7 Things Every Pilot Learns During Instrument Training

There’s nothing like popping out of the clouds, at minimums, right above the runway. Training toward your instrument rating not only makes you a safer, more confident pilot, but lets you use the full capability of the national airspace system.

Here are 7 things that you’ll learn during instrument training…

1) Planning a descent, briefing an approach, and communicating with ATC, all at once, while flying partial-panel is something you’ll end up getting pretty good at.

2) “We’ll enter the hold with a parallel entry, I mean direct, uhhhh teardrop??”

3) Practicing engine failures in simulated IMC completely changes your decision making. Finding

a landing spot gets pretty stressful when you can’t see the ground.

4) No, you can’t just file direct from New York to Los Angeles…

5) Planning your route around icing conditions becomes a real concern once you start flying in the clouds as an instrument rated pilot.

6) You’ll cry tears of joy when you don’t have to plan out tons of VFR checkpoints on your navlogs anymore.

7) In the end, some pilots like to say that popping out of the clouds, right above the runway, at minimums on an ILS approach is the most rewarding feeling a pilot can have.

What else did you learn in your instrument training? Tell us in the comments below.