Originally Posted by
FlyingBulldog
Sure, I could file and go fly IFR - both I and the aircraft are capable of that - but my question is specifically about the legal way to obtain weather info for a field with no reporting. Yeah, you can use all this other information: Weather Channel, nearby reports, area forecasts, whatever, to give you an idea of the conditions and help you decide if its a good idea to go fly, but without weather reporting on the field, there's no black and white "ceiling IS xxxx, visibility IS xxxx." "The weather channel said it was 1,000 and 3" doesn't seem like a reliable source for determining VFR vs IFR conditions.
The weather channel isn't you legal source. It's A source of information.
Your legal source will be the area forecast, just as it's been for decades. Nothing has changed. This is not new.
You're changing the scenario again. You said you're a student pilot. Now your'e an instrument pilot in an instrument aircraft. You should know better than to be buzzing around in low VFR and altitudes below the traffic pattern altitude, when flying VFR.
If there's no weather reporting for the field, then YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET A WEATHER REPORT FOR THE FIELD. It's not reported. See how that works?
Originally Posted by
FlyingBulldog
I'm not trying to justify blurring the lines between being VFR and on an IFR flight plan, but your comment was that flying at 500' around an airport is a bad idea, when in fact its TERPS'd for lower, farther away from the runway, in worse meteorological conditions ("low visibility," as you put it, I assume you mean less than 3 SM - exactly 3 miles would be VFR).
You can stop right there. No, it's not "TERPS'd" for lower. You specifically asked about VFR. You can forget dragging IFR into the equation. It's a VFR flight. You need to be at the published VFR traffic pattern altitudes, not dragging around at 500' to stay below the clouds. If you can't maintain VFR altitudes and cloud clearances, then you're not VFR. It really is that simple.
What you can do when operating under IFR, circling, etc, is IRRELEVANT.
See how that works?
Originally Posted by
FlyingBulldog
If you're VFR, you must maintain VFR cloud clearances. So, the highest you could fly and legally be VFR in the pattern at this particular airport is 700'AGL, provided the weather is no less than 1,000 and 3. Like I said, visibility hasn't really been an issue out here lately, its all ceiling.
Also at issue will be the published traffic pattern altitude for that airport. At which airport do you find published VFR traffic pattern altitudes of 500'?
Originally Posted by
FlyingBulldog
We were looking for an answer to our question on how you get the official weather when there is none.
The sentence answers itself, doesn't it?
If there is no "official" weather, then THERE IS NO "OFFICIAL" WEATHER." See how that works?
Consider what is "official weather." Is the area forecast official?
It is.
If there is no weather reported at your airport, you can look at nearby airports, use the area forecast, and make a determination. You'd be foolish to cut it so close, based on that information, as to be flying a 500' pattern, because while you might argue to the inspector that you were legal insofar as your cloud clearance went, you may find yourself defending against 91.13, careless and reckless operation, and quite possibly 91.119, and you'd have to explain why you didn't either know or observe the published traffic pattern altitudes established for the airport.
Good luck trying to tell the inspector that IFR aircraft do it, so you should be able to, too.