Thank you for your website and the draft version of your book Adventures In Flight.  Like many others, what I found compelling is your perspective as husband, father, business owner and hard driving pilot who combines the powerful love of flight with the never ending demands of maintaining a business.

Based on what I've read, I know you are a strong pilot and exceptional flight instructor.  I regret that when I first learned to fly I never seemed able to find a flight instructor with the same level of skill, concern, and commitment to the acquisition of deep, realistic flight proficiency.  I know now, regardless of the difficulty, I should have had the common sense and insight to search out this level of training until it was found.

I should mention - I learned to fly in sunny Southern California, the L.A. Basin to be exact. That is my limitation.  I am an MEI with about 1600 Hours Total Time, 150 Multi-Engine, of which only about 15 hours has been in actual IMC conditions. I served a brief 6 month stint as a 135 Cargo Pilot flying single-pilot IFR in a Piper Lance out here in SoCal.

During that time I came as close to dying in an airplane as anyone could possibly imagine. I lost control in night IMC conditions while climbing to my assigned cruise altitude: very strong vertigo developed, followed by graveyard spiral and a descent rate which peaked at over 12,000' per minute (that is not an exaggeration, it is based on a Tracon printout of radar flight data that a friendly, anonymous controller downloaded and faxed to me without an official FOIA request).

Luckily I exited the base of the cloud deck and regained visual ground contact and aircraft control before break-up occurred. The following day I had a medical evaluation and it was determined that I had developed an inner-ear infection (Serous Otitis), which I was not aware of. This is very likely what triggered the onset and severity of the vertigo I experienced. Nonetheless, in the grip of rising terror, I failed to control the aircraft and I failed to engage the autopilot in time to avert an experience I will never forget.

I have replayed those 14 seconds hundreds of times in my mind. Although I had about 15 hours of IMC when this event occurred, that time had been accrued here and there over a period of about two years while working as a flight instructor.

Yes, technically I was absolutely current and had even recently flown in IMC conditions including rain and turbulence without a problem. But I know now I had not attained true proficiency. I believe this was because I had never been exposed to the type of extended training in demanding IMC conditions that you describe so well in Chapter 13 of your book and in your monthly newsletter. Because of this I was not truly confident in my ability to handle night IMC.

I have not flown since, but will begin flying again soon. I want very much to begin instructing again. Before I do, I am going to obtain a combination of serious IMC and aerobatic training. I agree completely with your philosophy of flight training and your methods of carrying it out. I believe as you do, that flight instructors have a profound responsibility to those we train, and that the responsibility extends equally to their family and friends. Thanks again for your newsletter and efforts on behalf of your students.

Brian Binns