A BE35 pilot with minimal actual IFR experience was surprised when a refresher flight with a cfii in...

Narrative:

I fly about 130 hours per year; and have had 4.7 hours of IFR year-to-date. However; being single pilot; I use the autopilot in those situations. We don't have much IMC in this part of texas (abilene). I hired a cfii to accompany me for some practice hand flying in 900 overcast IMC. I've never been out of currency; but take an occasional ipc [instrument proficiency check]. Three months prior [to this event]; I passed an ipc with no problem using foggles.I would not have passed an ipc in actual IMC. Not this time; at any rate. I am filing this because [allowable] IFR deviations were broken while I was hand flying. I asked my cfii if I needed to file one; and he said I did not because we were being vectored and on radar the entire time. Nevertheless; I'm filing one.we did have 60 KT plus crosswinds at the VOR while flying the first approach; the VOR-a; so I'm sure they chalked some of the erratic flying up to that. However; I flew that portion pretty well. It was the initial turning climb that was so poorly executed. I then flew the RNAV-17L lpv approach and did that pretty well - the lpv guidance made a big difference. Maybe I was settling down by then.I am amazed at the difference between actual IMC versus foggles. There really is no comparison. I received my instrument rating with next to no actual IMC. While it would make completing the requirements for an instrument rating difficult in some areas; I really don't think you should be able to qualify for one without a bit of IMC. There is no substitute.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A BE35 pilot with minimal actual IFR experience was surprised when a refresher flight with a CFII in actual conditions proved more demanding than his previous Instrument Proficiency Checks utilizing 'foggles' to merely simulate IMC.

Narrative: I fly about 130 hours per year; and have had 4.7 hours of IFR year-to-date. However; being single pilot; I use the autopilot in those situations. We don't have much IMC in this part of Texas (Abilene). I hired a CFII to accompany me for some practice hand flying in 900 overcast IMC. I've never been out of currency; but take an occasional IPC [Instrument Proficiency Check]. Three months prior [to this event]; I passed an IPC with NO problem using foggles.I would not have passed an IPC in actual IMC. Not this time; at any rate. I am filing this because [allowable] IFR deviations were broken while I was hand flying. I asked my CFII if I needed to file one; and he said I did not because we were being vectored and on radar the entire time. Nevertheless; I'm filing one.We did have 60 KT plus crosswinds at the VOR while flying the first approach; the VOR-A; so I'm sure they chalked some of the erratic flying up to that. However; I flew that portion pretty well. It was the initial turning climb that was so poorly executed. I then flew the RNAV-17L LPV approach and did that pretty well - the LPV guidance made a big difference. Maybe I was settling down by then.I am amazed at the difference between actual IMC versus foggles. There really is no comparison. I received my Instrument Rating with next to no actual IMC. While it would make completing the requirements for an Instrument Rating difficult in some areas; I really don't think you should be able to qualify for one without a bit of IMC. There is no substitute.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1055674
Time
Date	201212
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ABI.Airport
State Reference	TX
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Bonanza 35
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 40 Flight Crew Total 663 Flight Crew Type 390
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

A BE35 pilot with minimal actual IFR experience was surprised when a refresher flight with a cfii in actual conditions proved more demanding than his previous instrument proficiency checks utilizing 'foggles' to merely simulate IMC.