Spiritual IFR

posted Feb 10, 2012, 4:04 PM by Jon Rumfelt

IFR is defined in the FAA as "Rules and regulations established by the FAA to govern flight under conditions in which flight by outside visual reference is not safe. IFR flight depends upon flying by reference to instruments in the flight deck, and navigation is accomplished by reference to electronic signals." It is commonly used in bad weather or at night when you can't see the ground. When flying in IFR conditions, a pilot must trust his/her instruments above all else they feel or think they see. I've flown in IFR conditions with an experienced pilot. When we went into the cloud, I actually became scared, lost my internal direction, and actually thought the aircraft started to dive. It wasn't until we cleared the cloud that I saw other clouds and regained my bearing. As an aspiring pilot, IFR can be scary simply because my brain will tell me to turn the plane based on what I feel and see. If I can't see, my brain takes inputs from my other senses as a higher priority. Try standing on one leg with your eyes open, you can hold the position for quite some time. Now try again, but this time close your eyes. You will find you will wobble alot as your brain no longer has visual ques from your eyes and must now go on your inner ear and attempt to remain perpendicular to the floor as determined by the feelings your feet try to interpret. You are now standing in IFR conditions! Your brain will over compensate all the inputs from the other operational sensory organs. With no visual que, your brain will take their word for it and tell you to compensate incorrectly. You will fail much faster than if you had your eyes open. In the cockpit, there is help for the blind pilot. Instrumentation such as the horizon indicator, compass, altimeter, and the navigation (VOR, DME, or GPS) which can tell them which heading to maintain. But they have to force their brain to ignore their body's senses and use the visual ques from instrumentation which can see through the night and weather. As long as they can maintain this trust, they will fly straight and level through the blindness instead of crashing. YouTube Video IFR Mayday recording. In this video, an ATC recording of a man flying blind is enhanced by a virtual recreation of the circumstances. You can hear the panic in his voice, almost to the point that you would think he's joking. This is in fact a real Air Traffic Control recording of a close call! The pilot is calling out for help and ATC, who has a much bigger picture, was able to walk him through preventing a crash and most likely, at least one death. How many times have we as humans not been able to see the road ahead of us? Your job is ending, or moving you someplace new. New leadership in your life isn't what you had imagined. The budget is getting tight and you don't have a plan. The possibilities are endless. But no matter what it is, you still can't see where you will be in a year, month, or even a week. You are flying blind! You start to go off of other inputs; the economy, politics, the job market, rumors, etc. Each of these are amplified because you have lost vision. It's scary outside because all you see is darkness, or clouds, and you feel urges to adjust your heading because you feel like you are spiraling down with no way to recover. For those who are not Christians, there is always the Christ (and at this very moment I saw ATC Always The Christ!!) YOU can call out to ATC, who has a much bigger picture, and He can help prevent a crash, or rash, decision that could prevent at least one death. For the Christian, there are tools in the cockpit of your soul which can give you orientation, direction, and assurance that you are on the right path. You need to listen to your spiritual input from Holy Spirit, who can see through the clouds and darkness, and read the instrumentation placed in the Bible, as well as call out to ATC for updates beyond your sight. In either case, resist the brain's demands to change the priority of the senses, and Trust your instrumentation and radio, they can save your life, as well as those around you who may be flying as passengers. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 5:12 Fix your eyes on Christ, the navigation and instrumentation of our faith!! God Bless Jon