Clouds...Weather...Instruments....

Well, the weather has finally started to cave in on us :( Actually, it held out for a long time this fall; it's been the best fall weather we've had since Moody Aviation moved to Spokane. The blessing of all the good weather has been that we were able to stay almost right on schedule throughout the semester with the flying. Of course, now that the clouds have come in and are hanging around more, it's limiting the flying we can do to finish up the semester.

If you are wondering why the weather is an issue, it might be helpful for me to explain a little about the different licenses that can be earned. The Private Pilot license, which is what my students are working on, gives the holder the ability to fly under what is called Visual Flight Rules (VFR). Basically, the requirements for VFR are that you cannot fly in the clouds or when the visibility is less than 3 miles. On top of that, there is a minimum distance we have to stay above the ground, so you can imagine the difficulties we run into when there is a low overcast layer with fog and rain (which significantly reduces visibility).

So you might ask, how do people fly in the clouds? Well, there is another license, which is a part of Moody's training, called the Instrument license, which allows the holder to fly under what is called Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). Essentially, flight under IFR allows you to fly in the clouds with no visibility, with the exception that there are minimum weather requirements for landing at an airport. Some of what I have been doing this past week and will be doing over the next few weeks is "upgrading" my Flight Instructors license to allow me to give flight instruction for the Instrument license.

That's right, not only is there a separate license to fly under IFR but there is an additional license to instruct under IFR. This is called the Certified Flight Instructor Instrument (CFII) license. I am getting this training as "staff development" through Moody at no charge, which is such a blessing! It is continuing to build my instrument proficency and experience while preparing me to teach the concepts and skills of instrument flying to these students here at Moody. I am really excited to have the opportunity to earn this license and continue my growth as a pilot and instructor!