Now its IFR

I have been offline for a good many months, now. During that time, I acquired my IR/ME ticket, so now I'll mostly be flying IFR. I am as I write this at FL50 over Denmark, inbound to Alsie, in weather that is decidedly IMC. Above me, around FL80, icing starts. At this alt, I'm in clouds with occasional showers. Every now and then, I've gotten up and down drafts that force the AP 50ft or so off my altitude. I increased the power a little to make sure my airspeed is sufficient for the climbs. All this tells me the embedded CBs that were forecast are not far away. I'm keeping a careful eye on the storm scope for strikes, of which I've seen a few at a safe distance (so far). I am on my way from Gothenburg to Kassel, right now. Depending on how things look, I may continue to Basle-Mulhouse. 

The whole IFR experience is brand new to me, so I can't give any sage advice about it. I can share my experience as it is gained however, for those who might be interested. What I can do is talk a little about why I decided to do all the work (and spend all the money!) to get the IR/ME rating. 

First, the IR am talking about is a "full" IR rating, not the "IMC" rating they have in England. The IR rating means you fly in the same system as the commercial pilots (although, for me, only in the low airways, since my DA40 has a 16,000ft service ceiling). This rating means I can depart and land in IMC, down to, in principle the same minimums as the commercial planes, allowing for differences in my on-board equipment (no radio altimeter = no Cat II/III landings), and a single-pilot crew has higher visibility minimums. It also means you have a responsibility to fulfill all the requirements of the IFR system. For example, fuel becomes more of an issue, since you have to both file and have fuel to reach an alternate destination. This effectively reduces your range for a lot of flights.

IMC taking off from ESGP this morning

It's taken me seven months, calendar time, of pretty intense focus to get my ratings. There are seven theory subjects to take exams on, to start with. I had heard these are very difficult. In the event, it did take a lot of work, but the subject matter is not that difficult. What is required is a LOT of rote memorization, however. So it does take some sweat. Then there is the practical training: learning to fly in IMC and do approaches using the different kinds of nav aids. This was the part that really took work, at least for me. I had the good fortune of being able to fly intensively, 3-4 times a week, and more than that in the final sprint. I think this helped enormously. 

So stiffer requirements, often shorter fuel range, a ton of work and money... Why go through all that? As always with flying, the answer depends on why you fly, what kind of flying you like to do, your "mission". For my part, I like to travel. For many years, as part of my work, I flew commercial flights (as a pax) all over the place. I am, bluntly, sick to death of flying commercial airlines, no matter what "class" the ticket is. I think it is enormous fun to fly myself around Europe to the destinations I want to visit. I also like to meet people, maybe take a meeting now and then, and I need to be able to get back home when the time comes. 

All that is just really difficult VFR. The weather, even in the Summer, can always get in the way (if you want to fly safely). In the end, you never can really plan to do something and know that it will happen. That said, the IR rating doesn't completely solve that. There is still icing, CBs and TSs to watch out for. But, at least during the warm half of the year, it increases your chances dramatically. So that was my rationale for going for it. Now I'll see how it works out in reality. I'll try to post here, in case any of you want to find out.