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>>Jerry
Points well taken. Given the parameters you have outlined about staying within 30 min. of the local airport and flying only in good weather, a student pilot shouldn't have a problem with his family.
There are a couple of reasons why I think an instrument rating is indispensable to any pilot. First, an instrument rating makes you a better VFR pilot. Suddenly, those instruments mean something and can get you out of a tight spot when the weather closes in. Also, 85% or so of aircraft accidents are attributable to pilot error--many times related to weather. It's very tempting to just skirt the clouds or fly through a brief veil of clouds to reach the clear sky on the other side (get there itis). Unfortunately, the air route sometimes requires flight through the ground during such instances. Without formal training the instruments offer no help. With the instrument rating a flight plan can be filed in-flight with center to get you through those low clouds and back to the airport. It can always be cancelled later. The instrument rating made me a better pilot overall.
By the time many pilots get their private, they're half way to the instrument hour requirement, making it all that much easier to get the ticket.
Flying by instruments requires discipline, concentration, study, heightened situational awareness, close attention to detail, skilled radio communication, and no deviation from headings and altitudes--all while passengers may be jabbering about what restaurant to go to when you land.
Flight by instruments is so far removed from flight by looking out the window that they can almost not be compared. It's a wonderful skill and requires complete trust in technology. It requires the pilot to rise above the simple operation of flight controls and become part of the air-traffic control system, 'renting' a section of airspace moving along an airway. Routine training in procedures also helps the pilot keep calm in bad situations. It may be dark, raining, cloudy and turbulent, but if you stick to procedure, mind your instruments and guages, and look for the runway at the right time, there shouldn't be a problem. There are many reasons to get the instrument ticket. I don't know of anyone who regrets it, and most hold the sentiments I do. It's just a very safe way to go.
People here in the Rockies fly their airplanes into the ground all the time trying to avoid the rapid deterioration in weather we have here. Happens every year. What does the VFR pilot do when there is no clear airspace between the clouds and the ground? Many don't turn around. I don't think that suggesting the instrument ticket is at all unreasonable.
Regardless, your points are well taken.
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DJSchaut
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DJSchaut
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