Instrument Rating common mistakes
Instrument Rating · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Reads back an IFR clearance in one compressed phrase, dropping the crossing restriction or the 'hold short' instruction, and starts taxiing before the readback is complete and acknowledged.
The brain chunks a long clearance into the familiar 'cleared to ... as filed, climb, maintain' pattern and treats the remaining items as filler; cockpit urgency adds pressure to get moving.
What to do instead
Copy the clearance into a fixed six-line format (clearance limit, route, altitude, departure frequency, squawk, restrictions), read it back line by line, and keep the aircraft parked until the full readback has been transmitted and acknowledged.
Files and departs IFR without a legal alternate when one is required, or names an alternate that fails the standard alternate minimums, without checking the destination TAF against the ETA.
The alternate requirement is treated as a memory item rather than a computation, and 'the weather looks fine' substitutes for reading the actual forecast.
What to do instead
Apply the rule explicitly from the current TAF: destination forecast within plus/minus 1 hour of ETA, alternate ceiling and visibility of 2000/3 (or 800/2 for a precision approach) and a usable approach; write the numbers on the flight plan.
Assumes the aircraft is IFR-legal because it had an annual inspection, without verifying the pitot-static/altimeter and transponder tests, the altimeter error at field elevation, or VOR check currency.
Annual inspection is mentally equated with all required inspections, and the specific 24-month and 30-day items are not part of the normal preflight flow.
What to do instead
Use a written IFR-legal checklist: altimeter within 75 feet of field elevation, pitot-static and transponder checks within 24 months, VOR check within 30 days and 4 nm, and note the source and date of each.
In a hold, chooses the wrong entry, fails to report entering or leaving the hold, and lets wind drift the outbound leg because the outbound time or distance is not corrected.
Holding entries are memorized as pictures but not applied to the actual inbound course and wind, and the reports are treated as optional chatter.
What to do instead
Draw the hold on the plate, compute the entry from the inbound course and wind, time or use GPS for the outbound leg, make the standard entering/leaving reports, and apply a wind correction on every leg.
In a partial-panel or vacuum failure, fixates on the failed attitude indicator or rapidly alternates between airspeed and turn coordinator, overcontrolling bank and altitude.
The scan collapses under stress and the pilot has not practiced an instrument-by-instrument sequence that does not depend on the failed gyro.
What to do instead
Fly a strict partial-panel scan: bank from the turn coordinator, pitch from altimeter and airspeed, standard-rate turns timed by the clock, trim for hands-off flight, and verbalize each step aloud.
Loads an RNAV/GPS approach into the flight plan but never activates it or verifies the active leg, then follows a direct-to leg or an outdated database into the approach.
Buttonology is learned by rote without understanding leg sequencing, CDI scaling, and database currency.
What to do instead
Before the IAF: verify database currency, load and activate the approach with the correct transition, confirm the active leg and CDI sensitivity (terminal/en route/LPV), and cross-check the sequence against the approach plate.
Descends below the MDA or DA while searching for the runway, continuing 'just a little' past minimums without the required visual references.
The runway is expected and approach lights or a glimpse of the surface are interpreted as sufficient; going around feels like failure.
What to do instead
Brief a hard 'minimums - go around' call at DA/MDA before starting the approach, fly a stabilized descent at the computed rate, and treat any descent below minimums without the required references as a mandatory missed approach.
Treats an in-flight emergency in IMC as a checklist-reading exercise, delays declaring the emergency, and continues toward the destination instead of diverting.
Checklist dependency and reluctance to declare an emergency or accept the delay of a diversion.
What to do instead
Aviate, navigate, communicate: maintain aircraft control, declare the emergency ('mayday' or 'pan-pan') and request priority, brief the diversion, and only then work the checklist.
Executes a missed approach or circling maneuver on an unplanned heading or altitude because the missed approach instructions and climb gradient were not briefed before the final approach fix.
The missed approach is read at the moment it is needed rather than briefed during the approach setup, and the climb gradient is not computed.
What to do instead
Brief the missed approach and circling restrictions before the FAF (heading, altitude, climb gradient, hold), set the altitude preselect, and begin the missed approach immediately at the MAP.
Logs all instrument flight time as 'actual' and cannot demonstrate recent instrument experience (six approaches, holding, and intercepting/tracking within the preceding six months).
Vague logging habits and reliance on 'flying a lot' rather than a written currency record.
What to do instead
Log actual versus simulated instrument time and approach types separately, keep a running six-month currency table, and review it before any flight review or checkride.