Practicing instruments on a PC-ATD is a cheap ûand relatively effective way to keep skills sharp ûwhen the instrument weather is but a memory.

One of the nagging questions that plagues the pilot who doesn’t fly every day is, “Am I really ready for this flight?” The problem is even more serious when contemplating an instrument flight, particularly when the weather is less than VMC.

The fact is that most instrument pilots find they only log about 10 percent of their time in actual IMC, and for the “average” pilot, this means very little time each year flying solely by reference to the instruments. Those who generally fly for pleasure will probably see even less of the inside of the clouds. …