IFR Mastery customer map. Join serious IFR pilots from all over the country who are committed to improving their skills.

New members pay an initial fee of $199 to cover all previously published monthly workshops in the library:
 

#1: Partial Panel Emergency
This workshop addresses a situation that scares the pants off most IFR pilots - losing critical instruments in IMC! While many pilots fly airplanes equipped with glass cockpit or redundant systems, the process of managing emergency situations is universal. See how you would handle an emergency that requires an immediate diversion in IMC.

 

#2: Circling Approach vs Tailwind
This workshop helps you decide which approach to fly when the choice is not so obvious, and each choice has unique challenges associated with it. This is a real world situation and your evaluation and decision making can make the difference between an uneventful approach or a potentially hazardous one.

 

#3: Unexpected Icing Over Oregon
Unexpected icing encounters are always a threat to IFR pilots and can lead to an immediate emergency situation if not handled properly. This workshop will test your decision making when you encounter ice along your route that was not in the weather forecast. Your immediate reaction will be critical to ensuring a safe outcome. See how you will manage this situation.
 

#4: Van Nuys SID
This scenario requires a departure from an airport that has published standard instrument departure (SID) routes. Although a SID will keep aircraft away from terrain, it is optimized for ATC route of flight and will not always provide the lowest climb gradient. Test your ability to analyze all available departure options and choose the best one in challenging conditions!
 

#5: Super Bowl Arrival
A great opportunity comes your way when you are offered Super Bowl tickets on the morning of the big game. Luckily, you own your airplane so you can take advantage of this opportunity and fly yourself and a friend to Dallas in plenty of time to make the kickoff. Everything is perfect, except for the weather in the Dallas area. If you are to make it in for the game, you will have your hands full during the final stages of this flight.
 

#6: Headwinds to St Louis
This scenario starts with a three hour IFR flight to attend a family reunion in St. Louis. Your flight plan shows that you should arrive in plenty of time to attend the reunion and also avoid weather that is moving into the St. Louis area. The flight is uneventful, but as you proceed along you notice that something isn't quite right. You'll need to evaluate the current situation and decide if a change in your flight plan is warranted.
 

#7: Electrical Failure Over Iowa
Every good pilot should play the "what if" game and think through the process for managing common IFR emergencies. Well, here's your chance to experience a simulated emergency situation. Electrical failures require an immediate reaction and sound decision making to guarantee a safe and uneventful outcome. There's a lot to manage in this situation…see how you do.
 

#8: IFR Reroute to Kinston
As every experienced Instrument pilot knows…you don't always get what you filed! In this scenario, you must evaluate several reroute options from ATC in the highly congested NY airspace. The challenge here is not only to accept a new route, but also to quickly familiarize yourself with the risks that a new route poses and determine if it exceeds your personal minimums and comfort level.
 

#9: Thunderstorms To Nashville
All instrument pilots should know to avoid thunderstorms, however they still pose a serious threat given their dynamic nature and associated hazards (wind shear, turbulence, micro-bursts, hail, etc.). In this scenario, you will make a cross-country flight where lines of thunderstorms along your route will significantly impact your plans. You must evaluate several options and decide on the safest route around this severe weather.
 

#10: Night Approach To Minimums
This scenario introduces a host of potential challenges that instrument pilots face when flying single pilot operations. After a long cross country trip, you are faced with the prospect of making an approach to minimums with deteriorating weather and strong turbulence. This sets up many potential hazards that must be managed properly in order to guarantee a safe outcome.
 

#11: Lost Comm at Teterboro
How would you like to suddenly lose all radio communications while on an IFR flight plan (in IMC) in one of the busiest sectors of airspace in the world? Sounds fun huh? This is another example of how preparation and proficiency can help you through the most challenging of situations. This scenario offers you a chance to safely review a critical, life saving procedure.
 

#12: Medical Emergency Over New Mexico
Medical emergencies are always a source of concern in aviation, but they take on added significance in IMC. In this scenario, you are responsible for tending to a sick passenger, making a plan to get them on the ground quickly and then executing an instrument approach and landing. If it sounds like a lot of responsibility…it is! But this is all part of being the "Pilot in Command". See how you handle this challenging scenario.
 

