"I checked the non-standard alternate minimums" - No one ever When filing an IFR flight plan, one must consider whether the weather at destination is sufficiently "good" to comfortably guarantee a successful approach. Lucky for us, the FAA prescribes very clearly the weather minimums required to "be comfortable". If such level of comfort is not achievable, an alternate airport must be selected (and filed). Do I need to file an alternate? Per 14 CFR 91.169 , we need to file an

"You're off by 1.5 degrees" - SAV ATC "Thanks." - Tizi From your first day under instruments, you're trained to be super precise. And that is appropriate - the ACS has clear tolerances on where you're supposed to be at all times. It's the nature of IFR - being exactly where you're supposed to be so ATC can coordinate positive separation from other aircraft. Tolerances When talking about tolerances, we need to clarify that there's a difference between airway "protected area"

"Oh, that's the one with the feather!" Most localizer approaches are combined with ILS approaches. That is, because the localizer (LOC) is the horizontal guidance navigation system for an ILS. You will see an approach chart called 'ILS or LOC'. There are LOC only charts, and we'll focus on those in this article. For a complete guide to IFR publications, please refer to the FAA Aeronautical Chart User's Guide . This will give you life, death, and miracles of IFR charts. My art

"Oh, that's the one with the feather!" The most famous approach in the history of instrument flying is the Instrument Landing System (ILS). The ILS is considered the only precision instrument approach available to us. As such, it is highly regarded and is very often required for use, if available, by large operator internal procedures. For a complete guide to IFR publications, please refer to the FAA Aeronautical Chart User's Guide . This will give you life, death, and mirac

"I've intercepted the ILS glide slope" - Student flying in magenta needles It’s pretty obvious that under IFR you must fly the appropriate navigation source for the type of route or approach you are executing. For example, if you shoot an ILS approach, you will fly raw ground based data (the famous “green needles” for Garmin), sourcing VOR/LOC (i.e., VLOC) and not GPS. Garmin’s color coding for navigation sources has become part of the industry’s standard. Garmin displays CDI

"Approach, if it helps, airport in sight" - Overly optimistic pilot looking for a shortcut As you begin your flying journey, you will note that most IFR flights end with a visual approach. That is, the weather is sufficienly good that no instrument approach procedure (IAP) is required. This actually highlights how important it is to get your IFR currency (i.e., it's not super easy), and how proficiency really is "a thing" (i.e., you won't fly as many approaches as you think).

"That's a night landing, right?" - Naughty pilot landing at sunset A spectacular sunset on the Coastal Empire The definition of night has many pilots confused... so confused that they end up logging currency or night time illegally, forming contradictory arguments that would make an FAA inspector raise their eyebrow (and mine too). There are three defitions for night time, and they relate to logging night time, logging night currency, and equipment usage. They are actually ea

"Do I load? Activate? Load? Activate?" - Typical IFR student Garmin avionics users have certainly experienced the "Load" vs. "Load & Activate" dilemma when programming their Garmin unit for an instrument approach. Garmin's design philosophy exists to facilitate situations where you're expecting an instrument approach but you have not been cleared for it yet. Scenario Let's consider a fictitious flight plan from Charleston to Savannah: KCHS - TERLY - TILLS - KSAV You're curren

“One thousand, stable” - Student descending at 110 kts and 2,000 FPM Approach to KATL in a Cirrus SR20 In flight training, we often call for “stabilized approaches”. This term came to be with a rising amount of accidents occurring during landing. The General Aviation Joint Steering Committee’s (GAJSC) Loss of Control Group identified causal factors for accidents on landing: Un-stabilized approaches Inappropriate go-around procedures Historically, student pilots are introduced

"We're going to use LNAV/VNAV minimums" - Student "Why?" - Tizi "I don't know" - Student How low we can go on an approach is dependent on the line of minima we use. In the case of RNAV (GPS) approaches, there are various options available: LPV - L ocalizer P erformance with V ertical guidance LNAV/VNAV - L ateral NAV igation with V ertical NAV igation LNAV - L ateral NAV igation LP - L ocalizer P erformance These line of minima are not always available on every chart. The

