I've been a pilot and controller over 20 years. Immediately report that you are losing VMC conditions to ATC. The adage is climb, conserve, confess. ATC will not punish you for inadvertent entry in to IMC. We have procedures using the radar to help you. We can ask other pilots in the area if they are VMC at their altitude. If they are we will climb you to the minimum vectoring altitude and get you to that clearer weather. We set you up as carefully as we can. We give turns in the clearer airspace if we can , have you configure when you can see the horizon etc. We will use all the resources at our disposal to keep you safe.

Contact the tower. I'd rather have my license suspended or revoked rather than be DEAD.

If you ever get get in a real VFR into IMC situation as bad as this, I hope you contact ATC and declare an emergency. No amount of paperwork is worth risking your life for. ATC will help you find the best airport, give you vectors and try to keep you calm.

I flew my Piper Archer into a severe thunderstorm, where I could not see anything but black out of all windows. Your video was good, but you always could see the ground in it. Make the same video, but where you can’t see the ground, and see how much harder it really becomes. When I did that horrible mistake of flying into the soup, I couldn’t tell up from down, down from up, but was able to trust my instruments, even though I was not instrument rated. I was flying at a 20° bank, but my brain said I was flying level. When I would try to level the airplane, there was this invisible force that was fighting me from making the proper correction. I slowed the airplane down to about 90 kits, and relied almost entirely on my attitude indicator and with occasional glances to see if I was climbing or descending. I called air traffic control, who put me on a separate frequency, and the excellent controller (Dayton ATC) told me to climb until I could see some light in the sky, and continue flying that direction. I finally broke out of that big July pop-up thunderstorm, and finally landed at a small country airport. It was an absolute nightmare, and all because of “I needed to get home”. What seemed like an eternity, probably lasted only 5 to 10 minutes. I still get chills down my spine when I think about how close to losing my life I was. I did have about 10 hours of actual instrument training, thank God, or I would not be writing this now. After that incident, I would not even fly if a drizzle was forecast.

At the 10:00 mark you mention that some good advice would be to look down. I would say, as a 1600 hour instrument rated pilot, looking down is not a good thing. Even if you see the ground it may give you comfort but it is not a horizon that you can orient your brain to. The only horizon you have when in the situation you are in is the Attitude indicator. You must trust your instruments. Looking down will cause the fluid in your ears to move and can induce even more vertigo than you may already have if not used to flying in the clouds. Get on and stay on your instruments until you can get yourself out of those conditions. I would suggest that you go up with a flight instructor who is experienced in flying IFR and get some really good hood time. Maybe even go up with an experienced instructor in actual instrument conditions and get a feel for what it is like to transition to instrument flying. It does not mean you have to get your instrument rating but get some good instrument time so you can feel okay on getting yourself out of conditions such as these. There probably would not be any paperwork if you declared an emergency. Which would be appropriate here. But even if there was I think I would take the paperwork and license suspension over being dead. And lastly, I think that if you are going to remain a VFR rated pilot only then don't make your first and last training under the hood with your initial private pilot training. Do it often. Even more than once every 2 years at your flight review. Get good at flying on instruments even if you won't be doing it as an instrument rated pilot. Thanks for the video.

I am a retired controller at a fairly busy approach control. I've been a pilot for 30 years but did not do much flying until I retired three years ago and bought an airplane. The first thing I did was have a new panel installed and then got my instrument rating. Best thing I ever did. If you ever get yourself caught in weather like this sim for real there are a couple of options. The very first thing I would do is contact ATC and let them know your situation. If your airplane is equipped and you know how to shoot an approach, do that with the controller's help. If not, request vectors to a long final, making very small turns, and only when you are level. Don't look out the window, it will only confuse your body. Let the controller set you up for a long straight in final and have him call out the distances to you. If you are able to fly an approach down, great, if not, have the controller give you the altitudes on final for the let down fixes, (FAF, MDA). Land, kiss the ground, find an instrument instructor.

If a non-instrument pilot inadvertently enters IMC and asks for help from ATC, there is ZERO paperwork, and ZERO risk of having action taken against your license. I've heard this from several controllers and FAA personnel.

As a teenager, I flew with my older brother when he was getting his private pilots license. I saw him go from single engine rated, to twin, turboprop, and finally commercial. One time, we flew from Hooks Airport in Houston, to Killeen. Along the way, we hit IMC conditions. He asked me to put my hands on the controls, and just follow along. He said to watch the altimeter, bank angle, airspeed, and rate of climb/descent. I was scared shitless. I could not see the ground, and what was up, or down. He empathize to trust the instruments, fly the plane, and to fight the feeling that you were lost. When I watch these kinds of videos, I'm instantly reminded of how I felt that day. And I didn't have the workload of plotting my charts, talking to ATC, mixture, trim, radio frequency changes.... It was all overwhelming. We landed safely in Killeen, with a slight overcast, and looking back, it was an absolute surprise that we landed. He later became a pilot for American Airlines, then Japan Airlines, became a teacher for the 747.and flew the a380 for Emrites before he retired in 2018. But those days of taking a single engine plane, or a twin turboprop, and hopping to another state are some of the best times of my teenage years.

Kobe's death have me learning things about flying that I never thought I would. RIP to all who passed away 🙏🏽

Hey Nick great video! Currently working on my instrument rating, so I'm no CFII however, to answer your question here is what I'd suggest that pilots should do during VFR flight into IMC; 1- DO NOT LOOK OUTSIDE (don't get yourself sick and disoriented ) 2- Do not move your head around the cockpit as you would do during VFR flight for pilotage. This will get you disoriented and you'll lose control.(There is nothing to look at except for your instruments, trust your instruments) 3- Fly straight and level, avoid unnecessary turns, and make sure you are above MSA. (Flying straight and level will decrease your work load since once you are trimmed and stabilized it is easy to do) 4- And call the nearest ATC facility.Declare emergency, request radar assistance. They'll take you to VFR conditions. And most importantly ATC can be another set of eyes, they can warn you immediately if you don't realize that you are turning or descending! Keep up the good work! Fly safe!

