Pilot Institute

MARCH 6, 2025

AGL is important for drone pilots as the regular ceiling for drone flight is defined as 400 feet AGL. Pilots are required to check for NOTAMs along their relevant routes or locations before the start of a flight. TFRs are published in real-time and can be checked using drone flight planning apps or via LAANC.

Pilot

Inflight Pilot Training

MARCH 30, 2025

An Instrument Rating is an FAA certification that allows you to fly under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). Flight canceled. Youll be able to file an IFR flight plan and safely depart, fly through, and arrive in conditions that would otherwise ground a VFR-only pilot. A layer of clouds at 1,800 feet?

Pilot

Pilot Institute

JUNE 12, 2025

The Difference Between Warm and Cold Fronts Warm fronts generally bring low ceilings, poor visibility, and rain. This transition shifts the weather conditions and requires updated flight planning. By understanding the different fronts, you’ll make better-informed decisions during flight planning.

Weather

Pilot Institute

JUNE 27, 2025

Ceiling is labeled in brackets within the airspace. Mobile apps like Aloft’s Air Control or Wing’s Open Sky simplify pre-flight planning by combining airspace maps, authorization, and compliance tools. Pilots simply submit a LAANC flight request through a variety of FAA-approved UAS Service Suppliers (USS).

AGL

Air Facts

APRIL 11, 2025

The same is true with personal minimums: Try to fill out these numbers honestly since your EFB can alarm you if the crosswinds or ceilings at your source or destination are beyond the pale. But you could also do all your planning by using the dedicated Flight Plan page as well. Same goes with traffic and terrain.

Cockpit

Flight Training Central

MARCH 10, 2025

What is the minimum ceiling and visibility for takeoff, landing, or entering the traffic pattern of an airport in Class E airspace under visual flight rules? A ceiling of 1,000 feet and have visibility of at least 3 statute miles. Remain 500 feet below the clouds and have visibility of at least 1 mile.

Visual Flight Rules

Photographic Logbook

MAY 18, 2025

2025 brought cold temperatures, low ceiling, rain, and gusty wind, the latter fortuitously right down the runway. A View from the Tower (Mostly) Shortly after my ascent of the tower, all four WFC airplanes were staged, ceilings were declared high enough to fly the usual ride circuit, and pilots simply awaited the arrival of passengers.

Ceiling

Air Facts

JULY 23, 2025

Ceilings were 400 to 700 feet, with visibilities from one to four miles in rain and fog. We hand-flew them every minute of every flight. I met Jerry in the crew briefing room and we began flight planning. The first flight would take us from Fort Leonard Wood to Lake of the Ozarks, Rolla, St.

NDB

Flight Training Central

OCTOBER 14, 2024

IFR Alternate Airport Planning Legal requirements for selecting an alternate airport Additional GPS Approach Considerations Which weather forecast should you use? While every IFR flight requires you to file an IFR flight plan and receive an ATC clearance, not every flight is flown in IFR conditions.

Ceiling

AV Web

NOVEMBER 15, 2024

Video shows passengers being lifted in their seats to the limits of their belts and service items hitting the ceiling. According to numerous social media accounts, the turbulence was forecast and the aircraft’s flight plan took it through the highlighted area.

Turbulence

Plane and Pilot

AUGUST 6, 2024

Maybe it’s the Georgia flying weather, or maybe it’s the ever-increasing emphasis on “old” pilot instead of “bold” pilot, but it seems that flight planning these days is a lot more about if and when than about route and altitude. It’s only two hours by RV-9A, but there are gotchas lurking in the flight planning.

Airplanes

Northstar VFR

JANUARY 4, 2023

Flight planning becomes more advanced than before, flying SIDs and STARs, and instrument approaches. But a crucial part of this flight planning is planning for the worst case scenario: What if you can’t land at your original destination? When MUST I Plan for an Alternate?

