VFR Mastery Tag: Planning

Everyone has had a great day at a local fly-in in a rural town. The departure poses some challenges that aren’t exactly what you planned and aircraft performance isn’t a simple calculation. So long as you have a solid plan to abort, there’s no issue in trying the takeoff, right?

You know high-altitude flying, as it’s where you trained. You have a capable airplane and a clear plan in mind. The devil is in the details when it comes to calculated performance, though, and a few extra degrees can make all the difference in getting off the pavement.

Flying through Alaska is a bucket list item for many pilots in the lower 48. Before you can fly through Alaska, you have to get to Alaska. What’s simple and direct exposes you to dire consequences, and what’s roundabout has hidden compromises. Which way will you go?

Flight following should make your journey safer and easier. If not, participation is voluntary so you can always simply opt out, right? The truth is it’s not always that simple. An ATC instruction can create a conflict that’s not so easy to solve.

It’s on almost every pilot’s bucket list: Airventure at Oshkosh. Before you can land on the dot, however, you’ll have to fly a complex arrival procedure and avoid all the other aircraft doing the same. What will you do when the procedure says one thing but safety might dictate something else?

It seemed like a good idea at the time: Expand your comfort zone with busy Class C airspace by meeting your friend at Fort Lauderdale International. Now you’re sandwiched between a stream of incoming jets thinking there’s wake turbulence you can’t see but must avoid. How will you avoid turning upside-down when you turn final?

Many times the decision isn’t “go/no-go” so much as “how to go?” Instead of risk versus reward, you’re weighing a safe but boring option against something more appealing yet less squarely in your comfort zone. How will you square the issues of traffic, airspace, weather, low-altitude flight, and potential anxiety in this trip through NYC?

Some pilots won’t fly VFR at night because there are just too many traps when you can’t see the terrain. You don’t have an Instrument Rating, but you know some of the procedures. Would it be wiser to use a “bit of IFR” to make a safe departure or rely on your VFR experience plus […]

This power-off landing is just for bragging rights at a local spot landing contest. You could win it if you adjust for the headwinds, yet an early error makes the target seem just out of reach. But maybe there’s a way if you can make the right correction.  

You’re in the descent to your destination airport, where you have an appointment for your first ever tandem jump skydive. As you plan to cross the airport and enter the pattern, you hear a call of “Jumpers away”—probably from over your head. Do you need to change plans, or is an evasive action the worst […]