I had a similar experience about two years ago where I had no options but to continue. This was right after I got my instrument rating but I was flying VFR (or I thought so). So here I was, 5000 ft above the ground along a highly mountainous terrain and in about ten minutes, I was in the clouds and starting to see rime ice building up along my leading edge and the front of my wheels in a C172SP. I knew that if I continued, I could easily make that VOR over the airport and hold until I got a proper clearance for what I was doing. The tower read me the latest weather and it wasn't looking good. I had to make it down and down fast! 800-foot ceiling with a 3-visibility and possibility of light to moderate icing on the approach. The ice was coming and going while I was hopping in and out of the clouds above the VOR. I shot two successful holdings and I finally got the clearance for a full procedure ILS approach which included a 12-mile outbound leg with a 2500ft descent. I briefed it to myself over the VOR and did my checklist and started my descent outbound. Ice was still there but this time it was clearly trying to make me more anxious. I could feel the performance degrading and was kinda hoping if I descended further, the temperature would climb and the ice would go away. I established on the ILS and started descending, cautiously monitoring everything both inside and outside the airplane and at the same time I was furiously repeating the remaining altitude to the minimums all the way from 2500 at every 100 increments. At some point I started to think about what I would do if I had to go missed and in a split second, not more than a single second took a glimpse through the windshield. My eyes began to whirl, my hands were signaling jitters like a broken television, and I could feel the liquid in my brain following a curvature caused by the disorientation. I immediately averted my eyes only to find out that I was banking 40 degrees to the right and losing the glide-slope like a champ. I was still 1500ft above the ground and thanks to the tortoise-paced C172, I recovered and continued on the glide. 500 feet to the minimums and still nothing. 400 and still nothing. 300 and oh my Zeus on the Olympus.... I saw the threshold. That day was a turning point in my career. Trust your Attitude Indicator. Worship it if you would... No one on the face of the planet can stress the magics of an attitude indicator enough. Just my 2 cents.. Good share my friend. Looking forward to hearing more of your stories.

I lost my uncle and grandparents due to this when 8 years old. He (my uncle) flew into IMC and hit a mountain in arkansas during a very bad storm. The NTSB / FAA report roasted him on a number of things. Inadequate planning, failure to maintain control, no weather briefing.. the list goes on and on. Poor decision making all around on his part but I learned to use it not as a bad thing but a lesson instead. 9 times out of 10 it isn't one thing that leads to the ultimate outcome but a series of events.

As a retired ATC, I was recently chatting in an aircraft owners internet forum about a real-life VFR to IMC I worked many years ago and someone provided this link. The real life weather weather was 300 Broken and OVC above that with a few breaks. The pilot (non IFR rated and his non pilot wife) had an estimated 45 minutes fuel remaining, spatial disorientation and motion sickness, was having trouble maintaining heading/altitude and made some inadvertent steep turns in the clouds. We eventually got him on the ground but it was a miracle in my opinion. He did not have to do paperwork or get yelled at. We were just glad they were still alive. Ask for help. Embarrassing maybe - Alive is better!

Kudos to Nick for making this video and posting it. It takes a lot of honesty and courage to show one's limits and mistakes. Very few people on KZfaq do it: they rather post carefully edited versions of reality that are curated so to make them look well. But the reality is, no matter what your level is, there's always a challenge you are not prepared for, and it's enlightening to face that next-level challenge to see what would happen, accepting the possibility of failure, and not editing out the less flattering moments. It takes a lot more courage than to play armchair CFII in the comments section.

You nearly died twice there. My take on things. 1: Fly 500 feet under cloud, when you have higher cloud bases to get used to doing it. 2: Fly at 500 feet above ground, so you get used to that. 3: practice doing a 360 degree turn at 500 feet simulated with instructor, often until you get used to doing it with no loss of altitude, looking out the window, and listening to the engine. Also practice 360 degree max rate turn with left or right jink and climb to stall and switch back 180 just like coming to the end a closed canyon, and safely going out.(Jink means using the rudder to turn the body left to get rid of some forward motion, the using engine at max and clean smooth moves bring the airplane up and around to face the other way). Why turn 360 max rate first? so you can decide which way to go, to get out of the canyon. 4: You were over a airfield, Never lose sight of it once you have found it. Circle above it. Keep it in sight and then decide which way to land, wind-sock, trees, smoke etc will tell you the wind. get your airplane setup for slow speed maneuvering , pick a runway or grass strip and commit. land the airplane. 5: You went into the 'death' spiral, because you were not flying the machine, after your missed approach, you did not do the normal circuit pattern. Climb to 500 feet, turn to left or right depending on local norms, Keep climb to circuit height get sorted down wind, setup for base, look for end of runway, turn closer to keep runway insight. descend turn base, set decent rate turn on to the runway, and land as normal. What you did was to go away from the strip off the end of it and your turn was random because, you did not look after the rudder as you applied power. You stall recovery was good. But you had lost sight of the field. Sorry for 1year old reply, and rambling, hope it helps someone. I have encountered IMC in Mountain Flying, that was not there when we took off, in fact was clear skys, but in a C150 two up with tools, in tiger country, we were following the only road through a series of mountains. We rounded the last turn in the road which led on to an alpine lake at 5000 feet, crossing the lake a few wisps of fog formed ahead, and in seconds it seemed a rolling cloud appeared pouring over the mountain ahead (where the last pass was). This cloud just got higher and higher. The C150 could not out climb it in anyway. We turned 180 to see complete white out now behind us. The mountain pass ahead was between peaks of 6500 feet, so we began a circling climb to 7500 feet which took a while at around 400feet / minute. Once up there and clear of the peaks ahead we flew in the the clouds, for about 8 minutes or so then came out the other side. My instructor said, look at he ball and keep the blue at the top, trim for level flight. Fly the machine. May all your landings be good ones.

