Complete IFR cross-country scenario

A fictional flight with real decision points

This is a paper exercise for an initial instrument student. Alder is the departure, Birch the destination, and Cedar the alternate; these are fictional airports, not navigation identifiers. Assume a small single-engine land airplane approved and serviceable for the proposed operation, a qualified and current pilot, no ice protection approval, and the fictional planning data below. No real aircraft AFM/POH has been supplied: the numbers demonstrate arithmetic and decisions, not aircraft performance or operating limitations.

For a real flight, replace every assumption with actual aircraft data, usable fuel, weight and balance, performance by flight phase, current weather, charts, NOTAMs and airport information. If required information is missing, do not issue a go decision.

ACS I.C: cross-country planning and risk analysis

Decide whether this pilot and aircraft are ready

Before drawing the route, explain the evidence for acting as PIC under IFR: certificate/rating, medical or applicable BasicMed qualifications, flight review and instrument currency or proficiency check. Currency is a legal minimum; recent practice in this aircraft and in the expected conditions still matters. Identify fatigue, illness, unfamiliar avionics and personal weather limits. A booked appointment at Birch does not change those limits.

Check airworthiness records, required equipment, navigation approval/database status, actual fuel and the aircraft checklist. Prepare a weight-and-balance calculation and takeoff, climb, cruise and landing performance from the actual AFM/POH and supplements. Compare departure climb requirements, runway conditions and landing distance with usable performance margins. The fictional data do not prove a real aircraft can climb at a charted gradient or land at a selected runway.

For the paper exercise, explain a stop condition: unexplained instrument failure, missing inspection evidence, contaminated wing, inadequate climb performance or an unfamiliar required navigation procedure. Do not rely on ATC to fix an aircraft limitation.

14 CFR 91.103: preflight information · 14 CFR 91.7: condition for safe flight · ACS I.C.R1/R2/R4: pilot, aircraft and external pressures

Build a route that leaves usable options

Compare current preferred/available routing with navigation coverage and equipment approval. Inspect the en route chart, restricted/special-use airspace, terrain and minimum altitudes, and the current terminal procedures and Chart Supplements for the departure, destination and alternate. Review NOTAMs for runway/taxiway closures, navaid outages, approach changes and services. A planning app may suggest a route without establishing that the aircraft meets its equipment, climb, integrity or procedure requirements.

Select a legal, cleared altitude that accounts for obstacle clearance, applicable navigation limitations, winds, oxygen requirements, aircraft performance and emergency landing options. A higher altitude may improve glide options but also increase climb fuel or encounter icing. An airway minimum does not authorize ignoring the clearance or known hazards. Explain your reasoning using the actual chart with an instructor rather than inventing a minimum altitude for these fictional airports.

In this exercise the destination's 1,200-foot ceiling fails the 2,000-foot part of the 91.169 alternate exception, so an alternate is required even though visibility is 3 SM. Evaluate Cedar's actual applicable alternate minima in a real plan; the assumed “suitable” label is not a general 600-2/800-2 permission. Correlate departure, route, arrival and alternate weather over the time window, including icing, freezing levels, turbulence, convection and forecast uncertainty. Recheck before departure and in flight.

14 CFR 91.169: IFR flight plan and alternate exception · AIM 5-1: preflight, planning and flight plans · ACS I.C.K1/K2: route and altitude selection

Make the fuel arithmetic visible

For the still-air paper plan, 150 NM ÷ 100 kt = 1.5 hours, or 90 minutes. At 9 gallons/hour, the destination trip consumes 13.5 gallons. Add 2 gallons for start/taxi/climb, 4.5 gallons for the 30-minute alternate allowance, and 6.75 gallons for 45 minutes at the exercise's normal-cruise rate: 26.75 gallons. With 32 gallons usable, there are 5.25 gallons above these planned amounts.

