One of My Worst ILS Approaches | Spatial Disorientation on the Departure Procedure | Many Mistakes 

Such an awesome video man!!

Sharing our "not perfect" flights, as if there is one, is always the right call. Helping others learn from mistakes makes us all safer.

Really appreciate your honesty in this video and posting it was absolutely the right call. At the end of the day I think this video shows us that we have a choice: we can either ignore our mistakes and move on as if they never happened, or we can use them as learning aids to become better pilots (and people)! Thanks for this - regards from South Africa

Thank you for posting this video. I think viewers get a lot more from seeing mistakes and hearing the debrief than they do from watching a normal flight. Great content!

Honestly, seeing that you had trouble with a situation is a relief for someone who has anxiety about not being a perfect pilot. This shows that even someone who has flown a lot before still makes mistakes and learns from them. Thank you for showing this!

When I'm breaking out of clouds (above or below them) I always try to ignore getting a glimpse outside and stay glued to the gauges. It helps a lot. Spatial disorientation used to happen to me sometimes coming in and out of the clouds. It's just a video game your playing while riding as a passenger on a bumpy road. Play the game by the rules - which are to fly the instruments

As a helicopter guy, even under the hood in an R-44 I can still a bit of the ground beneath me. When I was still just starting work on my instrument rating back in November it had just snowed about a foot everywhere so everything I could see in my peripherals was just white. As we were approaching the FAF on a GPS approach I saw a tree or house or something in one eye and every single sense in my body was telling me to bank hard left, even though I was straight and level. The "woah" I said made my instructor a bit nervous (as it should) and I ended up fixating on the attitude indicator and wasn't able to properly describe what I was experiencing. This caused us both to miss an ATC call saying VFR traffic was about to get in the way and to do a 360 for spacing. They weren't pleased that we missed their call. A bit of a stressful flight, but a great learning experience, as it's still the only flight I've had fully experiencing an illusion, but at least now I know what it will feel like and how to react better. The mistakes are often what make us all better in the long run if we are able to admit and learn from them. Now if only Covid didn't prevent me from doing the checkride I was a week out from... Gonna be rusty as hell trying to prep for a checkride again. :/

Don’t beat yourself up. A good pilot is always learning! Great job. I would recommend taking a CFII with you next time for safety!

Thank you for sharing this experience, I think that honesty and openness with mistakes in the GA community directly contributes to saving lives down the line.

Great job posting this video, it’s easy to post the perfect stuff but it shows real character to post the mistakes too!

You did good! It takes courage to admit mistakes, but its important you're continuously improving!

Love the fact that you’re not the typical macho RU-vid pilot and you share your mistakes as a learning experience not just for yourself but for all your viewers as well.

A really good ATC! Congrats on being so honest!

I am only at the beggining of my, hopefully long carreer in aviation (PPL EASA), and I'd like to thank you for all your videos and even more specifically this video. Thanks for sharing your mistakes, it might save my life when I will be doing my IR. Cheers from France

I want to keep sharing my appreciation for your great content, filmmaking skills and humility. This was a great video and great lessons learned!

My father was a pilot so I've read quite a few articles about trusting your instruments at night or in clouds. Seeing an actual video along with your honest experience being shared really was brought back some long lost childhood memories. Appreciate it.

I agree. By posting this, you're owning it, and more importantly, giving us insight and preparedness . Thank you for this. Keep'em coming.

Thanks for posting this video, and keeping it real. I'm proud of how you handled the situation, and how honest you are with your errors. Well done, and keep practicing!

Good call on posting this video. During my IFR training in a helicopter, we went out at night over the desert and I got spatially disoriented by a few headlights on the road, giving me a false horizon. I agree with you, you can't describe the feeling, you almost have to experience it. The fight between what your brain is telling you and what your body believes is real.

Great job setting the example of accountability! That is brave of you to be so vulnerable on the internet no less! As a general aviation pilot who doesn't fly that much anymore...I think you're awesome. Thanks for sharing all of your content and for delivering complete flight videos with all the detail you do. It reminds me just how much success in flying (and in life) is in the details! Great job owning your mistakes and striving to be better in the air. It's honestly inspiring!

Nice man! Love the honesty! Cant be a legend every flight!

Appreciate the video. Let everyone learn from your mistakes.

Such a great Video! I sure wish more aviation RU-vidrs would post more like this, instead of the "perfect" flight all the time. Its a learning experience for us as well! Thanks for sharing and stay safe!

Wow! Great episode! Walking the viewer through Spacial D in real time and the ensuing snowball of events. Thanks for posting!

Solid video. Very relatable. In our pursuit to become perfect pilots, that ever unachievable goal, pride can get in the way of sharing our mistakes. Thank you. I really appreciate how willing you are to use your experiences as a tool to teach the rest of us. Quickly becoming my favorite aviation channel.

