"Peter R." wrote:

) wrote:

If you don't have a pretty good idea of where you are likely to encounter
IMC en route, you haven't done a very good job of flight planning.

I disagree. Are you claiming that good flight planning will always provide
an accurate picture of future weather, especially for a trip that covers a
large number of hours and miles?

I said "pretty good idea of where (the IMC is likely to be). A composite
flight plan can deal with that approximation quite nicely, yet not create the
issues that an air file can cause.



IMO, experienced weather forecasters sometimes get it wrong. When they do,
then there are going to be times when I, as the pilot who is planning the
flight with their products, will get it wrong.

Of course, but not to the extent of not having a pretty good idea.



Sure, one can simply cover all bases and always file IFR, but knowing how
to maximize the system seems to me to be the theme of this thread.


"Always filing IFR" is quite different than filing a composite flight plan.
And, if the weather is "super good," then a flight of such length should
"always" be on a VFR flight plan if a composite or IFR flight plan is not
necessary.