The 45-minute amount reflects the airplane reserve in 91.167, subject to its alternate-leg exception. These assumed forecasts require the alternate in this exercise, so retain that leg. The legal reserve is not a planned holding allowance. Practical margins must also account for forecast error, rerouting, vectoring, additional approach time, fuel measurement uncertainty and the actual aircraft's rates during climb, holding and other phases. Our constant rate makes the arithmetic transparent but is not an engine fuel model.

If takeoff is planned for 14:10 local daylight time at a fictional UTC−5 departure, it is 19:10Z. A separately estimated 10-minute climb plus the 90-minute destination trip gives 20:50Z arrival. Keep the date and correct local offset with the time; do not assume every location is on daylight time or that the departure zone also applies at the destination.

14 CFR 91.167: airplane IFR fuel reserve · ACS I.C.K3: time, UTC and fuel calculations

A filed plan still needs a clearance

Prepare the IFR flight plan with the correct aircraft identification/type, equipment and navigation capabilities, departure/destination, route, altitude, estimated times, alternate, endurance, persons aboard and other required information. Use the filing service's current instructions and verify what the application transmits. Endurance describes total usable-fuel duration under the stated conditions; it is not the time to destination.

Filing a flight plan does not authorize an IFR departure in controlled airspace. Obtain the clearance, record and read back the relevant route, initial altitude, departure instructions, frequency and transponder information. Clarify anything different from the filed route. At a nontowered airport, understand the release/void time and communication procedure; do not treat an expired release as a usable authorization. Follow runway and obstacle/departure procedures as applicable, with a verified aircraft setup and climb capability.

During departure, first maintain control and the clearance. Cross-check heading, altitude, navigation source and mode before accepting automation. Ask for time or amended instructions when workload or performance makes a clearance unsuitable. Flight instruction must develop the actual control, communication and chart-following skills; this paper exercise only prepares the explanation.

14 CFR 91.173: flight plan and clearance · AIM 5-1: IFR flight plans · AIM 5-2: clearance, release and departure procedures

Recalculate before accepting a delay

Before departure, the updated route wind reduces the projected groundspeed from 100 to 80 kt. The 150 NM destination leg now takes 1.875 hours (112.5 minutes) and 16.875 gallons at the exercise rate. The complete simplified requirement becomes 2 + 16.875 + 4.5 + 6.75 = 30.125 gallons, leaving only 1.875 gallons beyond the stated plan. A 20-minute delay would add 3 gallons at this assumed rate and exceed the 32 gallons aboard. Replan the flight, add suitable fuel within loading limits, delay, or choose another option before departing; a filed route does not justify accepting the deficit.

For a separate in-flight decision, suppose you have 18 usable gallons remaining, 90 NM to Birch at 80 kt, and the same alternate/reserve allowances. The destination leg alone needs 10.125 gallons; with 4.5 for the alternate and 6.75 for reserve, the total is 21.375 gallons. Continuing on that plan does not preserve the assumed reserve. A suitable nearer landing option that can be reached in 20 minutes would need 3 gallons at this exercise rate, leaving much greater margin. Evaluate its actual weather, approach, equipment, runway and route before requesting the diversion.

Communicate early. Tell ATC when you cannot accept a hold or when an amended route is needed. “Minimum fuel” advises ATC that you cannot accept undue delay; it does not itself give priority. If remaining usable fuel requires priority to ensure a safe landing, declare an emergency and state the need. Do not wait for fuel exhaustion to make the distinction.

AIM 5-5-15: minimum fuel advisory · ACS I.C.S2/R7: recalculating fuel and managing reserves

Read a real chart separately from the fictional route

Open the FAA Springfield-Branson National (SGF), ILS or LOC RWY 2 chart, cycle 2610. The FAA index identifies this cycle as October 1–29, 2026, and the chart carries those dates. This is a dated chart-reading example, not a current operational clearance or a procedure for fictional Birch. Later students should use the FAA current terminal-procedure publication, its applicable changes and NOTAMs.

