Flight Training - November 2019 - 16

PREFLIGHT FLIGHT LESSON

BY FRED SIMONDS

SQUEEZE PLAY
SOMETIMES RULES ARE FOR FOOLS

WHAT HAPPENED

"Eventually, I was down to a scary
1,200 feet, made more frightening by
intermittent GPS obstacle warnings."

IN 2006, I COMPLETED VFR TRANSITION TRAINING IN

16 FLIGHT TRAINING NOVEMBER 2019

REGULATIONS

WHAT'S CURRENT?
Instrument experience
requirements
Instrument-rated pilots
may maintain their
instrument currency by
performing and logging
instrument approaches
and other procedures
within the previous six
months. If it's been more
than six calendar months
since a pilot's currency
lapsed, however, the pilot
must take an instrument
proficiency check to
regain currency to act
as pilot in command
under IFR. An instrument
proficiency check must
cover air traffic control
clearances and procedures, flight by reference
to instruments, navigation
systems, instrument
approach procedures,
emergency operations,
and postflight procedures.
Recent flight experience requirements are
found in FAR 61.57.

FRED SIMONDS is a CFII who lives in Juno

Beach, Florida.

LEFT: SARAH HANSON; ABOVE: STEVE KARP

the Cirrus SR20. It was quite an airplane, steps up
from the Cessnas, Pipers, and Grummans I had flown
before. In terms of speed, comfort, and GPS navigation, it was a dream airplane.
I began participating in public-benefit Angel
Flights in the SR20. On one such mission, having
delivered my patient to his destination for treatment, I began working my way back VFR to Fort
Lauderdale Airport.
Then new to Florida, I was unprepared for the
local weather, which can build quickly during summer
afternoons, especially late afternoons. As the miles
ticked off, I had to descend lower and lower to remain
in visual conditions. Eventually, I was down to a scary
1,200 feet, made more frightening by intermittent GPS
obstacle warnings. I had no idea what obstacles might
reach up and bite me, weaving back and forth to avoid
the warnings. Off course with the flight in imminent
danger, I was pressing the edges of safety. This was no
way to fly an airplane, but I was.
What kept me so low was the fact that I was not
technically legal to fly IFR. However, I had received
a lot of IFR training in the airplane. When I was
signed off to fly the Cirrus, the instructor noted "VFR
checkout satisfactory." Given my many hours of IFR
practice, I should have insisted on an instrument proficiency check signoff as well. Too late now. As a CFI,

I am a stickler for rules. But sometimes
rules are for fools. Was this one of them?
I was already receiving advisories
from ATC. I could have requested an
IFR clearance easily. What stopped me
from doing that was that the cloud bases
weren't getting any lower. The controller
said there was some mild weather ahead,
and then it should get better.
Another thing that stopped me was
salvation in the form of discovering a multilane freeway along my route. Figuring
there were no tall antennas on a highway,
I flew over it until the ceiling began to rise
just as ATC predicted. I climbed with it.
The controller asked, "How are you
doing?" I answered that I was able to
climb, and the weather was improving.
He added, "If you need anything, like a
diversion, just let me know." I assured
him I would, but the weather continued
to improve. When he handed me off, I
thanked him for staying with me. "That's
what we're here for. Good day." By the time
I reached Fort Lauderdale, it was clear.
To this day, I wonder if I did the best
thing. I stayed legal but risked my life.
That's a bad trade. Even lacking an IPC,
I have toyed with the idea that the safer
choice might have been to get an IFR
clearance, climb to a respectable altitude,
and deal with the paperwork later. Had
the ceiling gone any lower, I'm sure I
would have done that.
Back then, I had 1,600 hours; today,
I have more than three times that much.
Today I would unhesitatingly ask for an
IFR clearance once it became evident that
further descent was risky, IPC or no. Better
a live violation than a tombstone inscription, "He's dead, but he died legally."

Flight Training - November 2019

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