Chasing the Instrument Ticket
I started my flying adventures in the spring of 2012 with the Royal Air Flight Training school out of Baltimore-Washington International (KBWI). Having been fascinated with airplanes and anything else that leaves the ground in a controlled and sustained fashion ever since I watched Will Smith battle aliens in a legacy F/A-18 in the 1996 gem Independence Day, I figured I should advance this love of flying by actually learning how to fly myself.
After my first solo around the pattern at KMTN on my 24th birthday in the trusty N18167 (1972 C150)
After a obtained my Private Pilot's License (PPL) in 2013, my flying slowly crept to a halt by Spring of 2014. The major reasons were the simultaneous abundance of cost and lack of money (I was a poor grad student after all) and the need to focus on wrapping up my doctoral work at the University of Maryland. Fast forward to the Fall of 2017 and I decided that my two big goals for 2018 were going to completing my first full IronMan and getting back into the air and completing my Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) rating. The basic requirements for the Instrument Rating are as follows:
- At least 50 hours of cross-country flight time as pilot in command. At least 10 of these hours must be in airplanes for an instrument-airplane rating.
- A total of 40 hours of actual or simulated instrument time on the areas of operation listed in 61.65(c). Up to 20 of these simulated instrument training hours can be in an authorized simulator with a CFII.
- At least 15 hours of instrument flight training from an authorized instructor in the aircraft category for the instrument rating sought.
- A 250NM instrument cross-country flight along airways/ATC directed routing consisting of: 1) An instrument approach at each airport. 2) Three different kinds of approaches with the use of navigation systems (Example: ILS, VOR, GPS, etc). 3) At least 3 hours of instrument training that is appropriate to the instrument rating sought from an authorized instructor in preparation for the checkride within two calendar months before the examination date.
A month removed from the Santa Rosa IronMan I finally went for it. I made an appointment with a Flight Instructor at Pacific Skies Aviation (Torrance Zamperini Field) and went up in my first General Aviation flight in over 4 years. Needless to say it was awesome. After some basic airmanship review, slow flight, stalls, and coordinated turns it was time to return to the field for some pattern work. Somewhat to my surprise my instructor Adam asked me to perform a touch-and-go right out of the gate. I had expected him to demonstrated the first landing since i hadn't flown in quite some time. Fortunately, I had done my homework and reviewed my old flight notes, including how to set up the aircraft for the proper landing configuration (airspeed, altitude, power, etc.). The touch and go's went smoothly, and after an hour of ground review I was checked off once again to take to the sky as Pilot In Command (PIC).
An awesome Christmas present my girlfriend Liz gave me, first time in an open cockpit! One day ill be in the back seat...
It took me roughly a year and half to get my PPL, mainly due to the lack of available funds in grad school. Since I had at best only 5 months to finish this rating, I was determined to save up and set aside all finances needed plus some margin (~ $12,000) to finish the rating in one strong effort. Other than for the pure love of flying, the second reason I made it a personal commitment to get my IFR ticket before departing for US Air Force Test Pilot School in December was to improve my airmanship and competence in the cockpit. I will be attending USAF TPS as a Flight Test Engineering (FTE), and even though i wont be the primary pilot, I will be immersed in the flying environment almost daily in a wide variety of aircraft. Having the background knowledge and confidence of the technical nature of IFR flying will help me become a more effective FTE for the US Air Force.
If you start IFR training with minimal cross-country (XC) flying time as PIC (like I did), the most time-consuming (and expensive) portion of the training process is getting those 50 hours of XC time as PIC. A XC flight basically consists of a flight between two points with a straight line distance of 50 Nautical Miles or greater (and includes a landing at an airport other than the one you departed from). Luckily the XC time you performed as part of your PPL does not expire, so that meant I only had to do 40 more hours instead of 50.
As I was traveling for much of July, I had prepared myself to fly as much as a could in August to complete my XC PIC requirement by the time Labor Day weekend was over. I would then focus on refining my IFR skills with dual instruction in September and ultimately take my check ride in early October. August ended up being a pretty busy travel month as well (totaling about 15 days away), so i got into the habit of flying everyday I was local, even evening flights after long working days. This actually helped me settle into a rhythm and made me more confident, as i was now treating flying an airplane solo as a more routine experience, rather than an infrequent (and sometimes stressful and worrisome) ordeal.
