Recently I had to explain to a non-pilot friend why I cannot fly in clouds. I mentioned that without instrument training it is hard to fly the airplane with no outside visibility, that clouds can mean turbulence and icing. He (and later myself) was wondering, why can I not simply set the RPM to a standard cruise setting (2200-2300 RPM) and maintain straight and level flight with the help of the AI (assuming no gyro failure) and contact ATC and tell them about my situation.
I thought that:
1. Even a little distraction (like changing radio frequencies or turbulence) will result in a bank or a pitch down attitude which might be hard to recover from for a non-instrument rated pilot.
2. I will focus on the AI but my body will still feel false indications of banking or pitching and I may become airsick.
3. I may have a conflict with an IFR flight.
4. Even if I maintain straight and level flight, at some point I will have to leave the IMC conditions.
Still, it is hard for me to believe that a non-instrument rated pilot can fly only a few minutes with sole reference to the instruments and then they will likely crash.
