AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 104

NEVERAGAIN
feet msl. Passing Cadillac, I descended to 2,500 feet msl to stay 500 feet below the cloud deck. About 10 miles beyond Cadillac it started to rain lightly but quickly turned to moderate and then heavy showers. I turned 180 degrees and started back toward the Cadillac airport. Unfortunately the weather behind me was even worse. I quickly remembered the three hours of instrument training—which had been conducted in actual IMC— and eight hours of night training my

instructor had insisted I take before he would sign me off for the private pilot checkride. I focused on scanning the four primary instruments and made sure I had the airplane straight and level. I then contacted Minneapolis Center. After providing me with a transponder code, they advised me that the present and forecast conditions for all airports within 100 miles of my location were IFR or going to IFR. I could either attempt to reach Traverse City VFR on my own or climb to 3,000 feet and receive radar vectors for an approach to

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Traverse City. Since there are numerous TV and radio towers south of Traverse City I decided that scud running was not a good option. As I climbed into the clouds I was pretty terrified, but tried to remain focused on my instrument scan and was somewhat amazed that I could keep the airplane climbing and on course. As I dialed the ILS frequency into the one nav/com, the approach quickly turned into a localizer approach to Runway 28. Minneapolis Center handed me off to the Traverse City tower and advised me that Traverse City was now 1,000 overcast with three miles visibility and rain. I centered the needle on the localizer, began slowing down, and descended from 3,000 feet to the minimum descent altitude of 1,360 feet. For several minutes it seemed like I would never see the ground, but at 1,600 feet I broke out of the clouds, and there in front of me was a 6,500-foot runway. I made a respectable landing and taxied to the GA ramp fully expecting to be called to the tower to explain my situation, but no such call ever came. Two days later I flew back to Blue Ash in perfect VFR conditions. I began instrument training the next day. I now see there were several major warning signs I chose to ignore. The first was to accept an aircraft that was only VFR equipped. An IFR-equipped aircraft provides you significantly more options even when flying VFR. My second mistake was not to discuss the weather changes in more detail with flight watch. If I had done so, I would have been aware of the significant decrease in barometric pressure occurring over northern Michigan. My last mistake was continuing on when I first noticed the ceilings were dropping. Fortunately I had taken flight instruction from an individual who believed in training even a basic VFR student in some real IFR and night conditions. That training proved invaluable. Tom Kern holds a multiengine instrument rating, has 1,200 hours, and lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

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NOVEMBER 2011

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011

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