Add an instrument rating to my pilot's license

I picked up all my course materials and had my first ground school lesson today. We started with some housekeeping, discussing the course structure and reviewing some of the basic private pilot regulatory requirements. Then talked a lot about crew resource management (how to make effective decisions and handle the heavy workload that occurs during some phases of IFR flight, particularly approaches) and aeromedical factors like spatial and vestibular disorientation, decompression sickness, and hypoxia.

I’ve always thought of aeromedical factors primarily in terms of my own ability to fly safely, but we also discussed how they can impact passengers. How do you handle pax who are airsick, hypoxic, hyperventilating, or just simply panicked, while maintaining aircraft control and situational awareness?

Things I need to do to make this happen:

1. Learn more about the tradeoffs of instruction in different planes: a trainer (probably a Skyhawk) vs. a high-performance retractable single (Bonanza) vs. a light twin (Seminole).
2. Decide what plane I’m going to train in. If it’s one I haven’t yet flown, purchase the POH and complete the checkout and any other prerequisites.
3. Put together a financial model including currency requirements, recurrent training, and practical use. Set aside the money.
4. Block out the time in Q1-Q2 of 2005.
5. Find a new flight instructor that I like (my old one was great, but he recently left to go fly for Midwest Express).
6. Get VFR current with the new instructor. Get a mountain-flying checkout while I’m at it.
7. Purchase the training materials.
8. Dive in!

Earning my pilot’s license was great, but I’ve realized that to really use it for any practical purpose in the Pacific NW, I have to get an instrument rating. (This permits flying in clouds and in other conditions when a horizon isn’t visible outside the plane.) I’m also eager to absorb all the new knowledge that will be required, and I’m convinced the IFR training will help push my flying skills reach a new level of precision.