Pilots already know what this post is about, but for everyone else BFR = Biennial flight review, yet another safety feature for aviation. Basically it means that every two years, pilots go flying with an expert flight instructor who reviews our knowledge and skills. This is my second one (both with Terry Harris), and again I had fun and learned some things.
This time we purposely flew into IMC (more pilot jargon, basically meaning clouds in this case). My license and interests both prohibit that kind of flying, but like all pilots I’ve had some training in it and like many pilots I wanted to practice my skills. So flying with Terry today gave me the opportunity to safely and legally practice flying in clouds with someone who teaches airline pilots how to do that. 🙂
Santa Barbara was uncharacteristically cooperative in this. Usually our town has clear skies this time of year, as it did yesterday and probably will tomorrow. Today though, the low clouds lingered late into the afternoon. ATC (sorry, Air Traffic Control) cooperated too, by allowing us to fly a long time at the altitude that would put us in clouds.
By now any non-pilots reading this may be muttering, “Why would you make so much effort to fly in clouds, when you could easily have flown in the clear above or below the thin layer?” Because I never fly in clouds, I want to feel confident in case I ever have to. It’s very rare, but sometimes pilots have inadvertently flown into clouds and become disoriented. I was already comfortable, and now I’m more confident.
I found it tiring, because there was a lot to keep track of with the added layer of complexity involved in following ATC instructions rather than just putting the plane on a course for getting back out of the clouds we simulated having inadvertently flown into. I’m glad of that extra distraction, because it further increased my comfort in handling extra challenges.
The fun part though, is getting even more comfortable with an entirely different type of flying than my normal. Rather than trusting my body’s strong signals about what to do, I demonstrated ability to trust what the instruments and my brain were telling me. If you’ve never done this, no amount of verbiage can convey the experience. Nor does flying with “foggles” that simulate flying in clouds by blurring your view outside the cockpit. Flying without visual reference like in actual clouds has magical powers to confound your senses. It feels like navigating around on a constantly tilting surface in total darkness – weightless. Unlike foggles that often leave me mildly nauseous, flight in clouds is just slightly giddy and dizzy feeling.
Now I have a question for you: was this totally boring? I’m curious, because it’s obviously of interest to me but I don’t know if anyone else cares about stuff like this. 🙂
John & Anne Wiley 
Well I found it interesting! But I was there, and I like hearing about how it was for John. I had a different experience in the backseat. First I was a bit nervous going through the first set of clouds, but with two pilots in front I gave that up quick. Next we came above the clouds which is new for us. We have often had clouds on one side while totally clear on the other, so landing would be safe and visible. But now we were above clouds in all directions. This isn’t legal (or desired) for us without the instructor rated pilot. The point is that even though it is perfectly clear above clouds, if we had to go through clouds to land, we need to see.
But today, what started out as a ‘darn’ in that my headset didn’t work, turned out to be special for me. I couldn’t hear the usual ATC chatter or conversation between John and Terry. It was just quiet.
The clouds were close, just below us, all white and billowy – seeing them from above, rather than from below. They looked like standing ocean waves or floating white mountain tops. Extending out on all sides, a sea of magical lively white clouds. And I was floating in the silence.
Later John and Terry took us through clouds (different from being above them) for a few miles – I saw drops of water on the struts and the windshield. I could tell flying through clouds took John’s full attention, but he did great at it, Terry commented how solid he got with it. Yes, I could hear again as my headset was back on by then! They were so happy to get the sound back for me, and I was glad for it too, but also grateful for my earlier moments of deep quiet above the clouds.
Comment by Anne — 2010/07/04 @ 09:48
Personally, I found this fascinating!!!
I, too, had a blast.
Safe flying,
T.
Comment by terry harris — 2010/07/09 @ 04:44