MyassisDragon
Line Up and Wait
Just got back from a quick trip to pick up a kid from college it was about 30 minutes each way and I found myself in a quandary and would like to know what some other seasoned pilots would have done.
When I departed (non ice plane)
- A low pressure front just passed about an hour before (was still 30.5 on ALT)
-Temp dew point spread was around 2 degree (-10 & - 12)
-Icing AIRMET surface to 18000msl
-Ceilings were 2000-2800AGL for the entire route
-Light snow was predicted in the general area
- MVFR conditions the whole route (and all day on the TAF)
-A few surrounding airports were Broken 2200 Overcast 6-7000
My gut was saying I would get a double layer of clouds and be clear at 4-5000 foot, so here is what I ended up doing.
I filed for IFR clearance on both legs of the trip at 4000 & 5000 respectively, Took off from un towered airports (each way) and contacted approach, but instead of opening my IFR clearance on file I just requested flight following and remained clear of clouds around 2700ft in VFR with some snow.
My thought was if I could find a broken layer I could see if it was double layer and had some clear space to fly in but I didnt want to take a chance going into VMC cloud with such a close DP/Temp spread only to find find out it was solid crud up to 10k or something (its only a 30 minute flight)
It wasnt until on my way home did the clouds break up enough to see that I was indeed flying under a thin low cloud layer from the front and that the second layer was indeed up there around the 7000 mark.
I dont love flying in MVFR with snow conditions at 2500ft (not quite scud running but not a many options for an out) but it seemed much more conservative than jumping up into the clouds for that chance of clear sky.
Keep in mind I do live along the lakeshore in Michigan so its snowing 6 days a week here and MVFR flight in snow is pretty common on almost every flight I make in winter so this is not the question at hand
The question I have for all the experienced IFR pilots here is, What Would you have done???
1) Opened the IFR clearance and flown to the first assigned altitude to see what was there?
2) Did what I did and remain clear of cloud VFR but in snow?
3) Or are there other options?
I look back and see I could have easily had a cool flight in clear air between two decks of clouds, but I didnt, and am a little bummed.
Fine print : Please don't quote regs regarding the legality of filing IFR when there is an icing Airmet or that snow is known ice ect, I understand the regulations and that is not the topic here.
When I departed (non ice plane)
- A low pressure front just passed about an hour before (was still 30.5 on ALT)
-Temp dew point spread was around 2 degree (-10 & - 12)
-Icing AIRMET surface to 18000msl
-Ceilings were 2000-2800AGL for the entire route
-Light snow was predicted in the general area
- MVFR conditions the whole route (and all day on the TAF)
-A few surrounding airports were Broken 2200 Overcast 6-7000
My gut was saying I would get a double layer of clouds and be clear at 4-5000 foot, so here is what I ended up doing.
I filed for IFR clearance on both legs of the trip at 4000 & 5000 respectively, Took off from un towered airports (each way) and contacted approach, but instead of opening my IFR clearance on file I just requested flight following and remained clear of clouds around 2700ft in VFR with some snow.
My thought was if I could find a broken layer I could see if it was double layer and had some clear space to fly in but I didnt want to take a chance going into VMC cloud with such a close DP/Temp spread only to find find out it was solid crud up to 10k or something (its only a 30 minute flight)
It wasnt until on my way home did the clouds break up enough to see that I was indeed flying under a thin low cloud layer from the front and that the second layer was indeed up there around the 7000 mark.
I dont love flying in MVFR with snow conditions at 2500ft (not quite scud running but not a many options for an out) but it seemed much more conservative than jumping up into the clouds for that chance of clear sky.
Keep in mind I do live along the lakeshore in Michigan so its snowing 6 days a week here and MVFR flight in snow is pretty common on almost every flight I make in winter so this is not the question at hand
The question I have for all the experienced IFR pilots here is, What Would you have done???
1) Opened the IFR clearance and flown to the first assigned altitude to see what was there?
2) Did what I did and remain clear of cloud VFR but in snow?
3) Or are there other options?
I look back and see I could have easily had a cool flight in clear air between two decks of clouds, but I didnt, and am a little bummed.
Fine print : Please don't quote regs regarding the legality of filing IFR when there is an icing Airmet or that snow is known ice ect, I understand the regulations and that is not the topic here.
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