Chris,

I don't want to make it difficult. What I do want is for those of us,
who want to protect our sport of soaring from, the intense scrutiny of
the public eye, and the heavy hand of big brother, to think through
this difficult subject. As seen in this thread there is a lot to this
thing we call IFR flying. I fly IFR everyday at work, all around the
world. Its wonderful, and like flying gliders, gives a lot of
satisfaction to the pilot side of the brain.

Your input has been very helpful, but to me there are still a lot of
loose ends. When I flew cargo in twin cessnas, back in the late
seventies, we filed our own flight plans with the FSS desk at DPA,
under the watchful eye of Theo Moore, the king of the local FSDO. Theo
would collect our flight plans and go over each box on that little
flight plan card to see that we met the letter of the law. For instance
if it was a day when it was lifr, he would check the validity of our
alternate, our fuel. The guy was not bashful about doing this while
standing behind the counter as we filled them in. All our pilots
received a first hand lesson in what goes in each of those little
boxes, and why. Lessons that still apply today whether filing into MKE,
or VIDP.

My point here is I'm still fuzzy on the official guys (FSS, ATC)
accepting something as simple as the flight plan for our glider as you
described. From an operational viewpoint, it's clear as a bell to me,
it's simple. I've received untold numbers of pop up clearances in the
past.

There are still MEAs, MOCAs, MVAs, things, that the contollers have to
govern who they turn loose in the clouds. How does the local guy work
around these. Again it appears quite simple from the operational end,
but.......

Then, there is local knowledge, which I'm thinking goes a long way
with glider IFR. That is what we need clarification of. And use
conservative common sense. But that term is not in the FAAs handbook.

As you well know most of these FAA regs have blood written on them. I
would have to have the controller himself tell me the TERPs are out the
window when it comes to my glider flying IFR.

What I'm hoping Shawn will do before publishing anything about IFR
glider flying is to take all of our points, sit down with his local
FSS, ATC guys, the guys who give him his clearance, and hash it out.
Maybe get Shawn, or anyone else who knows how to, no, wait, there are a
lot of people who think they know how it's done, let's get those who do
file, and fly their glider IFR, to get their local ATC/FSS people to
present a paper, or talk to the local groups, about the procedures and
responsibilities of flying our gliders IFR.

With all due respect to Shawn and his paper, these things, he has
probably done!

Your exactly right about doing it as a "safe option". We might have to
dance with the feds, after the help ATC gives us, to get us back to
VFR conditions, but we sure don't want a 340 knot mustard colored
suppositorie up the backside.

snoop



Fox Two wrote:
Snoop,

That's more like it: specific questions. It appears to me that you are
making this way too difficult. Here we go:

snoop wrote:

Chris,

Specifically, where does the clearance begin, and end. ATC is going to
want a starting point and an exit point.

What is your intended task? If you're going from A to B and landing at
B, then file from A to B. Most glider cross-countries start and end at
the same place, so file from A to A via B and C. You can amend your
clearance at any time. If you don't think you can make B, just tell
ATC and request clearance to C, or back to A or to a new destination D.
In short, just tell them what you want to do!

Going back to my earlier note,
how do you get up and down? The cloud layer closes in below you while
your going x country IFR in a pure glider, how do you legally get down.

I'm not sure I understand your question. Your initial clearance is
going to have an altitude block. Throughout your flight, you will
amend this clearance both up and down. I've had clearances which had
8,000 foot deep altitude blocks!

You are coming down somewhere, I don't have an argument there, but ATC
has a big manual called the TERPS Manual that they have to operate by.
It is their ball and chain that they operate by, and if they've issued
us a clearance, they have some pretty tight parameters that they want
us to fly by in their airspace.

TERPS means Terminal Instrument Procedures. Do you seriously intend to
fly an ILS in a glider? I didn't think so. Likewise, DP's STAR's and
all other IAP's are irrelevant to IFR gliders. Gliders need to depart
and arrive under VFR. TERPS doesn't apply.

Let's say that your here at my club in Texas. My specific question here
would be how would you file the route portion. Let's say you use a fix
near TSA to start. Now, how do I file the altitude? A block is probably
the best way, as you mentioned, but how do you guarantee your local
controllers that your going to remain in that block, especially if the
bottom fills in below you while your cruising. This is why I'm a bit
suspect that there are some loose ends to flying gliders IFR, from a
totally legal standpoint.

As for filing your route, just file direct. For altitude, file for
your estimated max altitude. In the remarks section, write: Glider
flight. Will require course deviations and block altitudes from ATC.

Yes, you must remain within the parameters of the clearance. So, you
shouldn't accept a clearance that you can't comply with. If you're at
5,170 feet and scratching in weak lift, do not accept an altitude
clearance that requires you to remain above 5,000 feet! Likewise, if
you've encountered unexpected sink, advise ATC that you will need a new
altitude clearance. It all comes down to COMMUNICATION!


I beg to differ that it is nothing like flying an airplane IFR.

90% of flying an airplane IFR includes VMC departures and arrivals,
with only a few moments in IMC conditions. Just like a glider.


Thanks for the input


You're welcome. Now let me add this: to safely fly a glider in IFR
conditions, the pilot must be able to walk and chew gum at the same
time. Flying a glider effectively on a cross-country is challenging.
Flying single-pilot IFR is challenging. Flying a glider on a
single-pilot IFR cross-country is extremely challenging. Prerequisites
should include many recent hours in both glider cross-countries and IFR
procedures.

At the risk of speaking for others, glider pilots that fly IFR have
huge personal weather minimums. They won't consider flying IFR unless
they are certain that they will be able to cancel IFR and continue to
their destination under VFR with a significant safety margin. Most
pilots will file IFR with no intention of ever flying into a cloud.
Instead, they want to be able to fly closer to the cloud than the
minimum distances required for VFR. Most IFR cross-countries are in
mountain waves, and the risk of going from clear and a million to
suddenly being engulfed in a thick cloud is real. Being on an IFR
flight plan is a safety measure.

Finally, nothing can substitute for good judgment. IFR in gliders can
be a valuable tool, but it can easily kill you. Don't even think of
doing it unless you are certain that there is no risk from doing it.
Actually, your criteria should be the opposite: do it only if you think
it is the safer option.

Chris Fleming, F2
ATP B-767, CFI-G