Instrument Meteorological Conditions

Flight Training Central

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

To log the approach toward instrument currency the flight must remain on an IFR flight plan throughout the approach and landing. For any flight above an altitude of 1,200 feet AGL, when the visibility is less than 3 miles. For a flight in VFR conditions while on an IFR flight plan.

Instrument Flight Rules

Air Facts

AUGUST 16, 2024

I fly a Rockwell Commander 114B which I flight plan at 14 gph and 140 kts. It turns out that an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Orlando would have cost $1,646.00 (CND with taxes) but going Air Phil is way more fun. Friday was a day to decompress, spending time around the pool and preparing the Commander for the flight home.

Weather

Flight Training Central

FEBRUARY 17, 2024

Additionally, a pilot should report any of the following events:: When vacating any previously assigned altitude or flight level for a newly assigned altitude or flight level ( AIM 5-3-3 ) When an altitude change will be made if operating on a clearance specifying VFR-on-top. ( Each is defined by varying ceilings and visibility.

Instrument Flight Rules

Air Facts

MAY 24, 2024

We started up the engine, got the weather, asked the tower for our instrument flight plan, and began to taxi from the T-hangars on the east side of the field down the familiar route of “Hotel, Echo” to runway 18 right for a departure to the north with a turn to the east. No ceiling so no hold for us today!

Aileron

Flying Magazine

MAY 30, 2025

One of the most essential tools for staying ahead of the airplane is the electronic flight bag (EFB). You likely became introduced to an EFB as a student pilot and probably use one for basic flight planning tasks as a VFR pilot, but using one in instrument flight is different. Ceilings drop. The weather moves in.

Pilot

AV Web

SEPTEMBER 29, 2024

I’d actually filed to fly to Anderson, South Carolina, on an instrument flight plan, figuring that I’d cancel IFR and continue past Anderson to the destination. But Anderson was reporting 300-foot overcast ceilings and everywhere else was just about as bad.

Weather

Pilot's Life Blog

JULY 25, 2024

Types of Weather Briefings You can obtain three different types of weather briefings, including: Standard briefing : A standard briefing offers the most comprehensive data and compares your flight plan with current weather conditions and updated forecasts. It includes weather trends.

Weather

Fear of Landing

DECEMBER 6, 2024

A few hours later, the pilot obtained a weather briefing and filed an IFR flight plan before departing Westchester to fly back to Montgomery County. By now, it was dark and the weather in Gaithersburg had deteriorated with fog and low cloud ceilings. Montgomery County Airpark (GAI) is at about 540 feet above mean sea level.

Approach

Photographic Logbook

FEBRUARY 4, 2024

More often than not, winter flying in Upstate New York is contingent on the ceiling. Ceilings are often too low to fly beneath and slowly climbing through a cloud layer of indeterminate thickness in sub-freezing temperatures risks icing. However, a persistent low ceiling scuttled those morning plans.

Ceiling

Plane and Pilot

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

Often, turbulence is the harbinger of mountain waves, not the ideal ceiling—and visibility unlimited—day. Our return flight was by a safer, much smoother route. Think of the Great Basin High as a set of bellows pointed at southeastern Wyoming. I flew into that and the venturi effect that day.

Turbulence

Flight Training Central

OCTOBER 18, 2024

These commonly missed questions often focus on nuanced regulations, meteorology, flight planning, and airspace rules. 3 miles flight visibility; 500' below, 1,000' above and 2,000' horizontally from clouds 1 mile flight visibility and clear of clouds 1 mile flight visibility and a 1,000-foot ceiling Correct!

Pilot

Learn to Fly

APRIL 11, 2024

Once the decision is made to divert, the next decision is to return to the departure, continue to the alternate (which was determined as part of flight planning), or pick a new destination to get out of the weather. Ceiling—How high are the clouds; can you fly above or around them? This tends to result in extreme conditions.

