| OVERVIEW
Are you an instrument rated pilot, or a pilot working on your IFR rating, and find that you have not spent any, or at best, minimal times in actual IMC conditions?
Are you an instrument rated pilot, or a pilot working on your IFR rating, and feel that you don't really know how to “work” the IFR system?
Are you an IFR pilot who has found that you have lost the proficiency you once had, because you have not been able to keep up your IFR skills, and now find yourself in a “catch 22” situation, where you are uncomfortable filing and flying an IFR flight?
Regardless of whether you are an Instrument Rated pilot, or you are working on obtaining that initial IFR rating, if you seek to improve your single pilot IFR skills and confidence, then DSFI is the place to come.
DSFI has four different IFR training trips that will give pilots an intense and thorough exposure to the world of IFR flying. Our “long” course, “ The East Coast IFR Experience ”, is a six-day jaunt that incorporates some of the most challenging approaches and varied flying conditions available anywhere in the country.
If your schedule does not allow that much time, we also have three different two-day courses: “ The ‘Narly New England , IFR ”; “ Into the ADIZ, IFR ”; and “ Cross the Border, IFR ”, which may be taken singly, or in various pairings. These trips incorporate many of the aspects of the full East Coast trip, to give the pilot an excellent IFR experience.
During our trips, many, if not all, of the following things will be addressed:
- Amending the Flight Plan…in flight
- Dealing with the "Lost" Flight Plan
- Negotiating with ATC…in flight
- Negotiating the weather… in flight
- Using "In-cockpit" weather
- Backing Up the GPS
- Getting Organized: Enroute, now what?
- Effective tools to "stay ahead"
- Intercepting Victor Airways with the Garmin 430/530
- How to utilize the GPS "flight plan"
- Behind on the Approach: How to get out
- Unexpected holds
- Departing IFR: No tower, no FSS, no RUSH!
- Interpreting/using weather charts
- Establishing your personal minimums
IFR training with DSFI will definitely give you the skills and confidence required for safe, single pilot IFR flying. In recognition of this the AVEMCO Insurance Company recognizes DSFI courses for its Safety Rewards Program annual premium credits. Pilots that are insured by Avemco may qualify for a 5% premium credit on their insurance policy upon completion of DSFI training trips.
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THE AIRCRAFT
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You can take the training in either your own airplane or in DSFI's Cessna C177 Cardinal RG (retractable gear). It is well equipped for IFR flight, including a Garmin GNS430 (which will be upgraded to full WAAS certification as soon as available), a WX-500 stormscope that displays lightning strikes on the GNS 430 screen, a King HSI (Horizontal Situation Indicator), and an STEC 20 autopilot. The airplane also has a Garmin 396 handheld GPS installed that displays nexrad radar, metars, tafs, winds aloft, echo tops, storm cells, and much, much more.
For those unfamiliar with the Cardinal it is one of the roomiest, and definitely the sweetest flying, single engine aircraft that Cessna ever made. With a 200 HP Lycoming engine, we'll flight plan for 137KTS, while burning only 9 gal/hour. It's useful load is such that we'll always be able to start each leg with full tanks ensuring more than adequate reserves.
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Since the 396 is a portable unit, DSFI can bring weather avoidance equipment to your airplane! The only requirement to receiving the training in your airplane is that you have a heated pitot tube. Some of the aircraft that pilots have used for our training include: Columbia 400; Cirrus SR20; Pilatus PC-12; G1000 C182; plus Conquests; Navajos; Senecas; Bonanzas; Skylanes; Skyhawks: Comanches; Archers; and others. (Pilots wishing to fly the trip in their own aircraft can also schedule the trips outside of our published schedules and with customized itineraries.)
THE INSTRUCTOR
The instructor is Master CFI Doug Stewart. Doug has logged over 8000 hours of instruction given, and over 2000 hours of that has been instrument instruction. He has been flying the East Coast for many years in aircraft as simple as an Aeronca Champ (that he used to ferry every spring and fall between Massachusetts and Florida), to the Piper Malibu/Mirage (which served as a "snowbird", shuttling between Gt. Barrington, MA and Palm Beach, FL during the winter and flying a regular route through New England during the rest of the year). He currently flies a Piper "Panther" Navajo regularly between Hudson , NY , St. Augustine , FL , and Madison , WI , whenever he isn't flying training flights. |
| photo by H.G. Frautschy/VAA |
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THE ITINERARY
For a complete description of each trip, including full itineraries, maps, and schedules, click on the title abbreviation.
The “ EAST COAST IFR EXPERIENCE ” ( ECIE ) is a six -day trip that flies the entire length of the East Coast. It is difficult to fly a round-trip flight from Maine to Florida without experiencing IMC conditions somewhere along the route!
The “ 'NARLY NEW ENGLAND , IFR ” ( NNEI ) is, in essence, the last two days of the ECIE. From low, coastal marine layers, to fogged in river valleys in the White and Green mountains, this trip will hone your IFR skills!
On the “ INTO THE ADIZ, IFR ” ( ITAI ) the first day follows the Appalachian mountain route of the ECIE and the second day returns home with a stop inside the Washingon, DC ADIZ. Please do not expect to see F16s!
When you “ CROSS THE BORDER, IFR ” ( CTBI ) you'll now need your passport. From the Adirondacks into Canada , we'll cross back into the USA at Niagara Falls . The second day is spent in the lee of Lake Ontario , where lake effect weather is a given.
THE COST
The “East Coast IFR” is $5000.00
For the two- day trips:
Any single trip is $1800.00
Any two trips are $3300.00 ($1650.00 per trip)
All three trips are $4500.00
($1500.00 per trip)
Training in your own airplane: $600.00 / day.
All costs are subject to change.
(If signing up for multiple two day trips, they may be taken “back-to-back”, or broken up over the course of the training season.)
The costs include: all accommodations while “on the road” (accommodations in Hudson are not included); all approach plates and charts; all fuel; and a CD of Doug's “Single Pilot, IFR” workshop from Pilotworkshops.com .
Rates for training in your own airplane are $600.00 per day, plus lodging and meals, if away from 1B1. This rate is irrespective of how many pilots are on board, receiving instruction. Thus if you are receiving training in your own aircraft, and can find another pilot to share the training, your individual costs would be halved.
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