#13: GPS Loss Near Rutland
GPS can provide an enhanced level of situational awareness and these units have proven to be extremely reliable over time. However…GPS units and satellite transmissions can and do fail. Yet because they are so reliable, we don't often consider how a failure will impact a typical IFR flight. Even a partial loss of your GPS unit can have a significant impact, here's your chance to experience it first-hand.
 

#14 Vectors to New Haven
This trip starts with a short flight home from Nantucket Island Massachusetts with your wife and 2 friends. The flight is uneventful until the final stages when you will face challenging night IFR conditions, a potential circle to land approach and multiple rapid fire heading changes from ATC. Your ability to make sound decisions and execute under pressure will be called upon in this scenario.
 

#15 Icing Near Worcester
In this scenario, you are helping a friend who is a VFR-only pilot get his airplane back to his home airport in deteriorating weather conditions. This is a piece of cake for you…a short trip you should be able to complete in reasonable weather in a well-equipped airplane. All goes as planned until you run into unexpected conditions shortly after departure. Suddenly, a safe outcome to this flight is in question and your immediate actions will determine whether it ends well or tragically.
 

#16 Mechanical Trouble Near Millville
You are planning the "trip of a lifetime" to the Bahamas with your family. This is the reason you bought your well-equipped IFR airplane in the first place. First though, you need to have a few maintenance items taken care of by your local A&P before the long flight. The day before the trip, you pick up the airplane from the maintenance shop and return it to your home airport. It's a simple, 20 minute flight - what can go wrong? As you will see in this scenario, things can go from "ops-normal" to big trouble in a heartbeat.

Your IFR Mastery Membership Includes:

	New Monthly Scenarios Receive unlimited, online access to all new scenario-based workshops every month. Includes scenario overview videos, resources and tools for additional analysis, live polling and detailed instructional videos.
	Discussion Forum Unlimited online access to the Hangar (members-only discussion forum) where pilots discuss and debate the scenarios.  You can join these discussions any time, or ask our instructors a question. Some of the best learning occurs in the forums.
	Monthly Roundtable We get all our instructors together and open the microphones. They share personal experiences and additional observations on the scenarios. Downloadable audio.
	Monthly IFR Quiz Prepare to be challenged! These quizzes are short but will really test your knowledge. You will get feedback on all answers to reinforce your understanding of the topics.
	WINGS Credit Receive WINGS credit for all completed workshops. We've issued credit for over 1,000 completed IFR Mastery workshops so far!
	Variety of Platforms These online workshops run on the following devices: Windows PCs (XP, Vista, 7) Mac Computers iPads, iPhone, iTouch Android

Bob Nardiello was the "Flight Instructor of the Year" in 2004 and "FAA Safety Counselor of the Year" in 2006 for the Windsor Locks Flight Standards District Office. He has over 10,000 hours of total flight experience, with more than 7,000 hours as a Flight Instructor. He currently holds CFI, CFII, MEI, and ATP ratings and serves as a Designated Pilot Examiner. Bob is the Assistant Chief Flight Instructor at a Part 141 Flight School and is also a seasoned charter pilot flying a Cessna 421 and Citation Ultra.

Wally Moran is a retired airline captain and spent much of his career as a training instructor and check airman on aircraft including the Boeing 747 and 767. He has held a flight instructor certificate for over 47 years. Wally is a Designated Pilot Examiner for single and multiengine aircraft and gliders. He is authorized to issue certificates all the way up to ATP and has given over 3400 hours of flight instruction in single engine, multi-engine, tailwheel, gliders, seaplanes and instruments.

John Krug's 27 years of experience as an Air Traffic Controller combined with his experience as an active flight instructor and charter pilot, allow him to assist pilots in gaining a better understanding of the ATC system and how to best operate in it. While with the FAA, he was an On-the-Job-Training Instructor for new controllers and worked as a Quality Assurance Specialist, responsible for conducting in-flight evaluations of the Air Traffic System and investigating accidents and incidents.

Bob Martens is a nationally known speaker, consultant and aviation safety expert. He retired from the FAA after spending 17 years as a Safety Program Manager. In this role, he delivered hundreds of live seminars devoted to General Aviation safety. Bob retired from the USAF (rank of Colonel) in 2000 after 30 years of active and reserve duty. He was an Aircraft Commander in a C-5A and also served as Flying Safety Officer and Chief of Safety with the 439th AirWing. Bob has logged thousands of flight hours in both military and GA aircraft.