During my private pilot training, my instructor took me out on a day with 3SM and overcast 1500 to show me just how bad it can be even when VFR. It was seriously mind blowing. I felt like I could barely see in front of me. Definitely taught me to create higher personal minimums for myself.

With recent events this helps me get the full picture. Thank you.

Five C's acronym: climb, communicate, confess, comply, conserve; that's what I learned in my private pilot studies. My instructor has actually taken me, a student pilot, up into real IMC multiple times. I didnt think it very scary as long as i focused on soley the instruments. I think what most pilots do wrong is that when they accidentally find themselves in IMC they still try to fly VFR; you have to rely on your instruments, and only your instruments in that situation because you are, well, flying IFR. Except for when things go wrong, like the ILS doesn't work XD then you're kinda in a pickle. Great video! And I really want to hear those stories of yours!

As an IFR-rated pilot I to commend you for making this video. When planning a single-pilot IFR flight, preparation is key. Of course this is obvious but it also reduces one important trigger to spatial disorientation - quick movements of the head. IFR flight, when done well, has the entire flight and any alternates ready at your fingertips. VFR into IMC is usually unexpected and quite horrifying, so the first thing pilots do is whip their head around looking for any reference to the horizon. This only compounds spatial disorientation at a time when a cool head and steady hand are most needed. I recommend keeping your head still, focusing on the panel, and occasionally using your eyes only to occasionally assess your surroundings. Feel for your flight bag and/or charts instead of turning to look for them. Raise your chart to your eyes instead of turning your head to look at the chart. It is said that it takes every pilot about 30 seconds to successfully orient their eyes and brain to panel-only flying. I admit I never have the opportunity to watch myself fly into the soup because I committed to the panel at least a minute before going IMC. Whether IFR or VFR-rated, control, communicate and confess. ATC is more than happy to assist.

best way to survive. 180 degree turn back to the airport. great channel dude.

14:30 You know what really nice to do after something like this? PAPER WORK. Because to fill out paper work you have to be alive.

This is why pilots should get their instrument rating and try to keep current.

I knew I wanted to fly from the time I was 7 years old and got hooked watching Sky King. It took another 29 years to realize my dream. I started taking lessons in March 1981 and finally got my license in June 1982. I don’t fly any more for medical reasons. During my second or third lesson, my instructor put the hood on me as I was climbing out of the pattern at Cincinnati Blue Ash. He wanted to impress upon me the danger of accidentally flying into IMC. I kinda blew his mind when I not only kept the airplane upright, but leveled off, trimmed for cruise, and made 3 or 4 turns he called for. I didn’t tell him until the end of the lesson that I had read all of Frank Kingston Smith’s books and other material about instrument flying, and that I understood all of the instruments. I did assure him that I wasn’t showboating and understood the dangers. Several years after I got my ticket, I started instrument training and got most of the way through before I came to the realization that I would have to do most of my flying under the hood just to maintain currency. But I had done enough to know that I could stay alive in IMC. I even did my long instrument cross country under actual IMC, including a VOR approach to minimums. I was fortunate to have a good ATP for an instrument instructor. Keep flying! It’s the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

I realize this is a training video and a good one at that! In real life, my instructor always taught me, at first sign of the poor visibility, go back to where you came from. It's that simple.

If you accidentally enter IMC from beneath (climbing into a cloud), just pitch down gently when you see everything starts to fade into grey/white and you should have visual in few seconds - If you enter IMC completely than ignore all your senses, avoid looking out of the window and rely 100% on the instruments even if you thing you are in a pitch up or in a roll... artificial horizon and vertical speed indicator are your best friend...

It's funny you mention "Is it safe for me to be out here?" etc. My "generic personal minimum" is, if i ask myself that question, and i truly am not sure, the answer is no. Great vid

This flight reminded me too much of a time when flying in Oregon, (VFR) I got caught in weather in a 172 thinking my escape route would work, but when I did my 180, it too went down. I was close to getting my Instrument rating, but chose (unwisely) to try to stay visual. At one point we were down to just a few hundred feet following a road through the mountains (IFR) in driving rain, low ceiling and almost NO forward visibility flying into a mountain pass. I was getting ready crash land on the road when we got flash of sunlight ahead, flew to it, and broke out into the sunny Redmond Oregon area. Seeing the trees whip by in this video brought it all back. I used to fly the same plane (Warrior) as in this video.

The content, structure, and delivery of this video are all great. Thanks

Jesus, I have anxiety and its only a game.

In a flight simulator though you don't get the same kind of disorientation as you do in an actual aircraft. You only have your eyes as sensory input, not the fluid in your ears. You also don't feel the effects of gravity which could also disorientate you. Just do a constant rate turn in IMC in a flight simulator and you will see what I'm talking about. It's super easy to just look at the instruments because that's the only input you are given in a flight simulator. In an actual aircraft you have dozens of inputs which are in some cases counter indicating which results in the disorientation common with IMC. In an actual aircraft in a constant rate turn, if you aren't trained, will feel like you are flying level. When bringing it back to level flight you will feel like you are turning in the opposite direction. That never happens in a simulator (unless it's a full motion simulator I guess, but I've never flown in one of those). Not to get too technical, but you can only truly detect acceleration. If you are going a constant velocity there is nothing that can tell you that you are moving especially with no visual input.

