Personal IFR WX Mins

cimepilot

cimepilot

Well-Known Member
I am curious as to what other pilots use as their personal weather mins for IFR flight especially for departure. We all know Part 91 can takeoff 0/0, but what does everyone use for personal mins. and how much IFR experience do you have?

I have about 65 hours instrument time, 15 of which is actual. I use 500' and 1mi. vis at minimum and if the approaches into my departue airport require higher, I use those.
 
in a single engine Single pilot I will use Mins +200ft, never give much though to the visability. (guess I should) it also depends on the airport I am headed to if it has an ASOS/AWOS I will pull the wx from every nearby airport... I don;t like nor trust automated wx for true ceilings. If I have my wife with me I will fly to the mins, it is a workload issue. (she is apilot as well)

In the CJ or the LJ we will go to mins every time, but have serious differences in how to pick alternates, plius you are working with one other person..
 
I was thinking about mins, and was wondering if anybody knew of a formula or somthing to figure what effect your airspeed would have on visibility in heavy rain? Maby i'm way off base here, but it seems to me the faster that i shoot the approach, the worse the vis gets....any ideas?
 
For departure, I use 200/1 mile. For approach, I'll use mins....but then again, I've been averaging an ILS to mins per week here for the last month and a half....
 
In the A300,

T/O...Anywhere from 600ft RVR-1/4mile vis depending on the rwy.
Lng...down as low as 300ft RVR (CATIIIB) depending on airport/rwy.
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Okay, I know that doesn't help you out or answer your question but thought I'd throw that out to the curious out there.

Single engine piston....I wouldn't fly them IFR anymore as I'm a little partial to redundant systems. However, I certainly wouldn't takeoff in one with wx conditions less than landing mins for the active rwy. If that's not an option, then have a takeoff alternate close by with good weather. Planning is the key to a safe flight.
 
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I was thinking about mins, and was wondering if anybody knew of a formula or somthing to figure what effect your airspeed would have on visibility in heavy rain? Maby i'm way off base here, but it seems to me the faster that i shoot the approach, the worse the vis gets....any ideas?

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Do you meen in terms of fog, or just overrall visability? Because I was just thinkin (its raining today where i am), just the same in a car, the faster you go the faster the rain seems to come down, the less you can see. Just a thought.
 
I'd bet that if you double the airspeed you'd cut the visibility by a factor of 4 if it is raining. Not sure if this is of any use though...
 
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I'd bet that if you double the airspeed you'd cut the visibility by a factor of 4 if it is raining. Not sure if this is of any use though...

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Thats probably true because the water is goin off the window faster than it can cover it.
 
My personal mins when I buzz around in the GA world is "if I gotta do an approach, I'm not going!"
 
Nice reply Doug! Don't wimp out on us! Although, we know you may be dangerous without an autopilot
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I had my CFI-I checkride tonight. I had to fly from Orlando (KORL) to Daytona Beach (KDAB) to meet the examiner. Took off in a 300' ceiling and landed in a 400' ceiling and in the clouds the whole way. Great practice for the ride! I passed the ride without a problem and then was stuck in KDAB for two hours because of T-storms. What a night! I finally made it home at 11:30PM. I'll never fly to meet an examiner again!
 
Well AFTER I get the rating my minimums will be dependent on the weather, the route, my familariaty with the plane and the area, and the terrain below me. So basically they'll change from flight to flight.

But I won't go below 1000' bases and any more than moderate rain.
 
How much actual do you have at this point Ed?

I'm guessing that fact alone would factor into your personal minimums...
 
Very little... grand total of 3!

In my defense I have done almost all of my IFR training at night; We do the maneuvers out over the pacific so even that little square of land (water) that you don't look at (but you still unconsciously use) is gone.

But anyways I can't wait to get the rating and try the stuff out on my own!

How bout you?
 
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My personal mins when I buzz around in the GA world is "if I gotta do an approach, I'm not going!"



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Single engine piston....I wouldn't fly them IFR anymore as I'm a little partial to redundant systems. However, I certainly wouldn't takeoff in one with wx conditions less than landing mins for the active rwy. If that's not an option, then have a takeoff alternate close by with good weather. Planning is the key to a safe flight.


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Funny how once you become an airline pilot, you get wimpy on GA planes
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...
 
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Funny how once you become an airline pilot, you get wimpy on GA planes

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I'm not sure it's the "wimpiness" thing or that you simply acquire better judgement!
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Good job man! Wish me luck on mine (the IR)... it's right around the corner [shudder]!

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GOOD LUCK, ED!! ..... and ditto for me... looking at EARLY April for the checkride. Taking the written(s) this weekend.

I don't have personal minimums... yet. I'll have to get back to you cimepilot. But, DEFINITELY NOT like it was that night we were all stuck in LAL.
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Nice reply Doug! Don't wimp out on us! Although, we know you may be dangerous without an autopilot
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Aww, not a wimp at all!
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I just want a second engine during IFR and staying realistically current in a piston twin is pricey.

I guess the more I fly IFR, the more I realize how crazy it was when I'd launch with a student in a 172 from KRHV, fly the KSCK-KTCY-KLVK circuit when it was nearly 0-0 in fog. If we lose an engine, we're absolutely dead.

I guess as you get older and the newness of the IFR rating wears off, you start to respect mortality!
 
Usually add a 100 feet to the DH/MDA, and 1 mile to the visibility. Basically what "high mins" pilots use in their first 100 hours sticks with me to GA flying.
 
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