What are your minimums...

Autothrust Blue said:
Of course.

Those guys are CAT II.

And even if they aren't CAT II, it's a lot easier to do "Approach lights, continue!" with a second pilot to look out the windshield for you until it's time to land and all the other bells and whistles that we tend to have and GA airplanes tend not to.


Where I've worked (correct me if I'm wrong, trafficinsight) the missed approach was considered the hazard that made the company set higher approach minima than published, not the hazards of landing from 200-1/2.
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It was the low criticality of the mission, the single enginedness of the airplane, the low average experience level of the pilot group, the many single points of failure (fewer these days but they still exist), the low criticality of the mission, and the low criticality of the mission that led to the decision. The customer, who pays the bills, was behind that one. I didn't disagree with the reasoning, part of which was my own, but initially my number was lower than theirs... but of course let us remember the golden rule in this case.
 
Boris Badenov said:
Obviously, there are other factors to consider. If it's 100 and a quarter at Green Plains Regional, odds are you're going to get in. If it's right at mins at Aspen and you're flying a jet, don't bother. But for the average guy flying the average piston in a relatively un-scary area that isn't experiencing Thundersnow and Tornadoes, "personal mins" seem less like a real "safety issue" than a lack of personal confidence in one's own abilities. Which is fine...it even shows good Judgment, in a certain light. I guess I'd say, though, that if, as an instrument rated pilot, you don't feel confident enough to fly a cat 1 to mins, you should seek out training until you do. *shrug*
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Thundersnow is my favorite.
 
trafficinsight said:
It was the low criticality of the mission, the single enginedness of the airplane, the low average experience level of the pilot group, the many single points of failure (fewer these days but they still exist), the low criticality of the mission, and the low criticality of the mission that led to the decision. The customer, who pays the bills, was behind that one. I didn't disagree with the reasoning, part of which was my own, but initially my number was lower than theirs... but of course let us remember the golden rule in this case.
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Ye who payeth the bills, maketh the rules.

higney85 said:
Personal limitation I presume?
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It all depends. ;)
 
What you will take off with, and what you would fly are two separate things. In a clapped out 172 with a CDI that sometimes works and a gyro that has been through a spin or two, I might not consider taking off in anything less than 2000' and 5sm. BUT, should the need arise due to rapidly changing weather or something and I had to fly an approach to mins to land, I would fly to the published minimums.

Generally, assuming a decently well maintained aircraft, I will launch when I feel the weather will remain at/above minimums at my destination. But even then there are lots of considerations, storms, ice, divert options, gas, terrain, climb capabilities, etc.
 
cstewart6 said:
It's wild to think what it's like where airports are few and far between let alone ILS approaches. I'm used to the east coast where at any given time I'm gliding distance to 30 airports.
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Here are the airports I went to yesterday:
Nikolai - PAFS
McGrath - PAMC
Nixon Fork Mine - AK40

Our Most common routes take us to:
AK40, PAFS, PAMC, PAKA, PFCB, and a few others. Only two airports that I commonly frequent are equipped with an ILS. So, yeah.
 
Maurus said:
I understand personal mins for private pilots but the second you step into a pilot job your mins go to published. The last thing my boss wants to hear is that I am unwilling to launch because it is 300 OVC.

If you are teaching personal mins to your students you should stress that the only mins at a professional pilot job (under normal conditions) is what is published.
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Not really, no. We have a risk management program, and our "minimums" for dispatch to a particular airport go up if a pilot is less experienced in type, is fatigued, etc. Once you get there, the mins are on the plate, but we will delay a launch for inclement weather. We actually fill out a risk assessment prior to every flight we do for revenue. It is very common for us not to launch at minimums, one because it exposes customers to a little extra risk that typically they don't like, and two because it's too damn expensive to fly to a place, not make it in, then divert up to 70 miles to some other place and land and buy fuel there. Why not just wait a little while, then you're almost completely sure you're going to make it in. Your customers don't want to sit on the cold ramp in KBFE for 3 hours when they could sit in the office for 3 hours and drink coffee until "oh, it looks like it's coming up."
 
Maurus said:
I understand personal mins for private pilots but the second you step into a pilot job your mins go to published. The last thing my boss wants to hear is that I am unwilling to launch because it is 300 OVC.

If you are teaching personal mins to your students you should stress that the only mins at a professional pilot job (under normal conditions) is what is published.
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Uh, 'muriflight has "high mins" for low time in the plane. ;)
 
Ajax BU said:
Yeah, well I wish we could go lower too
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Just out of curiosity. Can someone renting take them out if weather is below circling mins? Can the student take it out after he gets his ticket if it's below circling mins? Just curious about your schools policy.
 
By the time I send my students on a instrument checkride I (and they) are very comfortable with them shooting approaches to minimums. A point of discussion on our pre checkride oral is currency and not flying in LIFR if you are 5 months since your last approach. Depends on the pilot, depends on the situation.
 
You could always get the high mins exemption 10084, that allows a high mins CA to use standard CAT-I minima if the approach is treated like a CAT-II (A/P coupled, monitored approach).
 
IslandFlyer said:
Just out of curiosity. Can someone renting take them out if weather is below circling mins? Can the student take it out after he gets his ticket if it's below circling mins? Just curious about your schools policy.
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In a single-engine airplane I'm loathe to blast off for fun and giggles if the weather is below the lowest published circling minimums for that airport, or if no circling minimums are published, 1000-3, unless it's my home base. If there's a serious reason for the flight, then that's another matter.

Ironically, one of the more protective flight schools I've flown at has some downright nonsensical departure minimums. LPV equipped? Blast off at 250-1 1/2!
 
Dugie8 said:
*you're
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