Darling Downs Aero Club
Est. 1946
A sad fact of aviation life is that far too many pilots, passengers and crew die in avoidable accidents. One of the most common has, typically for aviation, an acronym – CFIT, or Controlled Flight Into Terrain.
The other major type of accident is a loss of control following inadvertent entry into cloud. In a study of VFR pilots conducted by University of Illinois in the US, using a simulator, it was found that the average time from losing visual to losing control was just under three (yes 3!) minutes, and that once control was lost not one of the pilots recovered.
The current RPL syllabus requires students to do a total of 1.2 hours of simulated basic, full-panel instrument flight over four lessons. This 1.2 hours includes basic unusual attitude recovery training, not to gain an instrument rating, merely to know how to control an aircraft after losing visual references in the hope one can climb above lowest safe and regain VMC to get safely onto the ground again.
Flying in IMC is not legal for non-instrument rated pilots and those who are licenced to fly under the Visual Flight Rules should plan their flights to avoid entering conditions that are less than VMC.
It's a good idea to stay up to date with the VFR and the particular regarding VMC minimums. CASA has put out a very simple, easy to navigate resource in the Visual Flight Rules Guide. It's avaible here: https://vfrg.casa.gov.au/general/
Keen on learning how to master the skills of flying an aircraft and navigating without visual reference? Talk to our instructors about doing an Instrument Rating.
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