Where do you draw the line on IMC and weather challenges?

[YankeeClipper]

Another neophyte question:

To be sure, every aircraft has its own set of capabilities and limitations, but I wanted to ask you folks about either your own personal boundaries on weather, or those you'd recommend to other Skymaster pilots. Naturally, weather can be avoided by changing plans, but regardless, what are your maximums and minimums for going up or coming down (assuming you have a choice, of course) for the following (with or without de-icing and other weather resilience technology)? For those that are difficult to quantify--perhaps precipitation--how do you make the call?

To keep it honest, assume you are taking along a friend of the family.

• Ceiling
• Ground Temperature
• Dew Point
• Crosswind
• windspeed
• gusts
• precipitation

What else do you consider before going up in your Skymaster?

[walt]

daylight or dark
fatigue
food eaten
passengers will they be distracting
mental state... buisness pressures

[YankeeClipper]

Haiku?

One, two, three, four ... wait... Well I like it anyway.

[JimC]

I don't have any single minimum for any of the above categories. It's always a combination of all available information that leads to a "gut check" go/no go decision.

For example, I might fly a trip that ends with an approach to minimums at a class B airport at mid-day in the summer whereas I wouldn't try the exact same approach in the exact same weather conditions after the end of a long day in the winter.

The weather conditions are only some of the info that goes into my pot. I just "cancelled" a roundtrip flight Friday that was a borderline VMC/IMC flight because of a combination of factors unrelated to the weather conditions.

Some of the factors I considered:
Time of day (late and getting later)
Length of day (it was a tough day for me)
Passengers (close friends I hadn't seen in a while - in other words, very likely to be distracting)
Airplane condition (1st flight after recent service)

Although I'd recently flown the same trip in worse weather without concern, I called to tell them I wasn't picking them up and asked them to hop in the car for a 4 hr drive.

[Ernie Martin]

All of these responses have excellent points, but the one I initially thought of when I saw this post several days ago is this: your own experience.

What I would do today is vastly different from what I would do 10 years ago. Not just because my skills have grown but because I've been exposed to many more situations. So now, when I see a forecast and a satellite image, I'm much better able to predict what I will face, because I've seen it (or something similar) before. And I'm in a better position to decide whether I can handle it or not. That wasn't the case ten years ago.

I would caution you, then, to be careful with the advice you get. What may be acceptable to one pilot may not be safe for your level of skill and experience.

Ernie

[hharney]

Personal minimums are very important when experiencing IFR flight initially in the early phases of experience. The importance of discipline is the factor. It does no good to set a smart, safe personal minimum if you don't stick to it. I think it's best to have a good discussion with your CFII about the level you should mark and why. Then as the experience builds that level is adjusted to a practical mark. But the mark is respected and followed.

There are so many flights that I canceled just because of my personal minimums. As others have said there are other factors that mix into the decision of the flight. But a personal minimum on ceiling and vis is the most important.

[jchronic]

Many good points to consider raised by Ernie and Herb. I'll add one more re your experience level: the recency of your experience, or to put it another way, your current proficiency for the mission contemplated.

When I'm into a survey season and flying the Skymaster 35-50 hours a month (or more), I'll launch into situations I'd otherwise avoid during our down time when I'm only flying it 3-4 hours a month to avoid getting into preservation steps. Likewise flying my personal fun ship (a Skybolt); I'm a lot more cautious re wind conditions, e.g., for a time after I get it out of winter storage until I put a few hours of taildragger time under my belt.

As was indicated, it's probably OK - indeed advisable - to set hard and fast minimum launch numbers if your overall experience is on the low side. But sooner or later you'll be faced with a situation where your gut wants to go but your numbers say 'No' and you'll be tempted to waffle. That's the really critical self-exam point: Do I now have enough experience to 'situationalize' my minimum numbers, or do I need to adhere to them?

Joe

[WebMaster]

These are all good points. I can remember being extremely proficient, and taking off with little forward visibility. I was familiar with the place, knew where the trees were, and went. Sometime later, I was less than proficient, and found my self wandering shortly after takeoff. So, I think, your minimums need to be modified by your current sense of proficiency, no matter what your past experience has been.