This morning we finally had a break in the weather on a day I was available to do some training in the Deb. And what a day it was! There was a thin overcast layer at 3,500 near the airport, but we found a hole and went through it up to 4,500. Such a perfect view above the pillow-y clouds on our way out to clearer skies to the west. I didn’t get much time to enjoy the view as I flew most of the cross country stuff under the hood in simulated IFR. After a landing at KDBQ in Iowa, we were off towards KMSN in Wisconson. Again, I was under the hood all the way there. After landing in Madison, we took a break and I topped off the fuel tanks for our trip back south to Aurora and to do some airwork. Back under the hood, we flew some various rate turns. We did standard rate, 30 degree, and 45 degree turns. We did a neat and challenging excersize where I did a standard rate turn and, on call out, put the gear down, and then flaps… all while maintaining standard rate and altitude. Then we reversed the direction and cleaned the plane up the same way. After that, I emerged back into the world of visual flight and we did a manual gear extension, some slow flight, and stalls to finish out the airwork for the day. We headed back to KARR to put the plane away and debrief. All said and done, I logged 3.4 hours total time with 1.8 of it in simulated IFR under the hood. Needless to say, I was exhausted and ready for a nap and it was only 2 in the afternoon!