Sometimes you may also see an even more specific term, MVFR, or marginal VFR. Clouds reported as few or scattered do not constitute ceilings. These are reported as either broken, overcast, or obscured skies. A "ceiling" is the lowest level of dense clouds above the ground that the pilot cannot likely fly through visually. Since each pilot needs to know where they can fly to maintain a certain distance from the clouds, the weather products are simplified.īasic VFR weather is defined as visibility greater than three miles or ceilings more than 1,000 feet above the ground when looking at a weather chart. The standard rules are to remain at least 500 feet below, 1000 feet above, and 2000 feet horizontally away from all clouds.īut weather charts and reports often use the term "VFR" to describe the weather for an airport or the weather for an area. For example, in most places, a pilot must fly with at least three miles of visibility and stay out of the clouds they encounter. For one thing, the VFR flight rules are written from the point of view of the pilot. The FAA carefully defines the weather conditions when a VFR pilot can operate, so you will often hear the terms about the weather.Įven when you look at the weather minimums, there is still a little bit of confusion. The legal weather minimums for VFR flight are of the utmost importance to pilots. Since the plane is separated from other aircraft, it's possible for the pilot to operate during low visibility or inside of clouds safely. Air traffic controllers monitor the flight for its entire trip using air surveillance radar or satellite tracking. To accomplish this, the pilot is in near-constant contact with air traffic control. The pilot is still responsible for their navigation, but the air traffic controllers will keep the flight separated from other traffic. In contrast, the instrument flight rules lay out how a pilot can operate with the help of air traffic control to ensure they are separated from other aircraft and, to some extent, terrain and obstacles.
Some planes don't even have radios on board.
It is technically possible for a VFR pilot to take off, fly a cross country, and land at another airport, all without talking to an air traffic controller. A VFR pilot is also solely responsible for seeing and avoiding all obstacles and air traffic. If it's too foggy or the pilot is operating too close to a cloud, they cannot maintain visual flying. To do this safely, a pilot must abide by the weather minimums stated in the rules.
#Vfr visibility requirements how to#
The visual flight rules layout how to operate an aircraft by visual reference. But these terms are international standards, so they appear in the aviation rules of nearly every country. Many articles out there compare the terminology VFR and IFR flying, but many of them are so focused on one part of the puzzle that the big picture is lost.Īt the simplest level, VFR is defined as "visual flight rules" and IFR is "instrument flight rules." The flight rules refer to the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs), which are the laws of flying set by the FAA.
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