More actual!

Anytime an instrument student gets a chance to fly in IMC in southern California – he takes it. And that’s exactly what I did this morning. Weather was great for IFR training – ceilings high enough to be comfortable, but still plenty of actual.

We flew out to Brackett (POC) for the VOR there. This was the first circling approach I did, other than Whiteman, but we didn’t land at Whiteman. When I hit the MAP, I lifted up the hood, and to my surprise couldn’t really make out the runway. I was looking in the right place, but the visibility was bad enough that I could just barely see it. We flew a typical pattern, and landed. Had some breakfast while deciding what to do next. I thought it would be good to go south, to maybe Fullerton or Long Beach, but given the time that would take, we decided to head back towards home instead.

I asked ground for a clearance to Burbank, and he rattled it off so fast I could barely write it down in time. Got it all, checked the chart to be sure I could fly it, and off we went. Flew it pretty well, if I do say, although the approach was a bit tougher than I expected. Flew it too fast, which meant that I’d arrive at the actual MAP before my timer went off. I’ll pay more attention to that next time. Stopped in at an FBO on the field to check out the planes, then VFR (marginal, that is) back home.

Over lunch we decided that I should plan my cross country. It has to be 250 miles, and do 3 approaches, one precision. Sounds like fun. That’s about 4 hours of time, which will leave about 6 that I need to fulfill the requirements for the rating. Not sure I’ll be ready right at that point, but I should be pretty close.