Depending on the airport you fly at and the wx conditions svfr can be very useful to get in or out of a controlled airport. A lot of pilots are reluctant to use it but it will expedite operations a lot compared to IFR in a terminal area.
Problem is some airports are not that used to dealing with it but if you know what to ask for it can be a time saver. In AK it's used a lot at the towered airports since u can't carry passengers in sel ac. Used to be common to have 4-5 or more ac keeping visual contact and getting cleared in or out as a group. Works great if you are comfortable with the area.
Another scenario I always give my students is this:
You are crusing along in good VFR conditions under an overcast. Conditions worsen, however and the descending clouds are pushing you closer to the ground than you would like. You pick an airport to divert to and listen to the weather, vis. 10SM and 800 ft. overcast. The airport is class E (or D, or C), which means you are required to be 500 ft below the clouds (300 ft AGL!). Time to call Flight Service or ATC to request a special VFR clearance into the airport. Now you can cruise just under the deck to your diversion point and not worry about winged missles emerging from the cloud layer.
For most folks, I would recommend that you declare an emergency, not SVFR, in this situation. Or pick up an IFR clearance if you can.
Remember that airspace rules are generally designed to benefit IFR traffic. By setting up special VFR, VFR only pilots are afforded a way to safely land in the event of weather or other conditions that would prevent them from returning to their field. However, the effect is to make a controller aware of that traffic, so that IFR pilots don't pop out of an approach only to find some poor Cessna lined up on their final.
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More people are killed by donkeys than in airplane crashes each year....
Getting wedged at 300ft AGL is not an emergency, its pilot negligence.
so, if you run out of fuel, cause you forgot to check the tanks, can you not declare an emergency?
Either way, I do remember one flight where we requested special VFR cause of some smoke on the airport that reduced visibility a bit, got up to the practice area and it was gone
What about using svfr if you are instrument rated but flying vfr? You could request svfr to avoid filing an ifr flight plan if conditions become below vfr mins. I think it can be a tool for the ifr pilot but if I were vfr only I would not depart on sfvr.
Last edited by zondaracer : 11-28-2008 at 08:09 AM.
The other guys explained what it is, but what is good for?
It is good for getting into, or out of, an airport in controlled airspace when the cloud heights and/or visibility is sufficient for maneuvering the aircraft visually but is insufficient for visually avoiding IFR traffic, i.e. below VFR minimums of 1000'/3mi in the surface area/CBA. The SVFR clearance gives you separation from any IFR traffic (technically, it gives any IFR traffic separation from you, I suppose).
I live in the Salt Lake UT area, and sometimes it is only about 5 square miles that is soup, courtesy of the Greaty Stinky Salt Lake. (Karma seems to always put it smack-dab on an airport area) The rest is clear blue VFR skies. Lake effect can easily screw one airport over but have the next airport a few miles away be perfect. I'll admit that I've never used SVFR, but it's nothing other than another tool you can use to get on the ground safely and still maintain safety/legality.
so, if you run out of fuel, cause you forgot to check the tanks, can you not declare an emergency?
Either way, I do remember one flight where we requested special VFR cause of some smoke on the airport that reduced visibility a bit, got up to the practice area and it was gone
That's also negligence, in both cases you should have never had to declare an emergency. That is if you did what you were supposed to on the ground and in planning.
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