VFR Flight planning with VATSIM
VFR flight planning can sometimes be much less involved than IFR flight planning , depending on a couple aspects .
First step in preparing a VFR flight plan you need to understand a couple things . First thing you need to ask yourself , the airport I am going to depart from VMC ( Visual Metrological Conditions ) also the same for the airport I am arriving at . Weather plays a key role in VFR flying . Now if you ever find yourself flying and the weather changes you may change your flight plan from VFR to IFR as long as you communicate with ATC . Consult an airspace / weather minimums chart for the specific VFR weather minimums for the airspace you are flying within . Weather minimums are usually expressed in clearance from clouds and visibility . At no time may a VFR aircraft fly into a cloud for any reason . You may go below , above or beside the cloud . Let ’ s look at some of the weather limitations for the United States . When flying VFR below 10,000ft AMSL visibility must be at least 3sm , or if you are fling VFR above 10,000ft AMSL visibility must be at least 5sm . You must stay 500ft below , 1,000ft above , and 2,000ft aside , any clouds . Now since there are no instruments in your aircraft that tells you this information you will have to use sound judgments to abide by these rules . VFR operations are the basic procedures used by all pilots . It is expected that pilots will operate utilizing VFR procedures until they have sufficient knowledge and expertise in the use of instruments only techniques .
VFR refers to a minimum weather condition that must be present in order to operate under visual conditions . In the United States , those weather conditions vary depending on the type of airspace involved and pertain to visibility requirements and distance to be kept away from clouds : Class ........ Flight Visibility ..... Distance from Clouds
Class B ..... 3 statute miles ..... clear of clouds Class C ..... 3 statute miles ..... 500 ’ below / 1000 ’ above / 2000 ’ laterally Class D ..... 3 statute miles ..... 500 ’ below / 1000 ’ above / 2000 ’ laterally Class E ..... less than 10,000 ’ MSL .............. 3 statute miles ..... 500 ’ below / 1000 ’ above / 2000 ’ laterally
Class E ..... at or above 10,000 ’ MSL .............. 5 statute miles ..... 1000 ’ below / 1000 ’ above / 1 statute mile laterally .
Don ’ t forget to plan proper fuel to use . A nice little tool to use for fuel planning you can find at http :// fuelplanner . com /. This will help you to plan accordingly . Declaring a fuel emergency in VATSIM is really an admission of poor flight planning and should be avoided . Next we will select a runway to use . It is very important to make sure the length of the runway will support your aircraft . Another key fact in selecting the runway has to do with wind direction . You always want to take off into the wind . This will provide your aircraft with more lift and a shorter takeoff roll out . Now that we are ready to taxi to the numbers and takeoff we need to contact the controller , or use 122.8 unicom to state our intentions , and our squawk code on our transponder should be set to 1200 . This will let the controller know that we are a VFR aircraft . VFR flights should contact controllers when in their airspace near airports , especially when departing or planning to land . VFR flights should contact approach controllers between 20-30 NM from their airspace and state intentions . Towered airports without approach controllers should be contacted about 20 NM out . Class B airspace requires a specific permission / clearance to enter while Class C / D airport only require that radio communications are established . Class E and G airports do not have controllers so no controller contact is required . The communication component can be met by tuning the COM radio to 122.8 which is the UNICOM frequency ( in the United States ). This channel is used for pilots to announce traffic movements “ in the blind ”, meaning that pilots are not expected to reply to UNICOM broadcasts , the broadcasts are intended to be informative and because of its use over a wide geographical area , there are certain conventions that should be followed :