Instrument-rated pilots are familiar with visual approaches, which allow them to fly to and land at an airport in good weather without executing what might be a time- and fuel-consuming published procedure. Air traffic control also recognizes other visual clearances, which can allow pilots to shortcut one or another procedure that might otherwise increase risk or not be possible under various conditions.
Perhaps the most well-known is a clearance to maintain “VFR on top” of a cloud deck—or between two of them. A VFR climb also may be approved, or simply an IFR climb to VFR conditions. Each of these clearances differs from the others and comes with its own rules, operational considerations and drawbacks, however. Because there’s no free lunch. Let’s run through them.
