For pilots, why is flying on IFR (“Instrument Flight Rating”) so difficult? Can’t a pilot just focus on their instruments and stay oriented and on course?

Question

(Edit: “Rules,” not “Rating.” Sorry.)

Obviously I don’t know beans about flying, but I see many stories about inexperienced pilots who get disoriented flying through clouds, sometimes even to the point of flying upside-down. Aren’t there instruments on your control panel which tell you your speed, altitude, and orientation? How can you be plummeting towards the ground and not notice?

I hope this question isn’t so ignorant as to be insulting. I know flying is difficult and complicated and it’s easy to criticize from here on the ground. I wish I was skilled enough to know how to fly a plane. I just see many stories about accidents where inexperienced pilots seem to be making apparently ridiculous mistakes.

In: Other

Answer 1

When was a kid getting my instrument rating I asked a Northwest 747 captain if he ever “gets the leans” (trusts his inner ear vs. his instruments). He said, “the difference between you and me is that you are not yet 100 percent committed to believing what your instruments are telling you, and I am. Stick with it though, you will get there”.

27 years later and tens of thousands of hours flying and now instrument flying is just part of me; I never give it a second thought. It is just flying.