Today's brief:

• Reversing gears: Planning an IFR cross-country from finish to start.
• Plus: South Africa requires overhauling GA aircraft engines after 12 years, and President Trump lifts the ban on commercial overland supersonic flights. 

🛩️ Estimated time en route: 5 minutes

For many pilots planning an IFR flight, the order of operations for their flight planning is consistent with the order in which they will conduct the flight. In other words, they begin by writing down or entering their home airport and move forward towards their destination airport. This method makes sense and is probably how most pilots plan.

But what if there was a different way to think about IFR flight planning, like starting your planning with your destination and finishing at your point of origination? It may sound counterintuitive, but hopefully, the reasoning will make sense as you read further. This strategy can be helpful to pilots who need to knock the rust off and instrument instructors who want to give their students a different perspective on IFR cross-country flight planning. 

So, let’s get into it, first with a Victor airway mindset and then include GPS direct. 

We begin with a simple question: Why would you go to all the trouble planning a route if you’re not going to be able to get there or get in? Start with your destination weather. You want ATIS, METAR, a TAF if possible (or a neighboring one), a look at the forecast discussion, and any significant and/or likely impending weather issues. Always have an alternate airport, even if one is not required, because flat tires and gear-up landings don’t really care about what your day ends up being like. If there are no weather issues and no significant NOTAMS (including GPS/WAAS) in effect, continue your thought process by running through the landing and post-landing options and process. 

What approaches are available, and which ones can you use based on your aircraft’s navigation equipment? Ideally, you plan for the approach that has the lowest minimums and the brightest lighting on the longest runway, and you can call ATIS or whatever ASOS/AWOS configurations your destination airport has to determine which runway(s) they are using. For your alternate, determine if the 1-2-3 rule comes into play, and ensure that you have the appropriate navigation equipment required for the available approaches. 

Speaking of available approaches, remember that the one you use might not be at your intended destination. Think about landing at both your primary and your alternate(s). This point may come across as a rudimentary reminder of something you learned on the first day of your IFR training, but many pilots begin to treat researching alternates as perfunctory. That’s a mistake. Working your flight planning backward can serve as a reminder and motivator to take that step seriously.
 

Once you pick your approach for both primary and alternate airports based on your estimate of the runways in use, determine if the airport uses a STAR, recalling that STARs can serve multiple airports. They will typically involve radar vectors to get you to an IAF or an appropriate segment for the approach. 

You want to work all of this out ahead of time for a few reasons. First, it helps relieve task saturation because you’re more familiar with published instructions ahead of time. Secondly, you want to have your plan in your head, EFB, and notes in case you lose comms, which you should always expect to happen. If you do your homework ahead of time, you will have a plan for getting to the best IAF based on your route of flight and IFR NORDO rules. Include an IAF in your flight plan where possible.  

If there is no STAR, look for a feeder route. What are the details? It’s taking you from the en-route portion of your trip to the airport approach environment, so it makes sense to look at any and all feeder routes in the area.  

Now, you can begin to work your way backward along your Victor airway or Tango route (T-route) to check on MEAs, MCAs, etc. Find the highest of the two and plan that as your cruising altitude (unless it puts you into known or forecast icing, of course). 

Continuing to work your way back, determine if your departure airport has a SID. If it does, or has multiple SIDs, which one makes the most sense? Some may be for jet/turboprop only, so review all of them and ensure that you have the required navigation equipment to fly them. 

Look at the details for all the runways as well, depending on the winds. The next step will be to determine if there are ODPs or Diverse Radar Areas and if you can meet any climb requirements associated with them. This means you’ll need to dig out the TERPS Climb/Decent Rate Chart and do some FPNM math. If your airport has visual climb over airport (VCOA), you’ll want to review the area in detail as well as the associated regs.   

Lastly, with respect to takeoff, consider using the longest runway with the lights turned up if it is IMC and the winds allow. Ask Tower to raise them a step if need be, or, at a non-towered airport, ensure you have the correct frequency to raise the lights. Review slope information as well. It’s also not a bad idea to perform the calculations for clearing a 50-foot obstacle or round up to the next highest published altitude in the POH. 

Okay, that covers a Victor airway route planning approach pretty thoroughly. But suppose you want to go direct using GPS/WAAS. You can always request this to bypass the need for a SID or STAR. If you do, keep the inclusion of an IAF in mind to minimize headaches that could be caused by lost comms. 

Next, starting with your destination airport (and your alternates), determine the Minimum Off Route Altitude (MORA), which is also referred to as Off-Route Obstacle Clearance Altitude (OROCA) in the US. You’ll get 2000’ clearance in mountainous areas and 1000’ clearance in non-mountainous areas. 

Work your way backward along your proposed route (which technically is off-route since it’s not on an airway) and check each quadrangle back to your departure airport. Lastly, should you decide to use T-routes, remember that while some may overlay a Victor airway, others do not and require GPS. 

As always, expect weather conditions to change and ATC to give you alternate clearances and approaches from what you expected (hoped). But now you’ll be well prepared for those potential deviations from your plan, and you’ll have a clearer mindset about handling them should they occur. 

The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) has decided to enforce a controversial rule requiring aircraft operators to overhaul Lycoming and Continental (and possibly Pratt & Whitney and Rotax) piston aircraft engines every 12 years.

• Critics of the rule point out that it would immediately ground over 1,400 aircraft (some of which are necessary for accessing remote areas of the country) and that, in many cases, the cost of an overhaul would exceed the aircraft's value.
• The enforcement comes at an unexpected time after SACAA initially allowed engine inspections as an alternate means of compliance in Aeronautical Information Circular 18.19.  

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order last Friday to enable commercial overland supersonic flights, lifting a ban that has been in place since 1973. Per Jalopnik, the order gives the FAA:

• 180 days to establish an interim noise-based certification
• 18 months to set up a permanent standard for "acceptable noise thresholds for takeoff, landing, and en-route supersonic operation."
• 24 months to issue a final ruling on the matter.

Flying aerobatics in a helicopter requires a whole new level of skills, but the approach pilots take to gaining and maintaining them is nothing new: building a community, seeking mentorship, and practicing frequently.