A year! Wow. So, what have I been doing in that time?  Well, if you've been reading the flight log, you'll know that I've been working on my instrument rating, had a child, broke my arms, and all kinds of other distracting things. But, no longer!

I earned my instrument ticket in June, and today was my first SOLO IFR flight in Actual Instrument Conditions (IMC).

The weather was perfect for the trek; a relatively low overcast (around 1100 to 2000 feet AGL) and no thunderstorms yet, so I booked a two hour block of time in 3NB, filed a Round Robin Flightplan between McKinney and Mesquite Metro.

The only weird aspect of this flight, I guess, was when the McKinney controller said, "733NB cleared to McKinney as filed. Fly runway heading, climb and maintain 2000..." Of course, I had filed for DESTINATION of TKI, but it's still weird hearing them clear you to where you're presently sitting...

So, I took off. 2000 wasn't good enough to get into the clouds, so I asked for higher and was given 3000. Into the clouds I went, and was handed off to the next controller. I intercepted the localizer fairly quickly (about 20 miles away) and, enjoying the LACK of view, was disappointed when I was cleared for the approach so soon, which implied that I needed to descend to the appropriate altitude to begin the approach. The next 15 minutes or so were all VMC, so the arrival wasn't very interesting...

I did a touch and go at Mesquite, called the approach controller back, and was given 3000 back to McKinney. To get a little more experience, I requested the FULL ILS at McKinney (which would include an outbound course, a time procedure turn, etc.) and was told it'd be doubtful given the amount of IFR arrivals at TKI that would conflict.

During the rest of the flight, the controller spent what seemed like 10 minutes trying to call an unresponsive airplane. Ultimately, he called ME and asked ME if I could call him. I tried, no success. I told the controller if he gave me relative positions, I'd keep my eyes out for him, in case there were problems. At this point, I started my approach at TKI, and the guy finally called the controller and anounced he'd lost his radios and was now on his handheld.

About 1/3 of the approach to TKI was made IMC, and the clouds broke around 1800, but the visibility was poor enough that the airport wasn't visible until about 5 miles away.

What a cool day!