ISTOCK/GRUFNAR


FLY SAFE By Zac Noble


Seeing Clearly


Don’t take your vision for granted. There’s no more valuable asset to an aviation professional.


W


HAT IS VFR? THAT SHOULD BE a rhetori- cal question for most people reading this column.


VFR, of course, stands for visual flight rules. Visual I love to fly. So you can imagine


flight rules are the cornerstone of aviation, dating back to 1903 and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, when the Wright brothers launched the first powered flights.


how distressing it was when, over the past year or two, I noticed I had difficulty seeing aircraft my ADS-B had no trouble seeing.


But is it possible


we take VFR—and vision in general— for granted? It’s the ole’ fallback for everyone flying.


There are barnstorming aviators flying NORDO (no radio) not speaking to or hearing anyone. They enjoy the free- dom of flight and trust their knowledge and skill to fly without outside assistance from air traffic control or even listening to other aircraft for situational awareness. We have thousands of VFR aircraft flying every day


66 ROTOR SEPTEMBER 2021


with some level of advisory services, and there are thou- sands of pilots doing instrument approaches who’ll announce to their copilot, “I have the runway in sight.” Some of those instrument approaches require a “pro- ceed visually” or “proceed VFR” final approach segment.


Putting the “Visual” in VFR Let’s spend a few moments talking about the “visual” part of the flight rules. VFR requires a pilot to be able to see outside the cockpit, control the aircraft’s attitude, navigate, and avoid obstacles and other aircraft. The FAA gives us rules and tools to use to ensure we set the conditions for being able to see and avoid obsta- cles and other aircraft. These come in the form of 14 CFR 91.155 outlining basic weather minimums. These rules tell VFR pilots to, for example, refrain from flying into clouds and remain far enough from clouds so that we can see and be seen by other aviators. The FAA has also given guidance to medical examin- ers to set the minimum standards pilots must meet to


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76