I spend many years flying in that area. Was based in HFD, did a lot of my training in WOR, PVD , BDL etc. VFR flying in the northeast is very limiting. My advice is, unless it’s clear and 100, don’t stray from your home area. Any flying mission that requires more than 50 miles cross country is difficult to complete if VFR only. I did my long cross country on New Years Eve with the longest leg from LEB to HFD and was on the edge of an approaching snowstorm most of that leg. VFR minimums all the way, in fact HFD went IFR as soon as I landed. I know the tower waited for me to land! I got my instrument rating. It’s a necessity if you want to travel up there. It makes flying much easier. Climb up on top, no worries and shoot an approach at your destination. If flying over water, it’s a necessity. VFR over water with clouds and fog is a killer. You have no visual references. None. And that weather can change in minutes. In our flying club, we often had VFR pilots take one of the planes to MVY or NAN and get stuck there because the fog rolled in. I got quite a few free hours ferrying the planes back IFR after the VFR members had to go home by ferry boat. Become IFR certified, and file IFR frequently, especially if cross country. Be prepared to fly various approaches, RNAV, LOC and ILS. Learn and practice a radar guided approach. That’s your ace in the hole if you have multiple instrument failure in the clouds. The controller will guide you both horizontally and vertically to the runway. The controllers like to do that for you if they aren’t busy. They have to practice that as well to remain proficient. I used to do those after at Barnes airport in Westfield. Good luck and stay safe.

I love your videos, keep up the good work!

I would be so afraid as a passenger looking out and seeing nothing but thick fog!

Imagine doing this in hills. In a helicopter . Not really possible

As a real world pilot and also an avid flight sim user I can firmly state that flying into imc in real life is very different than flying into it in a flight simulator. There are so many variables that come into play in the real world it's impossible to predict how people will react. Your life is literally on the verge of ending in real world imc and your mind can do funny things if you haven't been trained to cope with it. Not to mention many people who HAVE been trained in imc have still met their demise when they entered it.

This is an interesting video. Some good lessons.here. One thing I was taught 40 years ago when I was first learning to fly is the value of slowing the aircraft up in poor visibility. 2 x stages of flap, fuel pump on and power against the drag will see you at 70 knots with better visibility, more positive control on elevator and rudder and a lot more time to think and react. You are already set up for that quick decent to a fast approaching runway. Also your turn radius will be a lot tighter, just don't go doing steep turns at low speed. Your stall speed goes up considerably in steep turns. Stall speed in a turn = normal stall speed x √ (1/cos angle of bank). 45kts x √ (1/cos 30 angle of bank)= 48.3kts and 45kts x √ (1/cos 60 angle of bank)= 63kts. Of course real IFR is all about minimum safe heights approach plates and a well planned out method of approaching the runway and the way out to safe height if you miss the approach. It is about fitting into the system. Actually flying the aircarft on instruments is something that becomes automatic while you are thinking of everything else. As I said very entertaining and quite informative. I like the way you were talking about maintaining the safe height of 2000ft, all the while drifting down to 1500ft and the inadvertent stall was a classic and well recovered. By the way "looking straight down is the last thing you would want to do. Lock into those instruments, keep looking forward (if you are going to hit something, that's where it will be coming from) and you will find that you tend to fly to where you are looking. From driving a car, if you want to miss something, don't look at it. Look at where you need to go to miss it.

Almost all the useful advice & feedback has been said by now, particularly about Level departures and relating to the importance of the instruments and Scan. According to your lower Localiser/VOR indicator, you crossed the extended runway centreline several times between 18:43 and 18:46 (and possibly elsewhere). This would have been really useful information which could have helped avoid almost missing the runway/airport prior to landing. But in this role this is a trend instrument, not a primary instrument and the Direction Indicator/Compass is still primary - so don't try to follow the localiser, you'll never do it so close in to the airport. In real flight (not so relevant on the simulator) trim for fingertip control. If inexperienced and concerned about "low and slow" I'd add a notch of flap to keep you above the stall without inhibiting your ability to climb. If you find your suffering from a severe vestibular disturbance i.e. your instruments indicate straight & level, but your ear says you're banked at, say, 30degrees, that's really disurbing. Shake the plane with the rudder pedals and the severe disturbance is likely to improve - if it's really disturbing it can't get any worse and can only improve to mild or none! ( I experienced this early during my IR Training in a holding pattern and the rate-one turns felt like close to 80degrees bank instead of just 12! The temptation to counter this is very strong but this technique cured it). Overall, a very instructive video (even if some viewers sort of lost the point). UK IR pilot.

I won't drive my car in this weather 🤣

keep the great videos! so much information and entertainment in your channel

Inadvertent VFR into IMC... I've practiced this many times in the sim but I hope I never find myself there in real life. The first thing I'd do is trim for level flight then make a shallow 180° turn back (primarily using rudders) hopefully into better weather. Use all available technology on board; Autopilot wing leveler and heading, GPS terrain page, Select RNAV RWY 2 for Southbridge and let the GPS do most of the work until you're on short final. Probably better to go for the towered airport if there is one nearby. If you don't have any of that technology; honesty, the best thing to do is to punch in the nearest tower freq or 121.5 and declare and emergency. Let ATC guide you. Don't worry about the paperwork, with any luck you'll have the rest of your life to fill that out ;-)

KZfaq only recommended me this video because of Kobe’s death.

8:50 to see the possible conditions the pilot of Kobe Bryant was flying in.

