CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 13 Issue 1 - 34

CHIEF'S CORNER
MANY YEARS AGO, WHEN I WAS WORKING
FOR A FIXED BASE OPERATOR, I PARTICIPATED
IN A DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
(DNR) FLIGHT TRYING TO FIND ILLEGAL DEER
SPOTTERS. We were successful that night and
DNR personnel were able to apprehend several
of the poachers. It was a fun flight, working with
ground based DNR officers as well as the agent
flying with me. Upon returning to the airport, I
noticed that the lights were fuzzy and had a nice
halo effect going on. I tuned in the AWOS and
confirmed my suspicions-a little bit of fog was
starting to form and visibility was now down to
2.5 miles. The tower closed hours earlier during
our flight and the part-time Class D airport was
now in a Class E surface area.
Not being prepared to fly an approach-although
I was equipped and capable, just without
charts-I decided I would have to get a special
VFR (SVFR) clearance to land in spite of the
fact that I could see where I needed to go and it
wasn't really that bad visibility-wise. I called the
local flight service station and told them who and
where I was and what I wanted: a special VFR
clearance to land. The request seemed to startle
them a little and they told me to stand by and
maintain VFR outside the Class E surface area.
So, we circled to the southeast of the airport
while I waited to hear from them. Eventually
they came back to me with the clearance and we
landed uneventfully. I called them to let them
know we were safe on the ground and that the
airspace was available for anybody else who
needed it.
I'm sure there are other times when I've
requested a special VFR clearance, but that was
the only time I've needed to ask for one for a
Class E surface area operation.
Some airports have Class E extensions to
their Class D airspace and those extensions
are configured to contain all instrument
procedures for that airport. Some airports
that have instrument approaches and usually
commercial service will also have Class E
surface areas, again to provide for separation
of VFR and IFR aircraft. So, if conditions are
less than VFR in that airspace but with greater
than one statute mile visibility, you'll need a
special VFR clearance from ATC and the ability
to maintain your aircraft clear of clouds with
a flight visibility of at least one statute mile
KNOWING HOW TO USE THE SPECIAL VFR RULES AND GET THE CLEARANCE YOU NEED IS IMPORTANT
AND SOMETHING THAT IS SOMETIMES GLOSSED OVER WITH LEARNERS.
between sunrise and sunset. Between sunset and
sunrise, you'll need to meet the requirements
for instrument flight under FAR Part 61 and
the aircraft must be equipped for flight under
instrument flight rules under FAR 91.205(d).
Oh, you'll still have to maintain VFR outside the
Class E surface area until you get your SVFR
clearance. If you can't do that and you aren't
equipped or able to fly under IFR, declare an
emergency and get the help you need to get on the
ground safely.
Note, helicopters are exempted from the one
statute mile SVFR restriction. Also, there are
airports listed in Appendix D of FAR Part 91
that prohibit fixed-wing special VFR operations.
These are typically larger commercial service
airports, although not all are Class B (for
example, Greater Buffalo International is a Class
C airport and Joint Base Andrews is a military
airfield). On the sectional charts, these are
identified with a " NO SVFR " notation.
Knowing how to use the special VFR rules
and get the clearance you need is important
and something that is sometimes glossed over
with learners, as is evidenced by pilots not
understanding hints or prompts from ATC,
because a special VFR clearance must be
requested by the pilot and cannot be initiated by
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 13 Issue 1

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