EAA AVIATION CENTER, OSHKOSH, Wisconsin — The IMC/VMC Club concept, now part of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s pilot proficiency resources, celebrates its 10th anniversary in October 2020 of bringing flight safety scenarios to local pilots.
More than 400 local clubs in communities throughout the country now provide and promote flying, proficiency, and safety. The clubs meet monthly, allowing pilots to share information and resources, using their flying experiences as shared knowledge to enhance safety for all who fly.
“What started as an informal conversation at a restaurant in Norwood, Massachusetts, in 2010 has now grown into an impressive network of clubs throughout the nation,” said Radek Wyrzykowski, EAA’s manager of flight proficiency, who came up with the IMC Club concept. “Over the past decade, the initial concept has not only grown and thrived, but has created a suite of resources through EAA’s Proficiency365 initiative to take flight safety and pilot proficiency to the next level. This success would not have been possible without all who have been involved, from EAA members and friends, to donors, volunteers, and program coordinators. Thanks to all of them, whether they have been with the program since its start or have joined recently.”
The IMC Club provides organized “hangar flying” focused on building proficiency in instrument flying. The concept is to bring together IFR-rated pilots who fly in real-world “actual IMC” and provide them an opportunity to share stories, network with the larger pilot community, and gain valuable insights and tips for their IFR flying. IMC Club meetings provide a forum for promoting participation and discussion of IFR flying.
The success of the IMC Club concept led to the creation of the VMC Club, which brings similar safety- and proficiency-based scenarios for pilots primarily flying under visual flight conditions (VFR).
The IMC/VMC Clubs are part of EAA’s pilot proficiency resources under the Proficiency365 banner, which also includes the EAA SkillScore Tracker, Virtual Flight Academy, the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, and much more. Since becoming part of EAA’s programming in 2015, the number of IMC/VMC Clubs has almost quadrupled, with most of them affiliated with local EAA chapters that promote and support grassroots flying in local communities.
The IMC Club meetings usually present a video scenario where the pilot has to resolve a usually sudden problem. The ‘ what should the pilot do next’, is left to discussion among the participants.
They are real , actual situations, and the discussion is valuable even for VFR pilots.
It’s all about aeronautical decision making, and what the best next steps are.
Our EAA Chapter 1541 at Lincoln, CA, [ KLHM ] , is doing the meetings on Zoom. It’s usually a lively discussion with a number of actions suggested.