Simulator and real flying will always be different. I encourage flying with an IFR instructor too and I’ve been though to rely only on the instruments. Also remember that ATC is alway there to help you! Don’t be afraid to ask for help

In that situation you should reduce throttle. Unusual attitude “Brown-power down, Blue-power through”

Don’t fly trying to look at the ground you’ll just bank and fixate on it next thing you know your dead. Just climb and maintain wings level tell atc your situation they can slowly direct you to better conditions with modern radar. Like an old fashion DF steer. This is a mistake don’t be fearful of getting in trouble save yourself first. Half standard rate turns!

If the airport elevation is 1000 feet and your altimeter reads 2000 feet, you are not 2000 feet above the ground. You are 1000 feet above the ground. In this sim scenario your altimeter read 1000 feet while you were on the runway. So when you climbed to 2000 feet you had added 1000 feet to your altitude. That puts you 1000 feet above the airport AKA the ground. Also note that cloud heights in METARs are heights above the ground. So if there is a 1500 foot ceiling at an airport with a 1000 foot elevation, that means the clouds are at 2500 feet on your altimeter. The point here is to understand the difference between height above ground level (AGL) vs what your altimeter says, which is height above mean sea level (MSL).

Good video. My main strategy for VFR into IMC is avoid it, the second is reverse heading as soon as possible, the third is ask for assistance from ATC.

Pretty cool, thanks for the upload

Sorry it took me so long to reply to all these comments, guys! I literally posted this video while at baccalaureate the night before my college graduation.

How he hell did Kobe’s pilot get special VFR clearance? It doesn’t seem like that type of thing should just be given out, they should have told him to land the helicopter at Van Nuys Airport

Looking at how spooked he is in flight sim... and I totally agree- VFR minimums are frightening... I flew in a Beaver off a 900' muddy strip in way worse visibility. In the mountains of Alaska. I remember being pretty spooked, just me and the pilot on board- native Alaskan dude- they're generally pretty laconic. Asked him how long he'd been flying... 12 years. We flew at the clouds 500-800 feet above the ground... following rivers and roads. He steeply banked at one point as I dosed off, freaking me out, to checkout a cabin his friend was building. I went back to sleep until landing at the strip at lake hood. That dude had so much experience, and definitely flew well below vfr minimums- but he knew what he was doing. Hardcore experienced bush pilot. I've flown in a fair bit of AK bush planes for work- they basically fly IMC without instruments, regularly. Doesnt hurt to have 31"+ bush tires or floats- many more options for landing there. Any gravel bar (tons of those) or cove/lake/river is an option.

I love how smooth the view is in this video. What Flight Simulator are you using and what do you use to look around the cockpit like that?

Watching this really helped me understand a little bit of maybe what Kobe Bryant's pilot was seeing and experiencing. RIP to everyone who passed in that accident.

"When flying try to stay in the middle..avoid the edges." Orville Wright.

Great exercise. I love using that Carenado software for doing the same practice.

I've never sat in a cockpit or even used a flight simulator for that matter... so I have a silly question... If you were in a real VRF into IMC situation, would putting on the hood or foggles to avoid looking outside be useful in reducing spacial disorientation while trying to fly from the instruments and co-ordinate maneuvers with ATC? What I mean is could the hood/foggles help to focus your attention in an emergency situation?

Great video as always. When you're talking about not wanting to talk to ATC to get you out of trouble because there might be paperwork, I would just suggest that doing some paperwork after you're on the ground is much preferable to crashing into the ground. Get them on the radio and ask for help to find an airport with better visibility and higher ceilings. This video is a great example of why I intend to get my IFR ticket ASAP. Even though I don't intend to fly in bad weather, having that in my pocket will give me more options should I get myself into a tight spot.

First things first, good video, very interesting to follow. Secondly, I have occasionally flown in worse conditions, including Special VFR and found it's significantly more stressful than on the simulator. Thirdly, if this happened to me, I'd use the garmin GNS 430 to get me lined up - why didn't you use this at all? It's a great piece of kit. Assuming you know the exact orientation of the runway, you can create your own 'virtual' localiser. To start with, you'll need to be at least 10 miles away. Activate direct to on the Garmin, fly toward it until your track is identical to the bearing / orientation of the runway. Now you're lined up. Next thing to do is determine your sink rate. To calculate that, it's ground speed multiplied by 5 - guess what, the Garmin tells you your ground speed ;-) So, continue to fly towards the airport with bearing = track and rate of descent = GS x 5. To check you've not deviated massively from the altitude, check it frequently against distance. For a 3 degree glide slope, you need to be 300 feet per nautical mile higher than the elevation of the field. And the Garmin will also give you the distance. The formula is miles in distance x 300 plus elevation. So at 2 miles from an airfield with an elevation of 1000 feet, if you are at 1600 feet and if you're descending at (groundspeed x 5) feet per minute, you are on a 3 degree glide slope.... Try it, it works. I use Prepar3d and set the Garmin up, fly in storms and just follow that rule. Works for me. But being VFR only, I hope I won't have to try it in real life :-) Keep up the videos, really like them.

