Time In The Clouds

I've feared it, been fascinated by it, but mostly I've been curious about it. What would it really be like to fly a plane in the clouds for an extended period of time?

Yesterday I found out.

According to my instructor it was a "mild" IFR day. It was overcast at 1100 feet for many miles in every direction. The visibility was around six miles.

There was a stable air mass over northern California with light winds and little or no rain. The temperature at our proposed cruising altitude of 6000 feet was 2 deg. Celsius, so we would need to keep an eye out for ice. Prior to takeoff we had no idea where the tops of the clouds would be.

This was the sky prior to takeoff.

Normally I hate overcast skies but on this morning they had me grinning like a Cheshire cat. I would finally get a chance to fly in some real clouds!

The flight would depart from Santa Rosa (STS) to Sacramento Executive Airport (SAC). We would, hopefully, shoot the ILS Rwy 2 approach then probably go missed and return to STS.

I attempted to file two flight plans online with AOPA Internet Flight Planner. I had done this before with no problem at all.

This time I had problems. I wasn't sure how to file the route and I screwed up the first filed flight plan. Then it wouldn't let me delete the screwed up one and replace it with a correct one. ARGHHH! Then I tried to file the second flight plan (SAC to STS) and made another mistake here. Again, I had the same problem in that it wouldn't let me re-file a corrected plan. Now I had two screwed up flight plans filed with Flight Service.

I got further stressed knowing I was going to have to confess to my instructor that I wasn't even capable of filing a simple flight plan.

In retrospect, I got very stressed out over what was a simple and easily correctable problem. I mention it here because I need to learn not to let such a small issue affect my mental state. So - mental note - "It is very important not to let small, correctable, issues add to your stress level before a flight".  

The planned route to SAC in flight plan format was: 

Frees6.STS V459 SAC

These hieroglyphics translate into:

Depart Santa Rosa Airport - via the Frees6 Departure - back to the STS VOR - V459 airway - to the SAC VOR - land Sacramento Executive Airport.

I met my instructor at the FBO and I confessed my filed flight plans were screwed up. He suggested I call Flight Service and see if I could get it straightened out. I called 1-800 WX Brief and the briefer was very nice about correcting the problems. He didn't make me feel like an idiot and I appreciated his attitude.

Shortly thereafter we climbed in the plane, did the checks and called ground control. I asked if they had my IFR flight plan and then said they would check. A few seconds later they came back and said,

"34777 we have your clearance, advise when ready to copy."

With pencil in hand and paper in lap I say, "Go ahead, we're ready to copy."

The ground controller reads the clearance and I was pleased that I was able to keep up and write everything down. However, he had given us a departure procedure (DP) I couldn't accept (DME required which I didn't have).

I started to mention that we needed the Frees6 departure when my flight instructor interrupted me.

"Always read back the clearance first, then explain any issues with it", he says.

I read back the clearance and then ask for the alternate DP. The controller says "stand by" and we wait for just a couple of minutes before receiving the amended clearance.

We do our VOR accuracy check in the run-up area and with the DP in my lap, NAV and COM radios and OBS's set and heading bug adjusted for my first course, we're cleared for take-off.

At 1100 feet we enter the clouds. Even though I wasn't wearing the view-limiting foggles today I barely noticed the transition. I was still in a climb and I was focused on the instruments.

Finally, I lift my eyes for a quick peak. The view was solid grey/white and somewhat disconcerting. Then the "leans" set in.

The "leans" is the over-whelming sense that your body, and hence the plane, is most definitely in a significant bank. You get a strong urge to roll yourself and the plane "level". This, of course, would be a mistake since you aren't in a bank at all. It is the fluid movement in your inner ear that is telling your brain something that isn't true.

A check of the attitude and heading indicator verifies that you are straight and level but it takes some self-control not to get distracted by the feeling. Eventually it goes away, only to return at various stages through-out the flight.

We continue to climb up in the cloud layer and I start to feel more comfortable with the concept that I can't see out the window. At this point I am glad I have a good idea in my mind of where we are, where we are going and how we're going to get there. We have only basic VOR and associated "steam" gauges. There is no fancy GPS in 34777. We do have a 15 year old, three-inch round, Apollo 360 GPS which does help with situational awareness, but not much else.

After climbing in the clouds for almost 3000 feet we break out into clear blue sky. Again, I don't really notice except that it's much brighter in the cockpit all of a sudden. We're almost at Frees intersection and there is no time for even a quick peek outside.


After making the 180 degree turn at Frees and getting established on the inbound course to STS VOR, I finally take a quick look out the window.

Oh-my-freaking-gawd it is beautiful!

The gloomy, overcast day has magically turned into the brightest, sunniest, blue-est day ever! Below us is a solid and brilliantly white rolling layer of unbroken cotton that stretches as far as the eye can see.

The grin stayed on my face for a long time. In fact, I think it's still there.

We now had about 20 minutes of flight time before we would need to begin the set-up for the SAC approach. I really hadn't had such an IFR "quiet time" up until now. My previous flights had always been the rushed, procedure-to-procedure affair, that left no time to just fly the plane quietly. In reality, this is probably much more what a real IFR flight is like and I definitely enjoyed the time. 

All to soon ATC begins vectoring us to the ILS 2 localizer approach to Sacramento Executive Airport. Then we are told to descend to 2000 feet.

As we enter the clouds the turbulence becomes a little freaky. It is much stronger than our climb-out at STS. We're bouncing around and the damn "leans" set in again. I also, perhaps for the first time, begin to truly appreciate the ground. Perhaps I should say, FEAR the ground. As we descend through the clouds the realization that I am truly trusting my life to the instruments becomes very real. I try to put the thought out of  my mind and focus on flying the plane.

We intercept the localizer and I do an ok job of flying down the chute. We break out around 1000 feet and are cleared down to 700 by the tower and instructed to circle to land on runway 20. This was kind of new to me since I've never set up for a landing from 700 feet. I did all the normal stuff and the landing turned out fine.

My instructor needed to make a pee stop so we parking at the terminal building, did our thing and were soon on our way back to STS.

The flight was a confidence booster in that I felt that I had a good grasp of where I was, what I was doing and how to go about it.

Lessons Learned:

• If there is a problem with the clearance, first read it back and then state the problem
• Add wind direction and speed to my take-off checklist and memorize 
• Add intermediate fixes to flight plan to verify wind and fuel consumption
• File IFR flight plans on airways (if you don't have an IFR GPS)
• Review alternate requirements (1-1-2-3: from one hour before to none hour after, 2000 foot ceiling, 3 miles visibility) and file an alternate if required - or even if conditions are close to requiring an alternate, since they may deteriorate.
• Don't get stressed out over small stuff before a flight
• Set up all the NAV and Com radios ahead of time. Use NAV 2 to aid with situational awareness if not otherwise required.
• Have a heading and plan in mind for engine failure when flying on top of a solid cloud layer (know where the ridges or mountains may be hidden in the clouds below)
• Double check your flight plans carefully before submitting them.

Gary