for Salina. A
broken/overcast layer had developed over the area. The choice was a
familiar one - smooth on top or bumpy underneath. Didn't look like I could
get back down at Salina. So... One new, young passenger lost her lunch. One
more miserable experience to associate with "little airplanes". One more
"emergency" stop. Now I can almost always choose the smooth, clear (much
better vis above), cooler route. I like that. My passengers LOVE it. I don't
want to give them any less than the best and now I can offer them much more
than before.

I had lots of good reasons for getting the IFR ticket. But I'd overlooked the
very best reason, and it totally took me by surprise. I'd always enjoyed the
beauty of clouds. But always from afar. Here I was popping through them,
flying in and through and AMONG them. Oh! I can't begin to tell you how
beautiful they are up close (the right ones, of course). And so many double,
full-circle rainbows. Oh! (Venky, my religion opens my eyes to a lot of
beauty. So does my IFR rating, so I guess they're similar in that respect.
But I don't think either one is "silly".)

I have done lots of wonderful flying in taildraggers and little grass strips,
doing hammerheads and loops, venturing across most of the country on 65hp and
no radio. But I have to tell you, my absolutely most spectacular, beautiful
flying experiences have been thanks to my cloud-punching ticket. All flying
is wonderful, and we do well to appreciate all the ways we do it and all the
skills we derive satisfaction from. If nothing else, an IFR ticket just lets
you do more of it.

dave allen - Fly because you love it.
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.misc