"Whether tis' nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageously low visibilities, or".....oh, sorry....High School Shakespeare making an appearance, won't happen again.... 
This weekend, I flew the Val up to Weatherford, TX, just to the west of the DFW Class B airspace. On the trip up, I filed IFR and flew all the way in the system. For the trip home, I elected to stay VFR, climb up through a hole, cruise back on top, and descend through the broken deck at home base. Since the airplane is fully equipped and certified for instrument ops, and is probably easier to fly ?in the system? than just about any GA airplane I have used, this begs the question ? why file sometimes, and not others?
I frequently read and hear the advice that once you have an instrument rating, you should fly in the system on every flight, just to build experience and to stay current. While I certainly understand where this is coming from, and actually think that it can be good advice, I find that after 25 years with an instrument rating, and having never let my currency lapse, I am selective about when I use it and when I don?t. I guess that I don?t file just to stay current, because the system makes sense to me. My default mode of operation is to go VFR because of the flexibility that it affords. Put simply, I can change and adapt my plans in an instant, without waiting for a new clearance or permission. I can go direct to my destination airport without having to go out of my way for an instrument approach. I can deviate as required for weather, or to let down through a hole, using the full capabilities of the airplane, and doing it when it is optimum. In other words ? I am in complete control of what I want to do, which ads to the utility of the airplane.
To me, filing IFR is all about the weather at departure and destination. If I need to be in the clouds on departure, or there is any sort of a chance that I will have to shoot an approach at the other end, I will generally file. If I can get out and up to the altitude I want while staying VFR, and I am fairly certain of good weather on arrival, I?ll stay VFR. If the destination weather is ?iffy?, dynamic or low and unchanging, then I will generally file. If I decide to go on top, and make a really bad guess on the weather, I can always circle while I call Flight Service and air file to get in where I need to go. With the range and endurance of the RV, I can afford to stop and do donuts in the sky as necessary to make this happen. Of course, this approach requires discipline and judgment to avoid getting trapped and low on fuel at the same time. You need to be thinking way ahead of the airplane ? like an hour or more ? to stay safe.
For example, the weather across east Texas this weekend was influenced by a lot of moist, southerly flow from the gulf. This formed a layer of scud starting around 1500?, with tops up between 4,000 and 7,000 feet. Occasionally, pockets of low ceilings and visibilities restricted by haze and light rain showers were lowering things to IFR minimums (for non precision approaches). On Saturday, when it was time to head north, the ceilings in the Houston area were about 1500?, with some breaks in the overcast. But the area around Dallas was reporting real MVFR, with ceilings and vis frequently below VFR. My destination, Weatherford, has only one instrument approach, a VOR at right angles to the runway with minimums of 700?. Mineral Wells, about 15 miles to the west, has an ILS, so I knew there was no problem in getting down somewhere close to my planned destination. But VFR? Nope, no way! This would have required scud-running in hills, something I really avoid in today?s cell-phone-tower rich environment. So I filed, got great service and a near-direct routing as soon as I got into Center?s airspace, and kept checking the METARs on my 396. Sure enough, the lowest weather had passed through by the time I got near Weatherford, and I was able to get good ground contact on the descent into the area, cancel IFR, descend below the bases (about 1200? AGL at the time) and slide right in to the airport. An additional factor was that Regional approach told me on call-up that he already had two airplanes lined up for the ILS into Mineral Wells, and in order to clear the airspace for my approach, I?d have to hold for up to 30 minutes. Why hold when you have VFR below?
For today?s return, the forecast map showed a cold front developing from the DFW area to near Houston, with a line of thunderstorms forming in front of it by mid afternoon. The prevailing METARS and TAF?s along the rout showed ceilings and broken clouds from 1500? ? 2000?, with strong gusty southerly winds. I figured scudding would be windy and bumpy, and on top would be windy but smooth. If the prediction for thunderstorm formation came true while I was in the air, I wanted to be where I could see it happening, and have the flexibility to use my XM NEXRAD data to stay clear ? or bail out to the better weather to the west if required. So, with solid predicted and observed broken clouds down near Houston, the decision was to maintain my flexibility and go VFR on top. That proved to work very well, as I descended through 50% cloud coverage in the west Houston area, landing at home base (Pearland) with ceilings about 1300?. I listened to a Baron coming in IFR along my same route, and by the time he realized that he wasn?t going to get vectors below 2200?, and he?d passed over the broken area and into the overcast portion closer to the coast, he was being set up for an additional ten minutes of flight time vectoring for the approach from the south. (Oh, and the thunderstorms? They never happened!)
There are no absolutes in this kind of decision-making, and each day must be evaluated on its own merits. Certainly, if you are still getting used to a new instrument rating, or haven?t flown a lot in the system, filing on every cross-country to build experience might still be the way to go. For me, I like to maintain my flexibility as long as possible, but I have very conservative rules regarding destination weather that make me file to maintain my options. As always, either VFR or IFR, good pre-flight decision-making makes the in-flight stress level a lot lower.
And the capability of a well-equipped RV is hard to beat when you really want to use an airplane for transportation!
