mcartier713

so I have to get this story out of me or I'm going to explode.

my instructor, this other kid and i were going out today to practice some approaches in IMC... the ceilings were between 800-1200'.... i was the first one up, the other kid sat in the back... we took off, fine fine, we got established, fine fine.... then i realize my glideslope's not working, i call ATC and advise and tell him we'd like to just shoot the LOC. he says alright cleared LOC 3, and i fly us down, bust out at about 600' and make a beautiful landing in a 60 degree, 15+ kt cross wind. perfect.

next kid is up.. sittin on the ramp, doesn't even know what to do. (granted this kid has passed his inst. written and is going for his checkride thursday)... i tell him to get his clearance... he calls and gets his clearance, doesn't write it down, so when he tries to read it back, its all messed up and has to ask me what it is. we figure it out, and taxi to the rwy. take off is fine, we climb out and im thinking this kid is actually a better IMC pilot than VFR pilot because he actually keeps his wings level in IMC, boy was I wrong. we're getting vectors to our next approach, its a VOR, he gets cleared for the approach and starts making 45-50 degree banks (in IMC) to try and intercept this thing. we're over a mile off course, even the ATC guys like *** are you guys doing. he tries to correct, steep turning here, steep turning there, losing and gaining 400 feet here and there.. finally we have to go missed... he doesn't know what to do... we're all over the place, gear is still down, flaps are still down, i have to remind him of all this... as we're going back to the VOR, the pitot picks up some ice and our instruments lose it. VSI starts showing -2000' decent so this kid pulls back hard and we come about a half second away from stalling about 1000' above the ground. somehow we managed not to die and somehow got the alt static and pitot heat on... try #2... he's a mile off course the other direction, still banking and diving all over the place. we finally bust out, way off course, and thank god I know where we were and said I had the field. so i point this kid to the runway and we finally get on the ground.

and thats only half the story.

i can't even begin to say how messed up today was, but if someone like that can pass his instrument written and doesn't even know what CRAFT is, it really makes me wonder if the FAA standards are really quite enough for an instrument ticket.

/rant over.

Oblique

I'm surprised your instructor let it escalate to that level. I would have yanked the controls away when ATC started to complain and gone back for some ground school.

rickair7777

No Doubt. That's the REAL problem here. The student needs some sim time (passing your written in NO WAY means you're ready to fly IFR in a real airplane).

I wouldn't have just sat in the back and watched all that heppen in actual IMC.

hotelmode

Is the instructor going to cancel his checkride? I sure as hell would. Also, was it this students first time in IMC? Lots of people go through instrument training without getting actual IMC which is NOT good. Legal yes, safe no. Being in a cloud is much different than having only most of your field of vision obscured by plastic.

mcartier713

no... it wasn't his first time in IMC, thats what's funny... although it was in an arrow, so I'm pretty sure it was his first time in IMC in a complex plane...

and no i dont think our instructor is planning on canceling his checkride. he "wants to get him done by the 14th" so when classes start for next semester he doesn't have to waste the time/money during semester taking the inst. classes... although now thinking about it, thats probably a better idea.

LineTroll

Was your instructor actually doing any instructing? Or just monitering?

Bri85

I would assume monitoring since the guy is at the end of course... *ouch! , what I find hard to believe is that this guy was already observing you from the prior flight so he should have at least some sort of gameplan. but special occasions like these do exist, ive come across some pilots that leave me dumbfounded; and im no cfi or proffesional

Herkdrv

So whats the other half of the story?

UnlimitedAkro

And he'll be flying the jet you are deadheading on in 5 months!

Cubdriver

Some people have trouble when they are asked to have complete trust in their instruments for the first time. They know everything there is to know theoretically, but they can't apply it because they do not want to stop flying by outside references. Furthermore clouds can freak them out. He will have a breakthrough at some point and then everything will be ok, just watch out for him in the meantime or you will be in trouble.