VFR Corridors

Many Class B or C airport have special VFR routes charted to help us get around or through them. Sometimes, IFR is easier.

Jim Wolper

Sunday, May 26, 2024 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: Omar Filipovic

The transition routes for the Portland International Airport (KPDX) are shown within the black-bordered rectangles in this chart excerpt. All three of them—Timbers, Blazers and Thorns, from left to right—provide an organized way to get from the top portion of the chart to the bottom, and vice versa, but do nothing for an east/west transition. Also, the Portland-Hillsboro Airport, at the south end of the Timbers Transition, has its own Class D and an entry in the Chart Supplement’s special notices section for “intensive flight training.” And if you’re planning to use the Pearson Field Airport (KVUO) across the river in Vancouver, Wash., it has its own special flight rules area, thanks to its proximity to KPDX.

Key Takeaways:

Attempting to navigate busy Class B/C airspace VFR by circumnavigating or flying underneath it can be highly stressful and unsafe due to heavy traffic and complex boundaries, often leading pilots to regret not filing IFR.
"Charted VFR transitions" (also known as VFR flyways) offer a safer and easier alternative by providing pre-defined routes through complex Class B and C airspace, allowing for ATC coordination and traffic advisories.
Utilizing these charted transitions significantly reduces pilot workload, enhances safety, and simplifies passage through unfamiliar controlled airspace.
Despite the utility of VFR transitions, the article notes that for some dense Class B airspace, filing IFR may still be the easiest and safest method to traverse it.

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It seemed like an easy flight, ferrying a King Air B200 from Mesa, Ariz. (KIWA), to Scottsdale (KSDL), two airports near Phoenix (KPHX). It was a beautiful VFR day. I’ll fly VFR! With a little work I picked a route that went outside of, and then under, the Phoenix Class B airspace. There were some Class D areas to avoid, too. I programmed some waypoints, double-checked the altitudes, and, in the only good decision of the morning, decided to fly at a much slower airspeed than the airplane’s capabilities and the regulations allowed.

There were airplanes almost everywhere. The places with no airplanes were filled with helicopters, balloons and mountains. I did not have enough eyes. I needed to look outside for traffic. I needed to look at charts inside to make sure I avoided the airspace. I needed to look into my soul to try to understand how I could have made such a poor decision: I should have filed IFR.