Archives: IFR Mastery Scenarios

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159. Dummy in Duluth

Instructors
Mark Kolber

You never should have taken this flight, in this airplane, in this weather, in the first place. Next time you’ll do it differently—but now you must land soon enough to ensure there is a next time. How will you get this VFR-only airplane out of the weather when snowy approaches look like your only option?

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158. Heading Straight to Nashville?

Instructors
Elaine Kauh

It’s a perennial problem for pilots looking to gain experience, whether it’s new situations, new equipment, or entirely new sectors of aviation. And a logbook full of hours might not help. How do you decide if the challenge you’re facing is a good opportunity to expand your horizons—or an invitation to disaster?

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157. Tillamook Takeoff NA

Instructors
Bruce Williams

Departure procedures aren’t required under Part 91 unless mandated by ATC. However, it’s conventional wisdom that you should fly one when it exists. How far do you take that? Is it better to accept a questionable takeoff to fly the procedure or can you ignore it just because you deem it’s actually safer to do […]

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156. The TAA at Tillamook

Instructors
Catherine Cavagnaro

You’re the only airplane inbound and ATC has cut you loose to join the approach as you see fit. However, the more you review the approach chart the more complex it becomes. The simplest options will be the toughest to execute given the winds and descent, but the easier options might not be legit.

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155. Foggy Thinking

Instructors
Tom Haines

A delightful night flight home turns into a surprise missed approach only seconds from landing. Now back above the unforecast—and widespread—fog, you’re fat on fuel but short on options with the clock already passing midnight. You’ll have to balance between longer time in the air and making the next landing attempt a sure thing.

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154. A Quick Hop to Birmingham

Instructors
JP Dice

There’s no reasoning with a thunderstorm. It goes where it wants to and you go elsewhere to wait it out. This time the thunderstorm is right over your airport, so the question becomes: Where do you wait? Should you do as the airliners are doing for this airport or make your own plan?

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153. What’s Up in Watsonville

Instructors
Bruce Williams

You did your homework for this IMC departure. Obstacle Departure Procedure? Check. Emergency return plan? Check. Glass panel configured and ready? Check. Unfortunately, your cleared route undoes all this work and ATC says their hands are tied. Will you go with the flow or negotiate a new plan that checks the right boxes?

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152. Changing Plans at Southern Pines

Instructors
Doug Stewart

ATC’s vectors to final routinely make approaches simpler for the pilot and all controllers to move more airplanes from the sky to the runway in quick succession. The problem comes when a last-minute change requires reprogramming the avionics and another airplane closing in means there isn’t much time to get the right waypoints in the […]

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151. Who Needs an Autopilot, Anyway?

Instructors
Dave Hirschman

Upgrades are expensive, so many of us make do with a mixed panel of old and new technology. That’s fine as long as you don’t lean too heavily on equipment that’s long in the tooth. This flight pushed that limit and put you in a pickle: Press on with a problem or make a high-stakes […]

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150. Palo Alto Procedure NA

Instructors
John Krug

Sometimes the published procedure notes make no logical sense. How can an approach be forbidden under IFR when you could fly the exact same path VFR safely? Will you follow the letter of the law or trust your eyes and a PAPI—or use some other combination of techniques—to reach your destination in the dark?

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149. Capital City Confusion

Instructors
Doug Stewart

Loss of control on an approach is a terrifying thought—and you just recovered in a valley with limited visibility and no airport in sight. Is it better to climb to safety with a known issue or scud run a few hundred feet above the ground to find an airport and some terra firma?

Scenarios in the library are only available to Mastery members.
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148. Snowfall in North Texas

Instructors
Mark Kolber

You’re cruising in clear air above potentially icy clouds with a plan to descend amid scattered clouds at your destination. However, the destination weather isn’t clearing as fast as it should. Do you stick with the plan, stretch your range to better weather, or seize a potential sucker hole that just appeared below you?

Scenarios in the library are only available to Mastery members.
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