Fly the airplane 1st. It doesn’t matter who you’re talking to if you’re out of control. It just means you’ll have friends to talk to as you crash. Step1: Altitude. Locate the attitude indicator. Hold dot on the horizon and wings level.. cross check the altimeter for deviations up or down.. trim for that power setting if you weren’t already. If you entered IMC accidentally you were probably in a climb or at a cruise power setting when it happened. If you were in cruise, a trim and power adjustment will not be necessary. A power reduction may be if you were climbing . 21 to 22 inches map is a good place to start if so. Maintain terrain and ice clearance. If you have an auto pilot and know how to use it turn it on immediately to hold altitude and current heading. If you are not 100% sure how to use it leave it alone. Step 2: Heading. If you were in cruise flight when you entered IMC a 180 degree turn would probably be appropriate assuming you have appropriate obstacle and terrain clearance. Maintaining 100% attention to the attitude indicators and altimeter, start a 180 turn no greater than standard rate and preferably 10-15 degrees max. Hopefully this gets you out of the soap in short order and when you’ve had time to clean your pants out you can go home and slap yourself silly. At no point are you allowed to take your eyes off the ai (attitude indicator)and altimeter for more than a mere second or 2. Imagine you are driving down the freeway at 80 mph and looking at your cell phone. That’s how much time you can deviate your attention from the road. The ai is the road. The altimeter is the cross check. The altimeter is the coarse adjustment tool. The ai is the fine adjustment. Never let go of either. Step 3: Now would be a good time to scream for help. If you know the frequency?? If you were lucky enough to be on when the mess happened.. great. If not and you don’t know the frequency this isn’t the time to start fumbling around and lose control of the plane..now then try a radio channel 122.0? or even guard on 121.5. 122.8 122.7 122.9 and so forth are local fields. Ask someone local. People on airports monitor these frequencies and may offer you assistance. Watch the road (your attitude indicator) and keep it simple. Stay calm and don’t overload yourself. Remember if this happens the first place your eyes go is on that attitude indicator. Nothing else matters. Trust what it says. Next get that 180 turn coming. Then communicate if your work load allows. Fly the plane. Look at the ai.. fly the plane.. trust the ai.. live to tell the story.. One final tidbit.. descend on power reduction not

Do you have custom scenery for your sim? I know that with my flight sim, the regular scenery is auto-generated....it's similar to real life, but not identical.

I was nervous for you. As other people of said The most important thing is to contact ATC and get their help. Don't worry about paperwork worry about survival.

This happened to me as a student pilot over SC in 1997: My final VFR cross country before I went for my PPL in fact. Before leaving Columbia / KCAE I checked the DUATS for the lastest weather information between there and Conway Horry County / KHYW noting 'Good but possibility of Marginal VFR' conditions were supposedly what I should expect ... IT happened as I neared Shaw AFB / KSSC twenty minutes after departure and the activation of my flight plan. As soon as I realised that I was down to the Minimum Safe Altitude shown on the sectional map and suddenly couldn't see the ground at all I alerted ATC that I had flown into IFR and was turning a 180 back to KCAE. Soon made the discovery about the 'Hotel Cessna' having very little to offer in terms of comfort and stuff thanks to deciding I'd rather be safe than sorry in all respects! But I also learned that in aviation one cannot commence or proceed without the presence of an exit strategy they can rely upon: Most often this entails turning a 180 where the best exit option is located ... Failing to prepare only assures that you are preparing to fail / 'ASSUME does indeed make an ASS out of U and ME!' Never be afraid to ask questions and learn from every opportunity there is to learn at any stage in your career: Welcome to where the stupidest question of all was the one which should have been asked. Respect and Best of Luck :o)

I'm a survivor of VFR to IMC. My # 1 advice is to let ATC know as soon as practical. Paperwork (if they make you do some) is totally worth living to fly another day. My experience happened over Minneapolis back in 2012 with my fiancée along in the cockpit. I was just PPL with about 60 hrs. Long story short, we started to pick up icing and I didn't notice until my instruments started acting funny. (Turns out my pitot was completely iced over.) I kicked my pitot heat on as soon as I noticed, but the plane was picking up ice quick. I called ATC to let them know what was going on and they were able to vector me to an above freezing altitude, and back to an area that had VMC. Without them, me and my now wife would have made a 10' crater somewhere over that city. Live and learn... took a 4 year break from aviation a few months later and now I'm back into it about to finish my CFI/CFII. Mistakes happen... and get-there-itus is a real thing. Big take aways: remain calm, trust your instruments, and Aviate Navigate Communicate... ALL THREE and in that order. Furthermore, be sure to know weather and set hard personal minimums early on. It's best to avoid this type of situation entirely if you are not prepared

Subbed. I love flight simulator and this is a good channel. Awesome

You somehow survived despite all your mistakes. Never, ever try scud running in IMC conditions! Get on your instruments and climb wings level to the the minimum safe sector altitude, declare an emergency on the radio to ATC and squawk 7700. Confess you are not instrument rated in IMC and request turns and/or vectors to a radar approach to a landing. Once on the ground, there will be plenty of time to deal with any paper work, but at least you will be alive to fill it out.

This "dark history" video sounds interesting, please make it soon!

I did this in DCS Huey, and my Oculus Rift S. I took off in a UH-1H in very foggy conditions(visibility about 50 meters). Using the Artificial Horizon, Radar Altimeter, Air Speed Indicator, and Vertical Air Speed Indicator I flew to around 3000 AGL flew 5 minutes out(seemed like, probably 1.5 minutes), made a random turn, flew about the same time/distance made another random turn, and so on until I wasn't sure of my location in relation to the airfield. Before taking off I had set the helicopter up for an ILS approach, after doing the above I attempted to make the ILS approach, although I managed to find the glide path I wasn't able to maintain it well enough or long enough to get sight of the runway. At some point I spotted the ground in an open field and landed there, once on the ground I tuned into the functioning NDB(the outer for the upwind approach) and began tracking it. After several minutes of tracking the beacon I realized I had overflown it and over corrected and need to go missed. I managed another open field landing, where I worked out the location of the outer NDB in relation to the inner NDB the I tuned into the inner NDB , and after several long minutes of flying tree top level in search of the beacon I noticed the indicator needle swinging to my left and knew I was within 1/2 mile of the runway on my current heading, so I continued straight and soon saw marker lights glowing in the dense fog, soon after I could see the end of the runway at a slight left angle to my flight path. After seeing some familiar sights on the ground I realized that I had came in to the runway from the East when I thought I was approaching from the West. Something that would have taken only a few minutes in good weather had taken an hour and turned me 180 degrees from where I thought I was. I saved the track of the flight and will be uploading it to my KZfaq channel at some point(when I figure out how to capture the video and upload it in a way that's not too laggy).

