I'm going to have a look at the Air Navigation Order to check the accuracy of my original post. As far as I know, without a IMC or IR a PPl is not permitted into the kind of airspace which would be home to a airport the size of KSFO regardless of the ceiling etc. SVFR does partially waive some of the visibility criteria normally required but not the requirement to glide clear of a conurbation in the event of engine failure.
Like I say, I'll check this tomorrow as I have a feeling that there may b emore to it than I stated, and I really should know having just done the exams :-/ All the best, Matt. On 19:18 Fri 06 Feb , David Megginson wrote: > SVFR means something entirely different in North America. SVFR is a > clearance to land or depart VFR in controlled airspace in conditions below > VFR minima for a control zone. For example, let's say that I screwed up my > preflight planning and was coming home to Ottawa with an icing layer of > clouds at 2000 ft and 2 miles visibility. I cannot ask for an IFR > clearance, because minimum vectoring altitude around the airport is 2500 > ft, which would would put me into the ice; I cannot land regular VFR, > because I don't have the minimum 3 miles visibility required in controlled > airspace. What I can do is request SVFR from Ottawa Terminal (who will > coordinate with Ottawa Tower), and if they allow it, I can scud-run in at > 1500 ft, trying to avoid any towers that poke up that high. Of course, > people die this way. > > Another use of SVFR is breaking off an IFR approach once you're below the > ceiling and cancelling IFR to proceed to another nearby airport. For > example, Gatineau airport, which has VOR and NDB approaches, is only a > couple of miles from Rockcliffe airport, which doesn't; assuming that you > were IFR above an overcast layer, and ground vis was less than 3 SM (or the > ceiling was a bit low), one way to get down through a cloud layer and land > at Rockcliffe in MVFR would be to follow the Gatineau VOR or NDB approach > until below the clouds, then request SVFR (cancelling IFR) and fly across > the river to land at Rockcliffe. > > Extremely busy airports like KSFO typically do not allow SVFR, since it > makes a lot of work for the controllers and screws up the traffic flow. > You do not need SVFR to land at KSFO or any other airport in its zone as > long as visibility and ceiling are at or above the VFR limits for > controlled airspace: people land VFR at KSFO, KLAX, KLGA, and other major > U.S. airports all the time without an SVFR clearance. > > I still do not understand exactly what SVFR is in the UK, but it sounds > like it's something very different. > > > All the best, > > > David _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.flightgear.org/mailman/listinfo/flightgear-devel
