On Sunday I went to the airport for an IFR lesson and of course .. I meet RottyDaddy again. I am gonna start calling you an airport bum RD!

This was supposed to be my first real-life IFR flight.

Ok ... so i was nervous. Quite a lot i have to say.

I kept it to myself cause I know that my instructor would have called me a sissy or just laughed at me.

The flight would be from 47N to KABE (allentown) via Solberg-V30-East Texas -D-> Allentown at 4000 feet. Clouds were hovering between 3500 and 2500. Tops at 10000.

My first surprising experience came with I called FSS to get the briefing and file the plan.

I generally try to avoid talking to anyone (flight following or FSS) cause the tend to sound annoyed and in a hurry all the time.

I never file a VFR flight plan.

So today I called in prepared, with a chart in front of me (both IFR and VFR) and the plan ready and printed out.

I wait for 10 minutes on hold then a guy that sound annoyed and in a hurry says "Leesburg FSS".

I give my tail number and that I need a briefing for an IFR flight.

All of a sudden the flood gates of cooperation and politeness open. The guy turns from annoyed to ultra-helpful.

His briefing is the most thorough I ever got. Not much to say .. clouds at 2500 ... no significant wind, no significant weather, poor visibility (6-7 miles) all around.

Cool ... sounds like the perfect day to fly a first IFR flight.

At the end of the briefing he asks "can I help you with anything else?" ... clearly expecting me to say ... "I would like to file an IFR plan. i have my plan in front of me so I am just gonna read it to you."

And I start spilling my guts starting from the top left of the standard flight plan form.

I realize I am going 20 miles a minute and the guy hadn't even hiccuped since i started so I say "Am I going too fast? tell me if you need me to repeat something". "Nope keep going" he replies.

I finish the plan and he leaves me with a cheerful "Have a good flight!"

Sounded like a different person than when i started the conversation.

Then I call NY tracon on my cellphone to get the clearance. Again, the conversation goes smoothly and they guy spells out the clearance slow as you please (at least it was slow to me ... i expected it much faster). I jot it down, read it back and end the phone call.

I tell the guy I can depart VFR and he (happily) tells me that that would make his life easier and to just take off when I am ready and advise on the NY frequency.

Again, anti-climactic.

John tells me that I will remember this day the way I remember my first solo. At first I don't quite believe him...

Then it's time to take off.

After take off I ask my instructor if I need a hood ... he looks at the clouds and says "Nope ... no need".

Ahem ... does that mean what I think it means?

I look at the clouds and they look awfully close ... I am just 1000 feet right now. I call NY approach after waiting for what feels like a lifetime for a break in the incessant non-stop chatter of clearances and instructions.

I finally get through and as soon as I say my tail number the guy knows who I am, what I am doing, where I am going and the color of my hair.

THIS, ladies and gents is TOTALLY different than the VFR flight following crap I need to put up with. When I am in VFR and talking to them I need to spell my tail number 50 times before they get it. I thought it was my accent.

NOT now though. Now I say my tail number and they get it at the first shot and they are hearing me loud and clear and they are happy with what I say.

They are going a mile a minute and I am right behind them.

For the first time I feel unstoppable. I can go anywhere, anytime, at any altitude. Clouds are my friends and controlled space is a welcoming playground.

All of a sudden all of those things I always tried to avoid like the plauge as a VFR pilot (IMC, clouds, controlled space) are my friends. No more crowded VFR space ... there's nobody up here. There's just me and the controllers ... and about a dozen continental and JetBlue flights. But those big guys are way up there ... down here at 3000 feet it's just me.

Controllers respond immediately.

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Haha, it was defiently your first time that's for sure. As you get more experience under your belt you'll start to realize that flying in the clouds is anything but a welcoming play ground, but more so a living hell doing it's best to spit you out. Living in the NE you'll find out first hand just how deadly those clouds can be in the winter and summer.

Although this specfic flight was good, IFR is anything but easy. Again, this is all stuff you'll learn as your experience grows, but dealing with a re-routing, in solid IMC, in a crappy Cessna with no auto pilot, and dealing with an approach control like NY is anything but easy.

See if you can't talk your CFI into taking you into EWR or JFK IFR one day (if you have the extra money). It may be worth it too you and you'll see just why they say talking to ATC is diffucult.

I'm glad you had fun. Flying IFR certainlly has it benefits, but keep in mind it's not a game. Do you best not to relax (especially no more than you would if you were VFR).

Have a good day.

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The joys of a tandem seating arrangement! He can't reach me . I've just spent the past couple of weeks "under the hood" (and in cloud) too...

Bravo, Marco! I was chatting with John while you were doing your walkaround; he mentioned that you'd be getting your first taste of IMC on that flight.
"Gonna scare the hell out of him", he said, finishing with that merry chuckle of his. He's pretty evil... I like him. 


Didn't have to go far to find clouds that day- I went all the way down to Ocean City over the beach at 2500 because of those sctattered but dark puffs at around 3000- but the air was calm, and  I'll bet it was pretty smooth in that upper layer of cloud. Hard to find a better day for your first lesson in real IMC.
Again, keep up the good work, and don't be shy about VFR flight plans. It's free rescue insurance (just don't forget to close the plan... did that once, crossing a time-zone and getting mixed up- thought I had another hour).
   And most of the briefers are knowledgeable and pretty friendly. As long as you know what you're going to say beforehand and don't get too conversational, you'll get a speedy but thorough interpretation of the data as it applies to your route of flight.The recorded briefs, by comparison, are pretty lame. Your IFR briefer probably just got off the phone with some dummy who rambled and mumbled... I've heard live PIREPs in the air that made me wonder how many pilots actually studied communications with ATC during their training; they must get a lot of that.
I once was delighted to contact Flight Watch after takeoff and find myself talking to the same briefer who'd filed my plan over the phone: she was very nice and very helpful. It's still a good system; I always use it. That includes Flight Following... very helpful.

BTW, I'd be honored to be called an airport bum...

Yeah, as Citationpilot stated, IFR is nothing but easy.  And I've found that when it gets easy, it's usually because I forgot something.   

But, that's not to say it isn't fun.  I love flying IMC as it keeps me on my toes the entire time and I always learn something new from it. 

Anyway, have a good time on your future flights!