I'm a VFR pilot with experience much like the pilot here. I have flown in less than optimal conditions, but never as bad as the conditions as the middle section of minimum VFR. Looked pretty scary to me. One thing I did practice myself is lining up on the runway extension lines given by my GPS. That is something that would have helped him not miss the first approach to the runway. To me the scariest thing was the 180 turn at low altitude to come back to the runway the second time.

what really bothers the hell out of me is how so many individuals who are extremely ignorant to aviation think the whole koby catastrophe to be a conspiracy. They have no idea how dangerous VFR in IMC conditions are and how instruments can only tell you so much.

Whose here after the Kobe Bryant fatal incident. RIP TO ALL.

Amazing video! Been there, done that... I learned from you, thanks for posting....

What do you use to move head in virtual cockpit view?

The death of Kobe brought me here. Rip legend.

Believe it or not this was the same situation what happened to Kobe helicopter SPECIAL VFR CLARANCE into IMC conditions at ATC should ask for a IFR while Holding at Burbank waiting to fly through class C airspace before proceeding to Van Nuys airport the Burbank ATC stated that Van Nuys had Multiple IFR departures waiting for departures... I predict New ruling on that ATC should advance cancelled special VFR in Kobe situation that flying ahead of the aircraft maybe at Burbank ATC or Van Nuys due to the multiple departures only IFR should be a must landing at Van Nuys at that time. Fog on the coast of California weather before midday Visionbinary is about 2 miles any morning... much respect to experience pilots that fly through fog early in the morning .... my condolences to all those who lost their life’s for us to learn hindsight is 20/20 vision ... Note to FAA...no more special VFR... IMC can happen at a drop of a dime ...We have Kobe to thank for this lessons learn So sorry someone has to die for us to learn our mistakes... much less 8 people...so sad...

What ideal computer hardware components would you recommend for maximum realism in this flight simulation software.

May i ask what aircraft addon you are flying in this vid?

I flew with an instructor that stressed trimming for strait and level flight. If you enter IMC you can always let go of the controls to recover to strait and level. You then do all steering with small rudder adjustments leaving your hands free to work navigation equipment

Please make the dark history video about flight sim.., sounds very interesting

One good tool people often forget to use is the autopilot. I understand most VFR trainer (PA28, C152... etc) may not be equipped with one, however if you are luckily enough to rent an IFR-certified aircraft chances are the owner have installed a basic autopilot which is capable of holding ALT and HDG. It is normally located near the radio or gps panel. Here's my tips after 13 years of flying 1. Pitch + Power = Performance 2. Fly straight and level with standard pitch and power (for PA28 nose on the "horizon" and 2450rpm), trim it off 3. Turn on the autopilot if you have one (engage ALT Hold and HDG) 4. Figure out where you are, and climb to a safe altitude, not just lowest safe altitude (3000ft AGL? If airspace restriction is not a concern). By climbing higher you may also regain VMC above the weather 5. Point the aircraft at the right/most appropriate direction (180 degrees turn, lowest terrain, base airport, class B/C airport?) 6. Ask yourself can I regain VMC without help? If not contact ATC with mayday, squawk 7700 and get assistance 7. Keep the work cycle going. Attitude - Performance (ALT) - Attitude - Performance (HDG/Balance) 8. ATC may send an aircraft to intercept you. Follow the intercept aircraft and he will guide you to a safe airport to land

Did you check the on route weather sir?

This is extremely dangerous, theres almost no visibility at the 3/4 mile change, I guess I would climb higher and radio the tower of the conditions, maybe flight following too, I would most likely turn around to where I came from and hope to get back to the area of visibility soon, this is crazy

You're going to laugh at me, and truly, I hope you take this tiny suggestion serious, but, the best way to actually get use to nav, autopilot and doing multiple things at once, is literally get in a boat and navigate at night.. I have been a small boat captain for years, and the autopilots are very similar. Navigation, compass and coming back home from 75-120 nm tuna trips, in complete socked in, can't see 2 feet in front of you fog, navigating a very critical coastline, relying fully on instruments and traversing a difficult ocean under navigation, compass, working your 180-360 deg real time, using radar, autopilot navigation, dual chartplotters and working your waypoints can give you some serious lessons in safe navigation.. wrapping your head around how the instruments guide you in.. I have had to navigate close to a very rocky inlet, dozens upon dozens of times.. zooming into your charts, with the exact coarse set, or else I'd impale myself upon rocks, etc... This helps develop your skills in navigating using nothing but instruments.. To switch over to flying VFR to IMC, you simply just practice full time using your instruments. Add autopilot where you can, but it's simply compass, altitude, waypoints, airspeed, and attitude indicator. Rate change is another critical factor. Driving a boat on instruments simply takes the 3 dimensional equation out of this perspective, but seriously, the two are closely connected. Before I was interested in aircraft, many pilots had been on my boat, and could not believe the similarities between driving a nice pocket yacht and flying an airplane.. Know your airspeeds and watch your instruments. If you do not have an auto pilot you can trust, fully, then it's a somewhat simplified chore flying. I use the same skillsets learned in navigating waterways, in flying planes now days. Cheers.