As a novice this is the 1st time I’ve had a clear breakdown explanation of the all mysterious ATC back and forth language/gibberish conversation with an awesome step by step airways chart guide....thank you and I look forward to more awesome adventures

Thanks for sharing! As a uh-60 pilot I always have someone sitting next to me to back me up in stressful situations, so I can imagine what it’s like being all alone single pilot. We all have flights that we don’t have a warm and fuzzy about but that’s what makes us better. IFR and especially true IMC flights are always good training

So glad I found your channel. I want to learn to fly within the next 5 or so years. It's fun to watch, learn, and dream. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing this flight. It's good to know in advance that spatial disorientation is a lot harder to recover from that just staring at the instruments.

Thank you for posting this video! I’m currently going for my private license right now and seeing that I’m not the only one to struggle at points is very reassuring!

I like mistake videos. I feel like we all learn more from them than the ones where everything happens perfectly; because more often than not we make a mistake somewhere down the line. It's nice to see a mistake occur and how to respond if we havent seen it ourselves yet in life.

I love your honesty and a great lesson for us all. I have always struggled with imc and your videos are a tonic. Thanks.

My new favorite channel! Quality vids! Love it!

Compliments, there should be more video like this. Every one of us need to share to let other’s learn from our particular situation. This kind of video is one which saves life! Thank’s appreciate!

Absolutely the right call to post it, and I appreciate seeing what looked weird so I can be more ready when -- not if -- I deal with it, too. Thanks.

Great video! Thanks for deciding to go ahead and post it. Most instrument pilots have had similar experiences to yours at some point and this video is a great reminder of how easy it is to make mistakes.

Thank you for the honesty. It's a great encouragement to others learning to "straighten up and fly right"

Wow. so thankful for your willingness to post not just the great stuff but also the mistakes.... helps me become a better pilot, and is a goo dose of reality! thank you!

Great video. Every flight should be a learning opportunity! Keep up the proficiency!

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="462">7:42</a> your right hand tells the story of what you were feeling internally. Thank you for sharing this video even knowing it wasn’t your best flight. It will save other pilot’s lives potentially. 👍🏻👍🏻

Thanks for being authentic buddy, for me; it's frustrating having a bad flight sometimes, but it helps knowing that i'm not the only one!! Keep it up, thats great content

Gotta say I love and watched all your vids. Amazing edits and content. Hopefully one day Ill get on a 6 seater myself. Thanks for all the knowledge you share!!

Thank you for posting this video. I am currently working on my Instrument now and it is really good to see other people mistakes to learn from. One of the things i love about aviation is people share their mistakes for others to learn. Thanks again.

Just found you here from the scooter video and flipped over to this one. PA28-181 - G5's and a GNS530W - no AP and just started my IFR - and man can I relate to the altitude challenges - I was all over the place on a bumpy day last week and had a couple of reminders first from my instructor and once from ATC (I love how ATC does that so politely). Thank you for posting - I think most of us are not nailing every departure, altitude, communication, procedure change, approach, and landing (or even every taxi) so it makes me feel good that like you, I am learning from mistakes I (and others) make and improving and working to be as good and safe as I can be. Sincerely, thank you.

I am currently working on my Instrument and this video was great. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Good videos you are making! Thanks for sharing them! This especialy is a very informationve.

Love that you share your own teachable moments!

Wow brother, great vid! Smooth music! Your honesty and transparency is very very helpful and makes for a great debrief.

How nice to see the places that have seen me busy for my IR.

Great video. As a student pilot, this video have tought me more than some textbooks out there! Experience is all we have in order to make ourselves better pilots and you have managed to make your experience a learning tool not only for you, but for some of us. My instractor always says "learn from your mistakes and don´t let them discourage you", and you have nailed it. Great video!

Thank you for sharing this with us!! As pilots we are always learning!

Great video. And for my family, as new to flying, I like seeing this. Thanks for sharing it.

This is the right approach to improve, owning mistakes...unfortunately we gain experience after actually we had required that experience in a situation... thanks for the honesty and analysis, which is really appreciated. Take care, many happy landings!

Thanks for your honesty ! Owning up to your mistakes in any situation is a noble trait. We all learn.

Great video. Like everyone else I love the honesty. There are so many pilots in GA who are adverse to admitting these uncomfortable feelings especially in IMC. Refreshing to see honesty.

I really like your attitude Eric! Acknowledging your mistakes is the fastest way to perfection!

Subscribed! That was a great video with intriguing dialogue and beautiful footage.

Just found this channel, Loving ALL of your videos. Very well done.

I love the way you explain things and show examples. Great video.

I’ve been “starting my IFR training” for a couple of years now but finally starting to get serious with various ground schools. (King, Sportys, MzeroA and Rod Machado). I really appreciate this video that illustrates how easy it is to get behind the airplane. Honest dialog means so much more to me than the ego driven videos I see from a few other aviation vloggers. I’m so glad I found you.