Weather

Flight Training Central

OCTOBER 25, 2024

If your flight plan covers both controlled and uncontrolled airspace (by time or location), only the proposed area of operation within the controlled airspace will be submitted to the FAA

Air Traffic Control

Flying Magazine

MAY 15, 2024

These flights work best if they are limited to an airport 10 to 15 miles away. VFR to MVFR…then 2 miles visibility and a ceiling of 1,200 feet agl. Have the learner go through a flight from start-up to shutdown using the GPS. It’s just a few minutes, right? What could go wrong? Then the CFI slowly brings the weather down.

Crosswind

Photographic Logbook

APRIL 19, 2024

On Wednesday, April 17, I broke ground exactly at 11:00 am as planned. I expected to manage some cloud layers during the New York portion of the flight, but the forecast called for a high ceiling at Northeast Philadelphia Airport. It added less than 10 minutes to the overall flight time. Famous last words.)

Approach

iPad Pilot News

JUNE 14, 2024

Pilots that are comfortable with self-briefing, via FAA Flight Services, or an equivalent means, may use the EFB to display the METI and AI as well as to file flight plans. In the present design, approximately 90 percent of the implemented Service Volumes have FIS-B coverage at FL400.

Weather

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 22, 2024

At each stop, we had a prechoreographed routine with Jim managing the self-service fueling and flight planning and me searching for provisions (the sandwiches at the Country Cupboard near the Crossville, Tennessee, airport [KCSV] are not to be missed) and taking care of a myriad of other details. In solid IFR, it was time for Plan B.

Weather

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

This allows you to make quick adjustments to your flight plan. Cloud ceilings below 1,500 feet or cumulonimbus clouds can trigger a SPECI. This information is vital for determining cloud ceilings, especially during landing approaches. Low cloud ceilings, especially below 1,500 feet, lower visibility in VFR.

Altimeter

Air Facts

SEPTEMBER 16, 2024

It was fun to realize that I hadn’t filed a flight plan, I didn’t have a release signed by a company dispatcher and me, and I really didn’t know where I was going and didn’t care except that it was west. With this, our present frequencies could be for all the other messages, flight plans, etc.

Weather

Flight Training Central

FEBRUARY 19, 2024

Getting sequenced into a busy Class D, C, or even B airport gets much easier when you are doing so on an IFR flight plan. This can be especially helpful when you are travelling to or from a busier airport. For many IFR pilots, becoming IFR certificated is about allowing them to fly more safely and comfortably on those “marginal days.”

Pilot

Pilot Institute

OCTOBER 17, 2024

SIGMETs alert pilots to more severe weather events like thunderstorms, volcanic ash, or strong turbulence that could pose serious risks to any flight. In this article, we’ll discuss what makes AIRMETs and SIGMETs important, how to read them, and why each matters for flight planning. But do you know how to read them?

UTC

Flight Training Central

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

To review, flying an IFR trip involves four main steps: File a flight plan (either with Flight Service or in an aviation app). Tell them your tail number, where you are, and the IFR flight plan you’d like to open. Call for your IFR clearance, including route, altitude, and transponder code.

Clearance

Flight Training Central

MAY 25, 2024

Just after I called Indianapolis Center to advise them I had departed, my flight instructor keyed the mic and calmly said, “Cancel the IFR flight plan; we’re headed back to our departure airport.” My flight instructor was doing what he did best: teaching me a valuable lesson in a way that I would never forget.

Longitudinal Axis

Flight Training Central

MARCH 18, 2024

There are different requirements if the flight is operated under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) or Visual Flight Rules (VFR). For example, a pilot flying IFR in controlled airspace will have to file an IFR flight plan and receive an ATC clearance. Class E airspace is depicted on VFR charts in various ways.

AGL

Gary's Flight Journal

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

To start our flying day I must stress the most important part of flight planning, ADM, Aeronautical Decision Making. It's now 7am and our planned departure time was 9am arriving just after noon. The ceiling was sitting at 900 feet when I launched, turning to a 270 degree heading as instructed upon entering controlled airspace.

Clearance