Non IFR pilots practice approaches in VFR conditions

7 Answers

1. 
   

   
   

   Mark Kolber on Oct 17, 2019

   Yes you are allowed. If you have been doing practice approaches with ATC under VFR with your instructor (and you should before doing it in your own) then you already know the drill. Call ATC and tell them you’d like to do the practice approaches, which ones, and whether you want vectors or the full approach.

   Three caveats.

   1. ATC facilities can vary a bit in exactly how they handle practice approaches. It’s not a big deal with some experience, but hearing an unusual phrase can be confusing for a student. Your instructor is in the best position to advise you how and what to expect in your area.

   2. IMO, flight by an instrument student with a safety pilot is the instrument equivalent of student pilot solo. It is best and most effective when practicing what you have been taught. That means coordinating it, discussing it, and treating it as an “assignment” from your CFII.

   3. A quasi regulatory issue. As AIM 4–3–21 ”Practice Instrument Approaches” (which you should read in full) tells us, “Except in an emergency, aircraft cleared to practice instrument approaches must not deviate from the approved procedure until cleared to do so by the controller.”. IOW, even when practicing under VFR, being cleared or approved for a practice approach is an ATC instruction and failure to maintain the proper courses and altitudes are technically considered pilot deviations. Typically not a big deal where ATC is used to a lot of training going on, but this is one thing a CFII is watching for. Yet another reason to discuss with your CFII before embarking. (Are you seeing a theme here?)

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2. 
   

   
   

   LTCTerry on Oct 17, 2019

   To me, the word “practice” means “you’ve been trained and want to practice what you’ve learned.” What little info you’ve provided seems to me that you want to do “discovery learning” or “self teaching.” Flying approaches is not the first thing in an IFR syllabus.

   There is a reason FARs require the training used for an IFR rating be given by a CFII. You two are not even instructors, let alone instrument instructors.

   If you want to practice something you’ve actually been taught, use a low altitude chart to plan a short triangle cross country for each of you. You’ve been trained as part of the three hours under the hood to do basic instrument scan. Practice flying along airways, identifying intersections, and navigating to airports. The safety pilot could even give you some basic directions like “descend to 3,500 and fly heading XYZ” and guide you into the traffic pattern.

   One of the things instructors learn in Fundamentals of Instruction is the Law of Primacy. The way you do it first is the way you are going to do it in the future. Is your safety pilot qualified to make that happen? Sure, you might save some money now, but you might end up paying for a lot more to unlearn…

   Consider doing the above with an instructor on board instead of a safety pilot. Your friend rides in the back. Fly a one-hour, two-leg flight and land somewhere more than 50 miles away. Switch seats. Fly home. You’ll get qualified instruction, avoid bad habits, and get credit for the cross country flight – important if you are still working on the 50 hours…

   Related – many people think “Oh, I’ll fly with a safety pilot and we both get to log time.” Not a complete statement. The safety pilot gets credit for just the time the pilot is under the hood. Whoever lands at the destination aiport, if there is one, gets credit for the cross country flight. Not both.

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3. 
   

   
   

   SFGiants21256 on Oct 17, 2019

   Thank you both for your response. Great idea with the swapping. While going the safety pilot part a few times I’ve learned a ton just from doing that. I’m sure being able to observe others will do the same.

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4. 
   

   
   

   Craig on Oct 24, 2019

   I think PPTs practicing instrument approaches is a good thing as long as you’re being safe about it in day VMC conditions. Most of my safety pilots were just PPT rated pilots. Any trained pilot can use common sense to avoid other aircraft or unsafe conditions. In theory, training under the foggles more with a safety pilot could help in an inadvertent IMC situation.

   If you’re not in the airspace controlled by ATC, you can practice without ATC, but be sure to make the appropriate radio calls. Just know when to break off the approach if other traffic is in the pattern/area since your approach vector may conflict with other traffic.
   If you’re near airspace controlled by ATC, I recommend overlaying the approach plate onto the sectional since a leg of the approach may actually take you into airspace controlled by ATC. Even instrument rated pilots make sometimes make this mistake when practicing simulated approaches.

   Once you become proficient, instrument approaches can also be used as an additional means of situational awareness for night VFR flight. Too many VFR pilots have inadvertently tried to land on a road that they mistook for a runway or made too low of an approach during a night flight.

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5. 
   

   
   

   Craig on Oct 25, 2019

   I’m sure you’re aware, but just wanted to add that using a simulator would be a safer option to practice instrument approaches. Just get Xplane or something similar (the new MSFX will be great, if they can implement it). With a sim, you can get more realistic with the ceiling/viz.

   Use the experience to improve your instrument skills, but don’t get overconfident and lower your personal minimums. Actual IMC is quite different and can be deadly to the untrained or those who are not proficient.

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6. 
   

   
   

   SFGiants21256 on Oct 25, 2019

   Thank you very much. I’m in the process of using a simulator as well. It is the cheapest option. I wish their were more simulator training programs similar to the private pilot training gleim provides.

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7. 
   

   
   

   Craig on Oct 25, 2019

   Someone on the Xplane forum did make several posts for IFR training. It’s named “X-IFR – IFR Flight School”. Xplane also has a flight instructor mode, but I’m not sure it’s includes IFR. You’ll need to create a free account to view it.

   https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/forums/forum/247-x-ifr-ifr-flight-school/

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