Pete, for a while I did my practice currency this way. I could actually fly
an approach at 90 knots and still get it slow enough to get the gear out
and land. The trouble with this was that you only needed the slightest
distraction and you would be joining the ranks of =9Cthose who have
=9D
The other challenge is that it was rare to break out in the clear, cloud
bottoms would be straggly and when you are at minimums you have to quickly
decide if the RVR is sufficient, you have enough of the environment in view
and the the runway will provide enough breaking action.
To be honest I always found single pilot IFR really tough and during my
brief stint of professional flying I thought I had died and gone to heaven
with 2 crew operations.
Just my 2 cents worth. Cheers, Paul
On Tue, Jun 16, 2020 at 12:06 PM Pete <peterz@zutrasoft.com> wrote:
> Great write-up Paul, thx!
>
> Question, why not leave the gear up till minimums to keep the speed up?
>
> On Jun 16, 2020, at 12:46 PM, Paul McAllister <paul.the.aviator@gmail.com
>
> wrote:
>
> =EF=BB
> Hi John,
>
> I hope you don't mind me offering a counter opinion. I didn't find my
> Europa a very good IFR platform. It was okay but I always maintained hig
h
> personal minimum, 600' on the ILS and 800' for non precision approaches.
I
> live in the mid west of the US and icing was always a concern. While one
> should never fly into know icing conditions I had inadvertently picked up
> ice in other aircraft I have flown and although concerning the aircraft
> performed well enough to land it. Even then I new that all that had
> happened was "I got away with it"
>
> I did catch a small skim of ice on the Europa once and the aircraft
> immediately lost 20 knots and I was worried that it would just quit flyin
g
> there and then! A flapless landing in a mono isn't possible and I was
> really (really) nervous lowing the gear. I know we can all say that we
> should avoid icing conditions but I encountered unforcasted ice many
> times. Over the years I got smarter at figuring out potential or possibl
e
> conditions but I could never get comfortable. The other challenge is tha
t
> its slow approach speed isn't an advantage for instrument approaches. You
> feel like you are hanging out on the ILS forever in wet moist clouds.
>
> I haven't flown my aircraft for some time but in latter years all my IFR
> flying was in VFR conditions. It is nice to be able to fly away from
> somewhere crummy to somewhere nice, and I find the National Aerospace
> System (NAS) a delight to use.
>
> Just my 2 cents worth, and as they say "Your mileage may vary"
>
> Cheers, Paul
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 11, 2020 at 10:24 AM John Wigney <johnwigney@windstream.net>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi Jeff,
>>
>> There is a good link on this subject at
>> https://www.eaa.org/eaa/aircraft-building/intro-to-aircraft-building/fre
quently-asked-questions/equipping-a-homebuilt-for-ifr-operations
>>
>> I am not an IFR pilot but I have done 40 plus hours of training in my
>> monowheel. My instructor was very happy with the plane and called it "a
>> good IFR platform". I chose not to take the check ride as I decided not
to
>> fly single pilot IFR. A major reason for that is that I found the plane
to
>> be fairly neutral on heading and I was not happy to find myself 10 to 15
>> degrees off course if I groped around in the back for something. I have
now
>> fitted a heading autopilot driven by my Dynon D10A which works very well
>> following the pink line on my Garmin 430 so that addresses that primary
>> concern. I really have no need for IFR and am happy to leave it that way
.
>>
>> Anyway, I am not aware of any certification requirement apart from an
>> entry in the logbook regarding compliance with 14 CFR Part 91, section
>> 91.205.
>>
>> Cheers, John
>>
>> <ehkjefpnnmjodmme.png>
>>
>> <dikifmecfindfhgo.png>
>>
>>
>> *From: Jeff B **<topglock@cox.net> <topglock@cox.net>*
>>
>> *Subject: Europa-List: IFR certification Good morning all, I'm wondering
>> if someone out there has any information on certifying the Europa for IF
R
>> flight (in the USA). Is there a statement in the operating limitations t
hat
>> might mention this? I've a person interested in my bird who is asking ab
out
>> it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank You, *
>> *-- Jeff *
>>
>
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