Find the localizer/DME I-SGF, frequency 109.9, approach course 019°, and the separate SGF VORTAC. The chart directs use of I-SGF DME on the localizer course. Reading distance from SGF instead can misidentify the fixes. DME or radar is required by the chart; investigate any approved suitable-RNAV substitution with the actual installation and current guidance rather than assuming a tablet meets it.

Compare the S-ILS and S-LOC rows. In this dated example, S-ILS 2 shows 1465/24: DA 1,465 feet MSL and RVR 2,400 feet, with a charted note allowing RVR 1,800 when its stated FD/AP/HUD-to-DA condition is met. The S-LOC 2 Category A/B row shows MDA 1,700 feet MSL with RVR 2,400. Identify the LOC-only 1,760-foot step-down at HEVAL and the LOC MAP at I-SGF 1.3 before briefing a localizer approach. A glideslope outage changes which procedure and minima you may use; it does not leave an ILS clearance as a permission to follow an unavailable signal.

Read the published missed approach: climb to 3,000 direct SGF VORTAC and hold, with a separate TACAN-aircraft instruction. Explain the normal ILS and LOC missed-approach points using the chart and the approach lessons. Do not make an early turn solely because the instruments or weather prompt an early climb; the published missed geometry and ATC instructions matter. This reading task is ground preparation; the actual approach requires approved equipment, current procedures and instructor-led practice.

FAA cycle 2610: SGF ILS or LOC RWY 2 · AIM 5-4: approach and missed-approach procedures

Keep an exit available through landing

Before arrival, obtain updated weather, check NOTAMs, review the assigned route/STAR and approach with all relevant restrictions, and compare remaining fuel and alternates. Brief navigation source, fixes, altitudes, minima, missed instructions, equipment failures and the runway environment you need. A STAR clearance is not automatically an approach clearance, and a planning app's vertical path is not itself a cleared descent.

At DA or the MAP/minimums decision for the applicable procedure, apply 91.175 and the chart: required flight visibility, suitable position for a normal descent and landing, and the permitted visual references are separate conditions. If they are not met, perform the missed approach. Do not turn one glimpse of lights into permission to descend indefinitely. A stable approach, a usable runway and adequate landing performance still matter after reaching visual conditions.

If the original approach becomes unavailable, first control the aircraft, identify remaining reliable equipment, and communicate the limitation. Select an approach and airport that fit the actual remaining capabilities. A failed primary attitude display, rising workload or deteriorating weather can make a prompt diversion wiser than another attempt. If icing or wing contamination develops, follow actual aircraft procedures and obtain an exit; no generic pitch, airspeed or deice sequence is supplied here.

14 CFR 91.175: descent/landing and missed-approach conditions · AIM 5-4: arrival, approach and missed approach · ACS I.C.S4/S5: procedure interpretation and ice-contamination preparation

Close the plan and review the decisions

After a safe landing, know who closes the IFR flight plan. At an airport with an operating control tower, the tower normally handles closure; at an airport without an operating tower, ensure cancellation is communicated to ATC or Flight Service by the appropriate available means. Canceling IFR before landing requires suitable conditions and a workable VFR plan; it does not create VFR weather or airport access. Do not forget cancellation while focused on parking or passenger arrangements.

Complete aircraft shutdown, postflight inspection, discrepancy and servicing records. Compare planned versus observed fuel, time, weather and workload. Separate a good outcome from a good decision: landing successfully after knowingly consuming the reserve does not validate that plan. Identify the earliest point at which additional fuel, a delay, an amended route or a diversion would have improved the margin.

Present the plan and each changed-condition decision to an instructor using current local charts and actual aircraft data. Practice filing without submitting a real operational plan for fictional airports. The instructor should then develop the flight skills: clearance execution, instrument control, navigation, holding, approaches, missed approaches and equipment-failure procedures. Finishing this lesson records study, not an ACS flight evaluation.

AIM 5-1: IFR cancellation and flight-plan procedures · ACS I.C: presenting and explaining a cross-country plan

FLIGHT SCENARIO

What would change your plan?