IFR Mastery Archive - PilotWorkshops

173. Mammoth Winds West of Macon

Instructors: Catherine Cavagnaro

A last-minute switch to a slower airplane is unfortunate, but flight planning shows strong tailwinds will almost make up the difference. The time and range should still work—until you level off in cruise and see an ETA an hour further out than you anticipated. Surely that can’t be right. But what is right?

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172. Late Hold at Herlong

Instructors: Frank Bowlin

Pilots in the digital age will tell you that avionics proficiency can erode even faster than an instrument scan. How will you handle a canceled clearance with a last-minute hold when you know at least three different ways to accomplish the task? Can you make the magic box behave in time?

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171. Unknown Icing in Minnesota

Instructors: John Zimmerman

Winter IFR presents unique hazards with little margin for error. How much confirmation of benign conditions is enough for a well-equipped, high-performance single that’s not certified for flight into known icing? And is icing the most important risk factor to consider on this cold-weather flight?

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170. Colorado Clearance Confusion

Instructors: Kevin Plante

There’s nothing ambiguous about an approach clearance—or is there? Can a wily instructor you employed for an Instrument Proficiency Check trip you into self-doubt with one, well-timed question? Then again, maybe the CFII is just as unsure as you are—and both of you are flying blind.

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169. Checkride for Two

Instructors: John Krug

Confidence is a great thing; overconfidence not so much. Maybe it was a foolish plan to schedule an instrument checkride for two pilots knowing the weather might deteriorate enough that at least one had to pass. Presuming one did, though, the trip home should be easy. Right?

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168. Lateral Discrepancy at Laconia

Instructors: Bruce Williams

One of the pillars of instrument training is trusting your equipment while also verifying the data it presents. That’s fine when there’s a third datapoint to break the tie. But what do you do when your only two navigation sources show a slight discrepancy—but it’s at the end of an approach where every foot matters?

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167. Up in Smoke

Instructors: Catherine Cavagnaro

IFR is a terrific tool, but it comes with limitations that make it impractical (or impossible) to use in every situation where it might be handy. On a day and a flight where wildfire smoke and nearby mountains make visibility marginal, is VFR, IFR, or a combination of both the best solution for reaching the […]

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166. Overvoltage in IMC

Instructors: Tom Haines

Flight training should cover all essential emergencies you might encounter in the airplane. However, it can’t cover everything that might come up at an inconvenient time. You know your time in IMC is limited when you’ve got only a battery for electrical power, but what about when the system is pushing out too many volts?

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165. Making the Call at Kingston

Instructors: Doug Stewart

Dogs make great passengers. They don’t care about the schedule. They don’t talk when ATC calls. And they don’t worry when you’re puzzling through an issue. That’s a plus as you try and decide which approach is best to get you and a pooch into the airport—or if you should even try an approach at […]

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164. Anticipation Near Anaheim

Instructors: Mark Kolber

The flight is short and the weather is decent, but the airspace is unfamiliar and one of the busiest places to fly in the U.S. Flying IFR should simplify that. You find the right route and put it into the GPS. However, a tailwind after takeoff throws an unexpected curve into your plan.

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163. Kickapoo Cancellation Complications

Instructors: Tom Haines

Chart prohibitions are there for a reason and regulations, so they say, are written in blood. That’s fine until the prohibitions and the regulations conflict with each other, and neither one seems to be an issue of safety. Do you cancel, circle, or continue under IFR to finish a flight at a basically VMC destination?

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162. Ely Departure

Instructors: Kevin Plante

One little problem at an inopportune moment is all it takes to turn a feasible plan into a snowballing emergency. Now you must evaluate the options in the little time available and commit to one at the expense of all others. How far off the standard playbook will you go to reach safety?

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