Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

1 Answers

Help – I Need Confidence in the Clouds!

Asked by: 1561 views Instrument Rating

Hi Everyone,

I've been instrument rated for about 5 years now but live in California and as such have only managed to log about 10 hours of actual IMC (vs. dozens of hours of simulated IMC). Trouble is, I don't have a huge amount of confidence in the clouds and I'm curious what you all do to get over this mental barrier.

I'm sure the general answer is, "get more practice" which I agree and understand. But this question is more about the best way to transition one's mindset and quiet one's nerves the instant one makes the transition from VMC to IMC which has always created some stress for me. Any best practices would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks! 

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

1 Answers



  1. KDS on Aug 05, 2018

    I remember seeing just in the last day or two an FAASTeam seminar of making the transition from VMC to IMC (VFR to in the clouds). Take a look at the webinars and see if you can find that.

    It really is a bit of a tricky time because you don’t just go from 100% one way to 100% the other most of the time. It’s kind of in – out – in – out – in – in – in.

    I have heard of pilots putting their foggles on when they enter IMC. I’m very much opposed to taking that as a recommendation. However, perhaps try giving yourself a “foggle attitude” might help. Just try to think as if you were wearing foggles.

    Then, of course, you hit the nail on the head with the “get more practice”, but that is easier said than done as we all know.

    Personally, I don’t like flying single pilot and I definitely don’t like like going IFR, much less IMC single pilot. If nothing else, it gives you someone to hold hands with when things get scary. (That’s an old A-6 pilot joke.) But, seriously, you might find yourself better able to concentrate on the tasks associated with IMC flight if you knew that someone who was qualified was sitting beside you. The only caution is to be sure you both understand your roles, duties, and responsibilities before leaving the ground.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.