Fly Safe,
Paul
This weekend, I flew the Val up to Weatherford, TX, just to the west of the DFW Class B airspace. On the trip up, I filed IFR and flew all the way in the system. For the trip home, I elected to stay VFR, climb up through a hole, cruise back on top, and descend through the broken deck at home base. Since the airplane is fully equipped and certified for instrument ops, and is probably easier to fly ?in the system? than just about any GA airplane I have used, this begs the question ? why file sometimes, and not others?
I frequently read and hear the advice that once you have an instrument rating, you should fly in the system on every flight, just to build experience and to stay current. While I certainly understand where this is coming from, and actually think that it can be good advice, I find that after 25 years with an instrument rating, and having never let my currency lapse, I am selective about when I use it and when I don?t. I guess that I don?t file just to stay current, because the system makes sense to me. My default mode of operation is to go VFR because of the flexibility that it affords. Put simply, I can change and adapt my plans in an instant, without waiting for a new clearance or permission. I can go direct to my destination airport without having to go out of my way for an instrument approach. I can deviate as required for weather, or to let down through a hole, using the full capabilities of the airplane, and doing it when it is optimum. In other words ? I am in complete control of what I want to do, which ads to the utility of the airplane.
To me, filing IFR is all about the weather at departure and destination. If I need to be in the clouds on departure, or there is any sort of a chance that I will have to shoot an approach at the other end, I will generally file. If I can get out and up to the altitude I want while staying VFR, and I am fairly certain of good weather on arrival, I?ll stay VFR. If the destination weather is ?iffy?, dynamic or low and unchanging, then I will generally file. If I decide to go on top, and make a really bad guess on the weather, I can always circle while I call Flight Service and air file to get in where I need to go. With the range and endurance of the RV, I can afford to stop and do donuts in the sky as necessary to make this happen. Of course, this approach requires discipline and judgment to avoid getting trapped and low on fuel at the same time. You need to be thinking way ahead of the airplane ? like an hour or more ? to stay safe.
For example, the weather across east Texas this weekend was influenced by a lot of moist, southerly flow from the gulf. This formed a layer of scud starting around 1500?, with tops up between 4,000 and 7,000 feet. Occasionally, pockets of low ceilings and visibilities restricted by haze and light rain showers were lowering things to IFR minimums (for non precision approaches). On Saturday, when it was time to head north, the ceilings in the Houston area were about 1500?, with some breaks in the overcast. But the area around Dallas was reporting real MVFR, with ceilings and vis frequently below VFR. My destination, Weatherford, has only one instrument approach, a VOR at right angles to the runway with minimums of 700?. Mineral Wells, about 15 miles to the west, has an ILS, so I knew there was no problem in getting down somewhere close to my planned destination. But VFR? Nope, no way! This would have required scud-running in hills, something I really avoid in today?s cell-phone-tower rich environment. So I filed, got great service and a near-direct routing as soon as I got into Center?s airspace, and kept checking the METARs on my 396. Sure enough, the lowest weather had passed through by the time I got near Weatherford, and I was able to get good ground contact on the descent into the area, cancel IFR, descend below the bases (about 1200? AGL at the time) and slide right in to the airport. An additional factor was that Regional approach told me on call-up that he already had two airplanes lined up for the ILS into Mineral Wells, and in order to clear the airspace for my approach, I?d have to hold for up to 30 minutes. Why hold when you have VFR below?
For today?s return, the forecast map showed a cold front developing from the DFW area to near Houston, with a line of thunderstorms forming in front of it by mid afternoon. The prevailing METARS and TAF?s along the rout showed ceilings and broken clouds from 1500? ? 2000?, with strong gusty southerly winds. I figured scudding would be windy and bumpy, and on top would be windy but smooth. If the prediction for thunderstorm formation came true while I was in the air, I wanted to be where I could see it happening, and have the flexibility to use my XM NEXRAD data to stay clear ? or bail out to the better weather to the west if required. So, with solid predicted and observed broken clouds down near Houston, the decision was to maintain my flexibility and go VFR on top. That proved to work very well, as I descended through 50% cloud coverage in the west Houston area, landing at home base (Pearland) with ceilings about 1300?. I listened to a Baron coming in IFR along my same route, and by the time he realized that he wasn?t going to get vectors below 2200?, and he?d passed over the broken area and into the overcast portion closer to the coast, he was being set up for an additional ten minutes of flight time vectoring for the approach from the south. (Oh, and the thunderstorms? They never happened!)
There are no absolutes in this kind of decision-making, and each day must be evaluated on its own merits. Certainly, if you are still getting used to a new instrument rating, or haven?t flown a lot in the system, filing on every cross-country to build experience might still be the way to go. For me, I like to maintain my flexibility as long as possible, but I have very conservative rules regarding destination weather that make me file to maintain my options. As always, either VFR or IFR, good pre-flight decision-making makes the in-flight stress level a lot lower.
And the capability of a well-equipped RV is hard to beat when you really want to use an airplane for transportation!
Fly Safe,
Paul
