Personal Weather Minimums

On Sun, 30 Nov 2003 17:49:41 +0000, FryGuy wrote:

I realize that everyone is going to be different based on experience level
but I'm trying to get others thoughts for inexperienced pilots like myself.
Please comment on ceilings, winds, and visibility.

I like to fly at least 1,000 AGL, so the ceiling would be that which gives
me the clearance to legally fly, it varies depending on where I fly
however, i.e. rough terrain it goes up.

Winds, depends on if I'm flying by myself or passengers. I'll accept a
very rough ride by myself, less so with passengers. As a general rule I
don't fly passengers when the wind gets above 25 knots on the ground.
I'll fly up to 30 knots as long as I know I can takeoff and land within
the limitations of my plane, I like a 5 knot margin on it, so if my plane
will handle 15 knots crosswind, then I won't fly away from the pattern if
the winds exceed 10 knots crosswind either where I'm going or coming back
to. Too much risk of not being able to land where I take off from.

Visibility depends on the direction I fly and what I'm doing. 3 miles is
no fun on a cross country, yet I would do 5. What you have to realize is
that if you have 3 miles visibility when you are flying away from the sun,
you won't have that flying into the sun, so that's why the direction is
important, i.e. AWOS may claim 5 miles, but you try flying with that 5
miles into the sun and you'll quickly find it's less, at least with the
AWOS at our field it works that way. So you'll notice my minimums vary
according to the type of flying I'll be doing. Even though you can
legally fly with 1 mile vis in G you'll be taking a big risk in doing so
because it can quickly go less, same goes with 3 miles vis.

I think you'll find there is no single figure that will work for a
minimum, it's how they all fit together and how you feel that day that
determines if I fly.