7 DAY INSTRUMENT COURSE

Imagine having a 20,000 hour former USAirways Captain as your personal instrument instructor! Not only do I bring real world experience to your flight training, but I also offer you the dedication of over 6000 hours of instrument instruction. During the past 20 years I have averaged six IFR students a month- that's over 1000 successful IFR students.

My 7 Day Instrument training isn't for everyone. It is a finish-up program designed to refresh previous flight training instruction while incorporating advanced aviation training techniques. You will learn what you need to know to fly safe single pilot IFR based on over 27 years of professional flying experience. It's intense, rigorous and very challenging- it is total immersion in the IFR system- 8 hours a day for 7 full days.

The key to your success is focused training centered around my proven IFR syllabus. I have created a carefully structured program which incorporates your personal learning style and aviation equipment into the syllabus. A combination of ground school, simulator training and flight training, this technique makes it easier to learn the required information by breaking it down into easily mastered modules. Incorporating the building block technique helps you learn faster and increases your learning retention.

Ground School

Ground school is one of the most important aspects of your training and is the one area of flight training that is frequently overlooked by other flight instruction schools. During ground school you will be taught to fully understand the principles and techniques of instrument flying before getting in the cockpit. I begin each morning with a 2-4 hour ground school session. You will learn how to interpret weather, deal successfully with IFR emergencies and learn other useful techniques to make single pilot IFR more manageable.

IFR ground school would be incomplete without a review of your airplane's systems. As an A&P mechanic, I will add a unique perspective to this portion of ground school by helping you to understand how each system operates and teaching you what to do should a failure occur.

Cockpit flight technology has the potential to greatly improve your situational awareness. You will learn how to fully operate your avionics while achieving the maximum performance and safety from your equipment. You will learn to manage your airplane as a complete IFR system.

Simulator Training

While working in the airlines training department, I realized the value of simulator flight training. Technology taught in a full size simulator allows you to focus 100% of your efforts on learning a new procedure without the distraction of flying the actual airplane. The simulator can replicate almost any airplane or weather scenario. Holding patterns, IFR emergencies, and approaches can all be practiced repetitively in the "box".

The simulator's 90° visual system adds authenticity to a low visibility take-off. Additionally, it enables you to successfully handle a total gyro failure just as you enter the clouds on take-off. This experience adds measurably to your confidence.

During simulator training, I will emphasize development of a strong instrument scan. Correct scanning technique is the backbone of all instrument flight and proper scanning is the most common problem that IFR students encounter. Once the scan is mastered, you will move on to learning VOR and GPS tracking and intercepts. From there, you will progress to holding patterns and learning various approaches. Before moving into your airplane and burning expensive Avgas, you will become proficient at all the common approaches, as well as some you may only see in training. Flying a DME Arc to a localizer Back-course approach may happen only once in a pilot's career, but at least you will have experienced it here!

As the General Aviation fleet gets more sophisticated with Glass Cockpits, TAWS, GPS and XM weather, it becomes imperative to get the best training possible for your instrument rating. As ATC becomes less accommodating to IFR training and fuel prices are hitting record highs, it’s obvious that a simulator is required equipment for professional training. In the simulator, you can practice and log dozens of different instrument approaches in the same amount of time that you could accomplish one in your airplane.

Flight Training

The culmination of your Seven Day Instrument Completion Course will be in the cockpit of your airplane. My goal is to give you the most realistic and in-depth instrument training possible and each lesson is filed and flown as an actual IFR cross country flight. Each day you will pick up an actual IFR clearance resulting in a dramatic improvement in your aviation communication skills. By flying to various airports, big and small, you will be challenged by real approaches and learn to operate effectively in an increasingly complex ATC environment. If possible, you will train in actual weather so you'll have the experience and skill to use your new rating. At the end of the course, you will take your check ride in Beaufort and fly home instrument rated. Most importantly, you will be confident in your ability to fly your airplane in the IFR environment.

Cost $5500 (in your plane)