Just discovered your channel, IFR student getting ready for my check ride, Its very cool to see the mistakes as a 3rd person where I can review them and look at how you handled and how I'd handle them. Watching and entertaining, videos can also be good training. enjoyed it, looking forward to more. Cheers.

Thanks for sharing your experience! I will have my first IFR lesson next friday and I am really looking forward to it.

Thank you for posting this video. I am sharing to my instructor to discuss. I truly appreciate your willingness to put yourself out there for the benefit of your viewers. Sincerely. Thank you.

Love the honesty of this video mate. The fact that you highlighted that currency does not necessarily equal proficiency speaks volumes of your airmanship. Congrats on another sensational share.

It is said: " If you want to learn, teach it to others". The video was enlightening. Thank you.

This was a great educational video and I loved that you kept it REAL.

great video... Very candid about the "less than ideal" parts of the flight... (Plus your map animations are awesome!)

You are certainly NOT the only one who has learned from this flight. You’ve taught me also. Thanks.

Can’t like this video enough! Not just the great courage of owning up, but also for showing what can go wrong. „To trust your instruments you first have to make sense of them“.

Appreciate you sharing the vulnerability and honesty... it helps us all!

Amazing video. Starting my private license journey next year after moving to Phoenix and super thankful for your videos. Makes me feel like in the next seat learning. Cheers from Seattle

Thx for sharing your “not perfect” flight. We all learned from this. And that made it perfect!

I appreciate you posting this despite it not meeting your standards. We can all learn from your humility! I will be starting my IFR training soon and have learned a ton from this!

Love your honesty in your debriefs mate, thank you

Thank you for sharing this. Working IFR now. The honestly about getting disoriented bumps you up a few more notches in my book. Enjoy your content. Best

Great video. I appreciate all of your explanations of everything

As an aspiring pilot I found this video very informative! The ease of which spatial disorientation can set in is incredible! Love your videos!

Good on you for sharing this video. You've helped a lot of people that may encounter this disorientation in their future! Good looking plane btw!

Beautiful videos, editing, sound just great. Thanks for sharing. I learn a lot with your channel.

Great video SCFMonkey- we all make mistakes flying and need to learn from them. IMC will load up your brain fast. Glad you made it back safe.

Thanks for posting this! Great work

I have literally never subscribed faster to anyone! One of your videos is all it took, WOW!!

Thanks for posting this video. Really appreciated it and also shows some of the workload for an ILS flight.

Thank you for the explanations of your mistakes. i learned from your video as I am just now getting started on my instrument rating. You just earned a new Subscriber.

As a student pilot, seeing mistakes, and how good pilots make them, is incredibly valuable. Thank you for posting this video.

Really love this helpful content and honesty and sure helps all of us, thanks for putting this out here. It was a great learning tool.

Working on my instrument rating and this was helpful. I know if wasn't your best but also appreciate you sharing. We all learn from each other!

Great video. Appreciate the honesty. It’s so easy to forget to report things like outer marker when your brain is saturated, and still dwelling on recent missteps.

Beautiful video mann! ❤🔥Don’t worry about it you did great in the amount of stress you had! Always moving forward with the mentality of learning! Take me with you. I’d be a great Co-pilot G4 Pilot! Great kudos to you! 🙌🏽

We all learn way more when someone like yourself is willing to share. Thank you

Thanks for posting. I have yet to have a perfect flight, especially in IMC. I keep striving. The frustrating thing about spatial disorientation is that I seem to work through it and then it rears its ugly head in another flight. I need to keep seaking out imc. This is a wonderfully instructive video. Thanks for sharing it. Looking forward to more in IMC.

Eric these videos are so good! I am currently working on my IR rating and I can not explain enough how much this content is helping me. Not only do I enjoy watching aviation videos (who doesn’t?!) but the fact that you explain the mistakes you make and how to correct them is really informative. Keep up the good content! #BlueSkiesAndTailWinds

Excellent Video it’s the self awareness and a great reminder to not get complacent and always practicing and learning. Thanks for the video. I felt myself being there when I made mistakes but kept it to myself. Huge thanks.

We need to all learn from our mistakes! Thanks for sharing

I think that’s your best video yet, kept it up!

Great video, I feel the mistakes or the not so good flight is the best learning experience. It's great to review someone elses, and thank you for the experience.

Thank you for sharing this! The internet is a savage place and I applaud your willingness to share this despite that fact so that others can learn.

This was really real world stuff. Going in and out of the clouds is more disorienting than solid clouds. That is one heck of a routing. Thanks for sharing.

That hip hop instrumental beat at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="210">3:30</a> seconds was killer! Just when I thought your videos couldn't get any cooler!

Thank you for posting this video. I am not a pilot but one can always dream.