Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

0 Answers

VFR over Grand Canyon with cloud interference

Asked by: 1079 views , ,
Airspace, Weather

Hello all,

I'm wondering about VFR with cloud interference through the Grand Canyon special airspace corridors. The chart specifies which altitudes are required for North/South bound traffic. There are 2 elevations for each direction under 14k. 11.5/13.5 Northbound, 10.5/12.5  Southbound. 

I fly over the Grand Cayon frequently, but recently I encountered a VFR day, where I could not maintain VFR cloud separation at either of those altitudes going south. I smudged the altitudes to keep VFR but violated the airspace crossing elevation by almost 500' at one point in doing so. Feeling guilty about it, and unsure, I asked a local CFI what protocol would be for this situation;

Does this situation mean the corridor passing is not available unless I climb over the 14k or file IFR?

His answer was "turn the transponder off for that portion of the flight and stay clear of clouds". This was obviously not a useful answer, so here I am asking for input from you fine folks! Thanks in advance.

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.