Permit me to annoy you all intensely. After more than four decades of earning my
living as a pilot, military and civilian, and having held a full instrument
rating for over 32 years, wild horses couldn't drag me and my Europa into IMC
or night conditions, even if my aircraft had all the required bells and
whistles.
Single-engined in those conditions doesn't seem wise to me, especially in a
glass-fibre
airframe in conditions where you can't see and avoid potential lightning
activity.
Furthermore procedural instrument flying is a skill where you need to keep very
current. An hour or so each month just isn't going to cut it. Me and my
colleagues
find that just a week or two of holiday before resuming flight operations,
puts most pilots (if they're being honest) somewhat behind the mental drag
curve for a day or two after returning to duty.
And we have the advantage of an Airbus suite of EFIS, Flight Directors and
unbeatable
automation, plus two pairs of eyes and ears to monitor the situation.
Yes I have also flown IMC in earlier days as single pilot with no stabilisation
nor autoflight systems, doing things like QGH and GCA in the military. That
would
make anyone sweat.
So have fun if you must and I'll hope not to read of any sad CFIT stories.
Read this topic online here:
http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=430200#430200
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