Everybody that gets their IFR rating could fly IMC, but the challenge is flying IMC in turbulent conditions. Thats when the illusions, spatial disorientation and motion sickness start showing up. When you see your instrument needles and indications changing rapidly and continuously, and barely being able to read them because your trying to keep your neck straight. Thats the moment you realize that you need more IFR training and practice. I had my experience already and don’t wish it on anybody. Thank God I kept calm and trusted my instruments and training, but it still was a scary experience. I learned to not push trying to make the airport and to divert. If bad weather is catching up to you and you’re doubting if you’re going to make it to the airport without getting into bad weather, DIVERT and land as soon as posible. Even if you’re almost at your destination airport DONT PUSH IT.

When I was studying for my IFR, I flew Microsoft Simulator for hours every night. I always set the absolute worst conditions possible and made sure it all was at night. I'd fly missed approaches, holding patterns, and whatever else bad I could throw at myself. It is a marvelous honing tool and seconds only to the hood or actual IMC with an instructor.

It would have been worse in a real airplane. I flew in a cloud briefly with an instructor. It was like a ghost takes over your body. Your perception of motion is no longer accurate.

Survive VFR into IMC = Turn the hell out of there. Always have a plan before take-off. Make sure life insurance is paid-up for your family's sake.

I'm a retired Commercial Pilot and former CFII. My primary instructor once told me, "If the answer to whether you should go flying or not is 'maybe', then don't go!" After flying thousands of hours with about 10% in varying levels of IMC I still consider my first instructor's advice to be sage wisdom. Just wait until you have an equipment malfunction under IFR! If you really want to fly "anytime", then go for the IFR rating. And, realize you still won't be able to go just "anytime". Nice video example.

I flew a month ago in 3 Mile vis that got down to 2 Mile reported after i landed. It was 10 miles and deteriorating on departure for a 40nm sight seeing flight. I ended up turning around 30 miles out and the vis was very poor. Even though i was familiar with the area i did exactly what you did and i followed a major road back into the town and then used local landmarks to locate the airport. I even requested approach lighting turned up to maximum intensity. Made it! Very good experience for sure

Bad decisions lead to dying.

Does this stuff show you your terrain?? I mean what if kobe pilot was flying correctly and he couldn’t see the mountain?

I was flying my Cessna 150 at night southbound southeast of San Antonio. We were midflight heading towards Victoria Texas. Although there were flashes in the sky to the west of us, there was no forecast for weather of any sort. I have always been comfortable flying at night, the air is calm and you can almost always see city lights. Suddenly, we flew through a line of hail and was trained to not turn around since hail is normally in a narrow band and turning around increases your exposure time. I slowed the aircraft to 70 mph and pulled on the carb heat, keeping the wings level. In a few hours or maybe 15-20 seconds we passed out of the hail but flew into the belly of a cloud and all outside references were gone. I established a glide at 70 with a modest vertical speed still keeping the wings level, turned off the anti-collision beacon since it was flashing the clouds in front. I thought that the terrain was fairly flat at around 500 feet MSL. We were at about 3500 MSL to start and my wife checked the sectional for obstruction heights. We stayed on our VOR track and descended to about 2000 and broke out. We continued on our way and gave a pirep to Refugio FSS. I had good training and everything was second nature, even though I had about 80 Hours total time. This occurred in 1970. I stopped flying with about 3500 Hours but have not forgotten that moment.

Great video again Nick. I use X Plane. What Piper Warrior add-on do you use? Is it working on X Plane too?

So this what it look like to the pilot who’s flying us thru the clouds sheesh this is scary might not fly anymore

I feel there should be much more ifr training as part of the ppl cause i know exactly how it feels and how fast the weather can deteriorate, vfr to imc number one killer of pilots

An easy way to come up with the reciprocal runway heading is to add two and subtract two or subtract two and add two. Example. Runway 20- subtract two from first number gives you zero. Add two to the second number gives you two. Try runway 14- add two then subtract two. The one becomes 3 and the four becomes 2. So runway 14 or 32.

Hi, nice vid you have here... i was wondering what tool are you using for this weather? i've got ASN but i can' get a nice effect like yours...

The whole risk of flying VFR into IMC is that you have to be in a real plane to experience the conflict between what you feel in the seat of your pants vs what the instruments are saying. Flying VFR into IMC in a sim will be significantly easier to accomplish for that reason, because your body isn't sending you conflicting signals.

Honestly when I'm in flight sim I mostly fly white out conditions and pretty much just look at the instruments the entire time. I would highly advise climbing in the scenario though, especially in unfamiliar locations, I kept plowing into mountains 🤣 Its really fun to setup insane scenarios like losing instruments and engines in IMC and see if you can make it. Seriously try it sometime in FSX, go into IMC with nothing but altimeter, compass, and GPS (I mean it's fair to assume you'd have your cellphone on you if nothing else)

This occurred to me in my early days of flying as a VFR pilot . On a cross country I inadvertently entered cloud and lost total visibility. . Fortunately my instructor, a former airline pilot,had hammered emergency instrument flying ,well over and above the requirements of the U.K. pilot training . We had conducted several hours of flights in real IMC ( not hard in cloudy U.K.) with sole reference to instruments and recovery from unusual attitudes . It had given me enough confidence to not panic but to appreciate the urgency of the situation and the dangers . I extricated myself having contacted ATC and returned to my home airport in VMC . I think pitot and carb heat would also be a good choice in this situation. Biggest lesson for me was my poor decision making that allowed me to get sucked into IMC ..fly what weather we see not the forecast.

what settings are you on? My FSX looks terrible compared to yours on the highest settings