Welcome to Practical IFR
Practical IFR (PIFR) is a cross between a blog and an in-depth article. Content-wise it’s serious IFR, delving into a specific IFR topic from a pilot’s perspective. Each installment of PIFR offers practical tips and techniques for getting the most utility out of your IFR flying.
Do you turn onto the localizer if you’re about to blast through it but haven’t been cleared? If you’re gliding engine-out in IMC into a headwind, what speed should you fly? Why can lowering your personal minimums make you a safer pilot? These are the questions PIFR takes on.
In addition to the core article, there will often be a video digging deeper into a related topic. These usually focus on specific tips for getting the most from your avionics. There’s also a monthly quiz question and answer on using technology, which is as much a part of modern IFR as bulky approach-chart binders were back in the day.
About the Author: Jeff Van West oversees the strategy and development of training content at PilotWorkshops, including including its flagship IFR and VFR Mastery programs.
For 19 years, Jeff ran many noteworthy aviation media projects with his own firm, Van West Communications, including magazines, books, videos and live seminars. Jeff previously served as editor-in-chief of IFR Magazine and co-editor of Aviation Consumer, and his work appears in AOPA Pilot, Flight Training Magazine, Plane and Pilot, and AVweb. He’s an experienced CFII/MEI with ratings for single- and multi-engine airplanes, seaplanes, and gliders. Jeff was the creator of the first pilot transition program for new Cirrus aircraft.
Practical IFR: “Cleared to Intercept?” A Common IFR Dilemma
Fly IFR and you’ll run into this situation soon enough: You’re on a base-leg vector to the localizer or inbound course. A kickin’ tailwind has you screaming over the ground. The needle comes alive, and you know you need to start the turn now or you’ll overshoot. However, ATC seems to have forgotten you. Do you start the turn as you try to verify you’re cleared to intercept the inbound course? Or do you hold your heading while clamoring for the clearance, knowing you’ll blow through and need a new heading to re-intercept?
This is one of those places where there’s a right and wrong answer per the regs, but it’s not so cut-and-dry in the real world. By the book it’s simple: You have not been cleared for the approach, so turning off your heading is a violation of 14 CFR 91.123 unless you have good reason to suspect communications failure or it’s an emergency. By the book, you’re going to blow through that inbound course.
Practical IFR: Practice Approaches
It’s easy to get in a rut practicing approaches around your home ‘drome. You know the airports; you know the frequencies; you fly with the same buddy before stopping at the same airport diner for the same pastrami on rye.
Or, maybe you don’t even practice approaches enough to have a “same.” Don’t feel bad; you’re not alone.
For many pilots, serious IFR happens more in practice than travel. So, amp up your practice—and make it more appealing to do on a regular basis. (Set aside the simulator discussion for now. Let’s just talk about real-world aircraft.)
