IFR Instrument Requirements for Checkride
 

Hey guys, first post here as a member.

I am interested in buying a Cessna 150 but it is VFR only and I am going to be starting my IFR training soon, so I was wondering what other instruments I will need, to be able to take my IFR checkride in this plane.

The current avionics the plane has are:

• KX170B NAV/COM
• King KT-76A Transponder
• 2 Place Flightcom IIsx Intercom
• Garmin 496 Handheld GPS w/Yoke mount
• VOR

I have already looked at the FAR 91.205d which gives me the basic ones needed for IFR flight but what to do I actually need for the checkride?


Thanks in advance.

The handheld does not count for anything, and the examiner may require you to turn it off during the checkride to prove you can maintain SA without it (I would).

You will need to be able to do at LEAST one type of non-precision approach and one precision approach.

The single VOR could technically be used for a non-prec VOR approach. But you will have to tune and ID any required step down fixes and then quickly tune & ID the final course...that is busier than the proverbial one-armed paper hanger.

But you also need a precision approach, so you are going to have to buy at least an ILS receiver or an IFR-certified GPS with vertical guidance.

Cheapest would be the ILS, maybe used. I would get a DME with that also.

I believe you can take the checkride in an airplane that is not certified for IFR as long it's VFR out and you do practice approaches. You still need the minimum equipment per the PTS.

Also I think you can certify a 152 for IFR by just adding Pitot heat. Probably worth doing that if you going to add IFR instruments anyway.

The PTS probably addresses all this:

http://www.faa.gov/training_testing/...-s-8081-4e.pdf

+1 - don't use the GPS until after the rating is earned.

Don't know if ASRs are suitable for the non-prec or if they are available in your area, but that's 0 dollars for equipment.

If I understand your post, you have one radio and one vor head. You might consider another nav/com and ils+vor head. Intersection holds with one vor are fun.

For added pleasure install an ADF :eek:

Good Luck!

How much do you think we are talking here for the basics?

I am trying to decide if it would be worth it to buy and upgrade the plane to IFR or just keep searching to find an IFR certified one.

What are you going to do with the plane after the rating? Keep it? Sell it?

To answer your original Q, I'd get an already certified/equipped 152. MX is a headache, why not avoid that quagmire?

However............................

I might suggest a certified 172. You may need the room for the extra charts, plates, wx briefs, and a little leeway on the size of the instructor/examiner :)

The 152 is going to be slow, giving you a lot of time to brief (and fly) the approach. It may be better to get something faster so that you are faster. You're spending less time, your brain works better, and the controllers are'nt rolling their eyes when they hear your call sign.

If you're trying to do this on the cheap - you get what you pay for, plus aviation ain't cheap.

I'm not sure you're going to get a good upgrade cost here since there are too many variables.

73M -

Ok, thanks for the help. Really appreciated.

I plan to use this plane for as many of the hours as I can up to getting my commercial. Then, hopefully become an instructor and be able to instruct out of my own plane. Currently where I live, (Midwest) there is only one instructor within a 60mi radius.

I think I will wait around until I find a IFR certified plane because I don't think I have built the knowledge needed to decide what radios are best or what instruments are must haves, etc, as of yet.

Once again, thanks for the help!

150/152s "can" be used for instrument flying and teaching, but the preferred platform for both is a 172 as the cost difference is not much higher. Vintage Skyhawks with certifed GPS, GS, 2 VORs, maybe an ADF, 2 nav comms and possibly a DME start at about $40k. Then you have an airplane that is comfortable, safe, and flexible. With a 150 like you describe you will canceling IFR flights, and be nervous in IMC.

If you have the certified GPS, then you don't need the ADF or DME. Just extra weight and added mx expense. I am an old timer, and I know I'll get a lot of flak for saying this. After flying a TON of GPS the past few years, I'll take the GPS anytime. BTW, I originally got my IFR in a 172 with one radio and VOR head. Intersection holds were a PITA.:cool:

I respectfully disagree that the handheld doesn't count for anything. Sure, you can't "log" anything with it, operate in IMC with it or get an instrument clearance relying on it. So what. Remain VFR, obtain "advisories", and practice to you hearts content.

Instrument training isn't just about logging the required hours but about building confidence in an alien world far different from what VFR pilots are used to. Practicing to your hearts content, even with the handheld, will familiarize you with some of the procedures and the sequencing required when performing GPS approaches. Just be sure to utilize advisories when doing this.

Later, at some point, operating in an approved platform will be required.

Way back when, before GPS, I did the same thing. I bought a 1966 C-150 with a pull starter no less. I got really good at switching frequencies for the step downs of non precision approaches too. I did a lot of actual IFR in that plane eventually too although I would have liked to be able to afford more at the time