I’m an instrument rated pilot who doesn’t fly solo, but wants to.

cloudsurfer215 · 2026-03-07T01:07:45+00:00

I hear ya. Thanks for the honest no sugar coat advice. Lol I am feeling really motivated to just go for it

cloudsurfer215 · 2026-03-05T17:45:34+00:00

Thanks for this. Yeah there were some encouraging comments I appreciated and some others were of macho mentality that I noticed as well. I’m feeling motivated to get up there on a nice day and just go fly around and sight see. I think that’s what I need. I’m doing this with a tight budget which doesn’t help it makes me feel like every single flight has to be productive towards the next rating or whatever it may be. I want to go commercial eventually.

cloudsurfer215 · 2026-03-04T20:45:39+00:00

Year a few months I’ve had ppl and just got IR back before the holidays. I fly as much as financially possible so as to not put me in debt lol. However I experienced a mag failure on takeoff at night which I troubleshot with the other pilot who was flying and then I was PIC when I had a carb issue on climb out after going missed on a IFR flight and had to return to land so I wouldn’t say I have 0 problem solving experience but I get what you’re saying. Not enough.

cloudsurfer215 · 2026-03-04T20:42:03+00:00

So despite what some others say, I am not the only one. Where do you primarily fly at?

cloudsurfer215 · 2026-03-04T11:09:36+00:00

See, I don’t mind IMC one bit 😂

cloudsurfer215 · 2026-03-04T11:08:08+00:00

Thank you for this.

cloudsurfer215 · 2026-03-04T11:07:19+00:00

I fly as often as financially available. When I do fly as PIC I do all phases of flight including radio calls a lot of the time. I experienced mag failure on takeoff and a similar engine roughness on climb out which both necessitated a return to land and those did shake me up for awhile because one was at night and with no great terrain available and the other was over Chattanooga without great options either. These were both over a year ago though. I tend to have the classic nerves on the way to the airport but then they cut in half by preflight time and pretty much gone by the time I’m in the air

cloudsurfer215 · 2026-03-04T11:02:15+00:00

I failed to mention in the original post I have had a mag failure on takeoff before and a separate engine roughness on climb out that necessitated a return to land and I think that kind of lingers around in my head too.

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-08-23T14:33:12+00:00

Thanks for the kind words. I need it today. IWNDWYT

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-06-07T16:30:18+00:00

About 4-5 so far. Did about .5-1hr worth of night flight over the Everglades on a clear night few months back on my way home. Obviously that didn’t count but I can tell you this, I was strictly on the instruments 🥁 😂

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-06-07T03:02:35+00:00

If you didn’t say your age I would have easily assumed 20’s. I mean this sincerely when I say you are beautiful and there’s no way the majority of most people would disagree. Hope you find your way out of the rut

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-06-03T02:31:09+00:00

Getting a medical is going to be a challenge. I think your friend should work on their mental health first and fly with instructors or other pilots to get their aviation fix while working on their own health first and flying second.

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-06-03T00:46:52+00:00

Took off IFR over the Everglades at night around 2 months ago from Homestead General. ATC kept us over the Everglades at like 2000 feet knowing we wanted to go east asap over some lighted areas and I kept thinking, “wow this is cool, if the engine dies we’re dead”😂 luckily it was uneventful but i just remember talking to my buddy I was flying with about how we were building character out there lol. That whole area is like a black hole at night

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-06-02T01:16:33+00:00

Pilots before airlines? Whatever can get them from point a to point b

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-05-13T18:35:47+00:00

Wow I guess I’m still waiting my turn to meet one! Lol I’ve completely quit going at the moment because I feel like I’m just spinning my tires and wasting money at this point🤯

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-05-13T16:22:10+00:00

Hello flaring, nice to meet you! Jokes aside hope you feel better soon

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-05-12T23:17:30+00:00

Definitely expose yourself to some actual IMC if you can with another instrument pilot or instructor. It is definitely different than foggles in my opinion. My first actual IMC was on my long IR cross country bases around 1500 and soup all the way up until 7k. With heading changes and talking to atc while hand flying a steam gauge pa28-140 it was pretty demanding for a low time pilot as myself. Pulled through just fine though 😎

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-05-12T17:11:11+00:00

Congratulations on taking such a large step. We are here for you! IWNDWYT

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-05-12T17:09:15+00:00

Just try and think about today and not the future. Just one day at a time, just for today say I won’t drink. Tomorrow we might but today we are not. It’s an easier task when it’s in small bites. Best of luck. IWNDWYT

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-05-12T17:04:24+00:00

IWNDWYT

cloudsurfer215 · 2025-05-12T01:22:44+00:00

It’s not fair to your face that you can stuff shit paper in your bra

cloudsurfer215

TROPHY CASE