Definition
A grouping in the Instrument Flying Handbook that identifies the typical mistakes pilots make when departing solely by reference to flight instruments. These errors generally fall into three areas: failure to maintain heading during the takeoff roll and initial climb, improper pitch attitude on rotation (over-rotation or under-rotation), and over-controlling the aircraft once airborne due to fixation on a single instrument rather than using a proper instrument cross-check.
Plain English
The standard list of mistakes student pilots tend to make when taking off using only the cockpit instruments instead of looking outside. Most of them come down to drifting off the runway heading, lifting off at the wrong nose angle, or moving the controls too much because the pilot is staring at one gauge.
Context Anchor
Seen in instrument training when learning how to begin a flight safely in low visibility or other conditions where the pilot must depend mainly on cockpit instruments.
Why Pilots Care
An instrument takeoff happens close to the ground at low speed with no outside reference, so small errors become serious quickly. Knowing the common errors in advance helps the pilot recognize and correct them before they develop into a loss of control.
Grounding Statement
On an instrument takeoff, the pilot must make the aircraft do the right things before there may be a clear outside view to confirm it.
Intuition Check
Do not read “common errors” as minor or harmless mistakes. Here it means predictable mistakes that are important to recognize because they can affect aircraft control during a high-workload part of flight.
Example Sentence 1
During the debrief, the instructor reviewed the common errors in instrument takeoffs and pointed out that the student had over-rotated on liftoff.
Example Sentence 2
The instructor pointed out several common errors in instrument takeoffs before the student attempted the procedure in actual IMC.