"Michael" wrote in message
m...
"Mark Astley" wrote
Require? No, of course not, if you're content to get beaten senseless
cruising around down low.

So what you're actually increasing is comfort rather than capability.
Not that there's anything wrong with that - I've been known to file
IFR myself just because it was more convenient or comfortable - but
it's not the same thing as not being able to make it VFR.

I see what you're saying, but I think the line is a bit blurrier. I'm not
going to file if I'm poking around the practice area with ceilings under 2k.
However, since I fly exclusively for pleasure, I'm not going to take a long
x-country cruising down low because I know no one in the plane will be
particularly happy bouncing around for several hours (maybe your passengers
are more tolerant). Before I could file, I had less capability because this
is a flight I wouldn't take. Now at least I have some options.

A hazy NJ summer can easily be less than 3 miles,

snip

In my experience, I've NEVER had a pilot with less than 1000 hours
fail to significantly underestimate the flight visibility in haze.
Just one of those things I've started noticing since I started
teaching.

Fair enough, guess I'll have to get back to you when I break 1000 hours
I imagine I look like a sissy when it comes to x-winds as well (my current
limit is gusts up to 20 on a direct x-wind, I won't go beyond that without
an instructor).

then there's the occasional freak occurence like smoke from Canada
blowing
down into your airspace.

Yeah, that happens. I remember when the smoke from Mexico blew into
Texas. I had about 300 hours then, and I remember thinking how bad it
was, and wondering if I was busting VFR mins. Now that I've racked up
several approaches in 2-4 miles of vis I know that it probably never
got worse than 4 miles. Sure seemed worse at the time though.


I concede that after more experience I may sing a different tune. I WILL
say that scanning for traffic in such conditions is pretty nerve wracking,
but of course filing doesn't get you out of doing that either.

mark