Weather
Minimums for IMC FlightActual IMC Training
Cessna P210 with Garmin 430 and Avidyne EX500
Richard aims as much as possible to
provide students with actual IMC weather experience. Actual IMC
weather in a known-ice plane tends to be more possible in the winter,
whereas in the summer IFR flight tends more to emphasize weather
avoidance using weather datalink, spherics, weather radar, and/or
Flight Service radar.
Flight Level Aviation’s location in
Southwestern Pennsylvania is ideal for actual instrument training. Not
only is flyable IMC weather fairly common in the non-summer months,
but also given the varied terrain between the Appalachian Mountains
and the flatlands of Southern Ohio, it is quite common to be able to
execute an IMC approach into the mountains of Johnstown, PA or to fly
in Erie, PA lake-effect conditions yet have solid VFR alternates
available back at home base.
Weather conditions which will not be
flown during flight training by Flight Level Aviation include the
following:
- In-flight icing when the freezing
level is below the MEA and forecast or reported tops are above
15,000 feet
- IMC with embedded thunderstorms
- Surface winds above 35 knots or
crosswind components above 21 knots
- Severe turbulence
- Ground icing conditions (icing
prior to takeoff)
- Ground operations with braking
action below fair (or Mu below 60)
- Takeoffs with weather below
approach landing minimums
- Widespread low-IFR conditions
- Freezing Rain or Severe Icing
- Night IMC
- Night VMC over unfriendly terrain
When the above weather conditions
preclude actual flight, Flight Level Aviation’s full-motion
simulator can be used while we wait for weather to improve.