"Are we good to go?" - CFI "Yup" - Student who forgot to remove the tie downs "Now boarding group 4" Throughout pilot training, we always emphasize safety: preparing for a flight, considering risks and threats, applying mitigations, and so forth. Acronyms like PAVE and IMSAFE should be every pilots’ bread and butter. That being said, don’t we always ask our friends “ all right, good to go? ” before every flight? Think about it! Although a relevant question, it’s also rather

“ Noooooo!!! If you’re on the ground, stay on the ground! ” Dr. Bill Departure briefs are an integral part of any flight. You will see them listed in checklist in the “before takeoff” section. The purpose is to talk about how you will depart the area and deal with unexpected emergencies. For a good safety culture, you need to create healthy habits . Doing a proper departure brief is one step in that direction. To be fair, my departure briefs differ greatly between general

Per 14 CFR Part 91.171 , VOR equipment must be checked in the preceding 30 days if it's to be used for navigation under IFR . What this means is that if are not intending on using it for navigation, you technically don't need to do a check. Since VOR is a great backup form of navigation for all of you children of the magenta line , it's best to keep your VOR checks up to date. Paragraph (a)(2) is what pertains to us. There are four (4) ways of executing a VOR check. Here is

“ATOMATOFLAMES!!!” Students’ (incorrect) response to any INOP equipment question A dragonfly that flew straight into my stall indicator on landing after an aerobatic flight. Could I have flown without it if this had happened before the flight? In my career as a flight instructor and stage check instructor, I have never encountered a more tragic topic than inoperative equipment and airworthiness. I regularly ask my students and my stage check candidates questions concerning

"Turn left heading 130, maintain 2000 until establised cleared ILS 10 approach" -SAV ATC Vectors to final (VTF) is a controller managed option to clear you onto an instrument approach procedure (IAP). This is not a charting transition, but it is considered - in navigation world - a transition for the approach. So for example, when you load an approach into your Garmin navigator, "vectors" will be an acceptable transition selection. We talked about approach clearance types in

"If it flew in, it will fly out" - Pilot who skips preflight In ground school - and probably from day one - you learned about the PAVE checklist. That is a hazard identification / risk mitigation acronym to help you consider the flight "as a whole". Think about the P ilot, the A ircraft, the en V ironment, and E xternal pressures. That's fantastic, but it's more of a thought-inducing system rather than a real tangible tool. So, to help consider some of the risks involved in y

"You are Pilot in Command for the duration of this flight" - Tizi's brief to his CFI before every flight as a Florida Tech student Clearly identifying who is PIC on any given flight is fundamental. There is no excuse for not knowing who is ultimately in charge of the flight. The PIC is often referred to as “the captain”, and no matter how big or small the airplane, there is always only one captain. WARNING This is not legal counsel. Consider this academic guidance only. For a

Purpose Automation Lesson by Dr. Tiziano Bernard with AOPA Flight Director Autopilot Modes CWS Arming Modes

"Landing lights on!" - CFI "But we're taking off!" - Student The use of lights is in part regulated and in part courtesy . It's not uncommon for student pilots to confuse when/where lights are supposed to be used, especially if the lights used for takeoff are called "Landing" lights... So let's go through each light system on the aircraft, understand when it's required and what it's used for. Then, let's go through a fictitious flight in the day and in the night to see t

"You should know the previous airliner went missed" - What an instrument student doesn't want to hear from ATC An instrument approach procedure (IAP) is designed to get you low enough clear the weather and land safely. But what else should a good instrument pilot know? Well, there are a few regulations that dictate precisely how you're supposed to behave. Let's take a look. Under IFR, landings are dictated by 14 CFR 91.175 . Like every good regulation, it starts by stating th