As a newly minted Swedish IFR pilot I have been wondering about how to apply it if you ever run into adverse weather enroute a VFR flight. I recently read that over 1/3 of all VFR into IMC fatalities involve IFR rated pilots.
One is to file a flight plan in the air, not ideal if you were caught out completely and is now scud running, also it feels like ATC would frown on this. Anybody with any experience doing this type of thing?
An alternative is to file a Z plan, and if you run into bad weather you activate the IFR portion. Of course this requires that you have a path you know you will follow and it’s not just a pleasure flight around and about so to speak.
But how flexible is this? Do I have to say in the FP exactly where I plan on transitioning?
Any insight is appreciated!
You name the point for the IR pickup in the plan and then in flight tell the controller that you will continue vfr as long as possible. The normal answer: „Tell me when you are ready for the pickup.“ Once I continued the whole flight on a Z plan vfr, because the weather was better than the forecast.
The same can be done the other way around. Start off IFR and never cancel your IFR part. This might help as you can now get some smarter routes into the system that are still accepted.
For the OP situation of a VFR flight encountering IMC conditions, I believe that ATC response will vary a lot by country.
To give an example, quite a number of years ago I was on a sight-seeing flight around Corsica when visibility over the sea started degrading rapidly. I was pax, but the PIC just called ATC and requested an IFR clearance into Ajaccio due to wx. The response was prompt and a non-issue, given we were in radar contact. But IFR in class G airspace is very common in France and I believe (perhaps a French IR pilot can confirm) that pop-up clearances like that are handled with aplomb.
I would be interested in a poll of how the example above would be handled in various other countries around Europe.
chflyer wrote:
I would be interested in a poll of how the example above would be handled in various other countries around Europe.No issue in Sweden (from own experience).
I guess this has been discussed before, but does IFR in class G require a clearance? He would need the clearance only for the part where he was entering controlled airspace. Of course one can request a clearance already in class G for the whole route all the way to the destination, and this is what happens usually, already on the ground.
A pop-up clearance is possible in France but best if you already filed a VFR flightplan. In case you fly in France without flightplan, you might have to file quickly a flightplan from your phone if you can arrange. In Germany they also kind of expert you to be already on a flightplan and don’t like the request to join IFR. In The Netherlands and many other countries it is no problem.
The basic problem with flying VFR and expecting to be able to climb (above the wx) if the wx is not good enough is that you usually need a clearance to enter CAS, and that can take anywhere from minutes to tens of minutes to never.
It is what Americans call a “pop up clearance” and Europe is not really used to the concept, partly because IFR GA is a tiny community in Europe.
In the UK, you will “generally never” get a clearance into CAS since this is usually Class A and is managed by ATC working in a “sealed box” which does not provide a service OCAS. In say France it can take a long time – dig out the accident report on N2195B (a former hangar mate) as one example, and there are other fatal crashes in similar situations. VFR by IR holders is a popular way to get killed. N403HP was another former hangar mate of mine. One could argue all these were bad planning: IR holders flying low level VFR for no good reason (other than perhaps not carrying oxygen which is a de facto necessity for Eurocontrol IFR so not carrying it is dumb too). Germany I have no experience of (never tried it there and usually fly IFR).
So ideally you should plan and fly IFR at a decent altitude, if the wx is in any doubt. And if flying VFR and expecting to climb suddenly due to wx, play a very long game and make decisions early, very early.
If you have the IR you should just use it 
You worked damn hard to get it, so make the system work for you.
If weather gets bad and you lose VMC conditions. Take action(get a clearance if time permits) and climb above MSA if you know how to fly in clouds. You will get a clearance for it.
In Sweden this will absolutely not be a problem. We have good ATC, not much traffic and less complex airspace than many other countries.
I have very limited experience in this but I was once on a night flight in the USA and decided to join IFR. I had no VFR flight plan and the frequency was too busy for a pop-up clearance. I had to file the entire flight plan (each box of it) with a flight service station (or similar) over the radio and then went back to the controller to join IFR. This would be a stressful situation if you’re in detoriating marginal VMC. So my advice is to file a VFR or Z flight plan on the ground, because even if you don’t file Z, the controller will have all your information and it will at least expedite the process of getting into the system (I think).
