ACEAV8R

This may be a stupid question but here goes. I got my instrument in late'01/early '02. Now, although I am profecient I was wondering maybe I should do some instrument ground to brush up on some things that I may have not used in a while. Do you think it is necessary and what should I focus on? I was thinking maybe about 1 hour of ground just going over regs(changes, updates, etc) and brushing through the small things that carries alot of weight. I also was thinking about scratching the ground school and doing it myself but perhaps an instructor would be more appropriate. What would you do in my situation? Again, nothing drastic. Just a little refresher course.

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You never miss the water until the well runs dry

rickair7777

It all depends on what kind of flying you do now, and how much IFR vs. hard IMC you get.

If you fly IFR in VMC a lot, you should be pretty good on the rules and procedures, but might need some gauge time. Get some hood time with a variety of approaches, including single-engine or partial panel if applicable.

If you don't fly IFR at all, then try a XC or two in the system before you do the approaches. You could do the XC VMC with or without a hood.

If you get a CFII to give you some "checkride prep" ground, that should suffice.

ACEAV8R

That is exactly what I was thinking. Maybe some type of checkride prep ground and maybe some sim(I have access to a sim) time I should be good. I really don't get as much "hard IMC" as I would like but then again, maybe I should be grateful for that. Thanks for the advise

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You never miss the water until the well runs dry

Gajre539

For the ground, pick one of these up - Amazon.com: Instrument Oral Exam Guide: The Comprehensive Guide to Prepare You for the FAA Oral Exam (Oral Exam Guide series): Michael D. Hayes: Books

If you are looking for something more comprehensive, read these:
- Instrument Flying Handbook http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/a...H-8083-15A.pdf (Caution: Huge PDF file) and
- Instrument Procedures Handbook http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/a...ures_handbook/

For the flight portion, get with a CFII to practice a hold, some approaches and then go on an IFR cross-country in actual IFR conditions. I am currently training an instrument student, he has about 2 hours of actual time and he hasn't even started working on approaches yet. Simulated IFR conditions are good, but you can't compare them to actual IFR conditions with strong winds and updrafts/downdrafts.

Wait for a day when visibility will be 1 mile with 300-500 ft overcast and grab a CFII. Chances are that all the VFR flights will be canceled and CFIIs/airplanes will be available when you need it.