Stephanie and I attended the VMC/IMC Forum at Simulation Flight on Wednesday 2/19/20. George Futas walked us through an interesting scenario involving a visual approach into a busy airport at the end of an IFR flight. I was reminded that we are still flying under Instrument Flight Rules as we begin our approach to the airport in VMC conditions and we still have to be careful of our clearance limitations.
A big plus was the discussion that followed regarding IFR arrival at non-towered airports as we transition from IMC to VMC conditions during our approach. Both IFR and VFR traffic may be in operating at the airport. Dealing with this situation is many times much more complex than flying an instrument approach down close to minimums as we can be fairly certain that there will be no conflicting traffic.
I would encourage all of you to attend these VMC/IMC Forums when you are able as it is always a great learning experience. George Futas does a great job of leading the forum and much also contributed by those pilots present. Our thanks to Simulation Flight and Bob Collins for hosting this event.