The standard North XC route. KTOA-KSMX-KTOA if I have a few hours on the weekends, KTOA-KSBA-KTOA if I am flying after work and only have 2 hours of flying time to spare.
Southern California is a general aviation hub, so there are plenty of controlled and uncontrolled airfields to explore to keep your XC experience interesting. Even though it NEVER rains in SoCal, the coastal areas do provide plenty of exposure to the formation of advection fog (caused by moist air passing over a cool surface). This fog would typically start to form closer to sunset, and would last overnight and burn of by late morning. Since i was flying mostly in the evenings after work, i had to be vigilant of early forming fog in my route of flight. I had two standards routes I could choose from depending on the time of onset of this fog, North and South.
The North route involved going through the Class Bravo LAX airspace, which seems daunting at first but is not too bad. I typically use the LAX Special Flight Rules Area Transition (above), which guides you right over LAX at 4,500ft north- and 3,500ft southbound. PilotEdge did a great video describing the different routes available to transit this airspace (though the mini-route is now mostly closed).
Camarillo (KCMA) and Oxnard (KOXR) airports lie just short of the 50NM straight line distance requirement from KTOA (45 and 49NM respectively). A XC trip is possible to these two locations if you fly to Long Beach Airport (KLGB) first, and from there start your XC time to KCMA or KOXR. Although i always enjoy getting in as many landings as possible, it is relatively time consuming as KLGB is a fairly busy GA and regional air traffic hub and getting both a landing and departure clearance can chew up a significant amount of time. On weekday evenings when I am limited with time, I usually prefer to go to Santa Barbara municipal (KSBA) as it is a shorter flight but involves a little bit more work and is a little bit busier (Class C airport), offering great training opportunities. On weekends, I prefer heading over to Santa Maria (KSMX) and back, as this takes about 3.5 hours total.
SMX is a bit in the middle of nowhere, but a great XC flight from the South Bay area, and a conveniently located porty-potty at the fuel pit!
If the fog and low cloud covers happen to set in fairly early on during the week along the North route, my other go to option is to go South, predominately to Palomar (KCRQ) or Ramona (KRNM). KTOA-KCRQ-KTOA is definitely the shortest XC flight and is always a good option for when you are tight on time. Given that it is so close to the coast however, it is susceptible to early onset of Marginal VFR or IFR conditions.
Standard pacific coast route down to KCRQ or KRNM, not hard to get lost with such a great landmark to follow (and an EFB like ForeFlight as well).
When I have a little bit more time to spare (i.e. weekends), I like to get a taste of the local airport culture. Rather than immediately back taxiing to the runway to start my return leg, I'll stop by the local FBO or pilot lounge, particularly if I know there is an old warbird on the property somewhere. Ramona airport, and particularly Chuck Hall Aviation pilot lounge, is one of those dusty, warm locations where local pilots go and have animated conversations (primarily using their hands of course) about the old military flying days, their latest multi-ship sortie with their buddies, or getting away from their wives (their words not mine).
The P-51 Mustang Six Shooter tucked away at Chuck Hall Aviation (KRNM). Chuck Hall (a legend in his own right) and his P51 flew with the USAF heritage flight team for almost ten years.
I would say this about covers the required weather knowledge to pass the IFR written...
Another option, though less exercised by myself than the North/South route, is to go East toward Palm Springs. This is a fun route because you overfly a lot of the East/SouthEast portions of the greater Los Angeles area. An additional bonus is going through Banning Pass with +11,000ft peaks of the San Jacinto range on either side.
General Aviation allows you to explore different places without having to deal with LA highway traffic (you'll understand once you have been in it). There are so many places to go and so many things to see. If you are an out-of-towner and fly into Torrance airport for example, you can visit the Western Museum of Flight where they have one of only two YF-23 Black Widow IIs ever built.
The Western Museum of Flight at Torrance Zampirini Airfield has the YF-23A PAV-2 on display along with some other famous legacy fighter aircraft in its outdoor portion of the museum.
