VFR Mastery Tag: Weather

You know you can’t depart with contaminated wings—but what if you’re almost certain it will just blow off? And you have thousands of feet to abort if it’s not happening as expected? And you just watched almost the same airplane—but a version with less horsepower—depart with no issues whatsoever?

It really seemed like a sound plan at departure. Now you’re hemmed in by clouds above and terrain to all sides. To make matters worse, your weather sources are in complete disagreement as to which airport offers the best chance of finding safe ground before running into a thunderstorm or a hillside.

You and a friend have made it nearly across the country in a recently purchased Tomahawk. Now scattered thunderstorms complicate the last leg home—where your friend needs to be by sundown. Is there a route that allows enough flexibility to weave your way home safely or should your friend find a rental car?

Your dreams of airplane ownership are about to come true. The only catch was that the machine is on the other side of the U.S., and you answered that challenge by planning a “true cross country” with a high-time instructor. Now that plan is kaput. Will you still do the coast-to-coast flight?

Airframe icing in the winter months strikes fear into the hearts of IFR pilots, but you thought VFR meant this was a non-issue. Now circumstance has proved that wrong. What’s your choice for the best destination airport and landing technique given you’ll be a bit of a test pilot before this flight is over?

There’s an astronomical event your family has been anticipating all year, and your Cirrus is the ride to the perfect viewing spot. The forecast for this evening couldn’t be more clear. That’s perfect for stargazing—but also perfect for fog settling in and complicating the trip back home. What’s your hedge against a late-night surprise?

You stayed clear of growing thunderstorms on the way home so far, but during a needed break for fuel and food, they’ve caught up. Now a cell threatens your departure. If you can get airborne quickly, you’ll get ahead of the weather and home. If you can’t, you might not fly out until tomorrow.

Your mission is ferrying the club airplane 350 miles to a paint shop. If it’s not there by tomorrow morning, your next chance to get in the queue for painting will be months from now. Is high wind and turbulence enough to scrub this flight, or is there a safe way to make it happen?

You’ve been to Airventure at Oshkosh more than once and you never worried about crossing Lake Michigan. However, that was back when you owned a twin-engine airplane. Now that you’ve retired to an LSA, you’d rather not take the risk. But is it any riskier than the remaining options when the weather isn’t ideal?

Everyone knows that the jet blast from a big airliner can upset small airplanes. LSAs can get tossed around by even a turboprop taxiing past. But does the pilot of a 3800-pound airplane need to leave extra room just because a jet is taxiing by? What if he must ask the jet to stop and […]

Your destination airport is just on the other side of a broken cloud deck, and there’s at least one big hole right below you, right over a lake that’s obviously free of obstructions. Is there a safe way to get in from above? How about from the valley on either side? Or, is this just […]

You’re almost home, but a thunderstorm will make that last dash tricky. Can you make the run to your destination safely, or do you take one of the longer routes which present their own challenges? Or do you land at the airport nearly below you, but into the maw of a second storm rapidly heading […]

A weekend reunion with family is only one short flight away. After a delayed start, things seem on track: You have the airport in sight from miles away, winds are right down the runway, all the airplane gauges are in the green. Yet something doesn’t seem right. What’s that little voice inside trying to tell […]