Old 05-18-2010 | 03:45 PM
  #23  
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USMCFLYR
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From: FAA 'Flight Check'
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Originally Posted by WMU av8tor
And that is exactly why I plan to do as much IFR in VMC as I can, not only am I new to IFR but i'm also new to IFR in my C172. All the WMU instructors make fun of me for being so cautious all the time with my flying but i'd rather be too cautious rather than too bold and end up killing myself in a situation that I'm not ready for yet!
You're being nice and careful starting out - and I can't speak against that.
I see that you started another post about your personal mins. I'm sure that you will get a lot of different answers, but remember that those mins are just that - YOUR personal mins - not necessarily to be influenced by someone else. You will quickly get a feel for your comfort level, and that comfort level might change over time, especially with your currency and more importanly, your proficiency. You may get real comfortable and proficent, just to take a few months lay off from flying for some reasons and those mins might pop right back up again. I went from a plane that I was extremely comfortable in and had no problems shooting approaches down to mins (200/0.5) to not flying for 4 months and now flying a true steam gauge aircraft that I'm still trying to get the feel of and wouldn't want to have to shoot anything lower than let's say 800/2 right now until I have quite a bit more time under my new found flying belt.

I had a similar scenario one time to what you are trying to do and I basically did what TonyWilliams suggested. I filed to a radial/DME under IFR to a small field without an instrument approach that I could use. I had an alternate filed (Tinker AFB). As I approached my final fix, I asked for a letdown to the controller's MVA because there was a undercast cloud layer and I didn't know how thick it was. I broke out a few thousand feet before his MVA and then I canceled and proceeded on into KMKO VFR.

USMCFLYR
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