Three IFR Curveballs

Flying IFR can get deceptively routine. Most of the time, it means taking off, climbing, cruising, descending, and an approach and landing-all along well-defined routes and usually in VMC. The majority of IFR pilots tend to fly the same routes and procedures again and again, to the point they might memorize communications frequencies and even approach minimums. Its possible to be extremely proficient at the type of flying you usually do while letting other skills atrophy.

Tom Turner

Sunday, April 28, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Routine IFR flying can lead to the atrophy of less-used but critical skills, despite pilots' responsibility to perform any IFR procedure as cleared.
Essential, rarely practiced IFR skills include executing unpublished holding patterns, which often requires manual visualization and improvisation with navigation systems like GPS OBS mode.
Pilots must also be proficient in special terrain and obstacle clearance procedures, such as calculating required climb gradients and performing Visual Climbs Over the Airport (VCOA).
Another vital, though less common, skill is flying DME arcs for approaches, which serves as an important backup in case of radar failure and can be flown manually or with modern GPS systems.

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Flying IFR can get deceptively routine. Most of the time, it means taking off, climbing, cruising, descending, and an approach and landing—all along well-defined routes and usually in VMC. The majority of IFR pilots tend to fly the same routes and procedures again and again, to the point they might memorize communications frequencies and even approach minimums. It’s possible to be extremely proficient at the type of flying you usually do while letting other skills atrophy.

Yet when you accept an IFR clearance, you’re accepting the responsibility to perform any task or procedure in the Instrument Flying Handbook—perhaps in new and untested ways. What are some of the little-used IFR skills you may be assigned at any time, without much warning? What unusual tasks should you practice and have in your back pocket every time you fly IFR?