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2 Answers

IFR Flight Plan w/ “VFR Pick-up”

Asked by: 4362 views FAA Regulations, Instrument Rating

I had my oral exam for my ifr practical test yesterday and my DPE told me about a private pilot (non ifr rated) who had recently had his/her oral who mentioned that he had been filing IFR flight plans with "VFR Pickup" in the notes section.  The testee would then pick up a clearance and fly the flight in vmc with controllers following and treating the flight as if it were an ifr flight.  

My DPE has never heard of such a thing and neither have I; has anyone here heard of such a thing or is this student either

   (a) flying ifr against regs
   (b) lying to the DPE.

I'm also planning on giving the local FSDO a call to see if they know anything about a "VFR pickup".  I will report back my findings.

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2 Answers



  1. John D. Collins on Apr 28, 2012

    A non instrument rated pilot may not fly under IFR, regardless of the conditions (VMC or IMC) and act as PIC without being in violation of FAR 61.3(e), see below, emphasis is mine:

     

    61.3(e) Instrument rating. No person may act as pilot in command of a civil aircraft under IFR or in weather conditions less than the minimums prescribed for VFR flight unless that person holds:

    (1) The appropriate aircraft category, class, type (if required), and instrument rating on that person’s pilot certificate for any airplane, helicopter, or powered-lift being flown;

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  2. Curtis Ide on Apr 28, 2012

    I agree that a non rated IFR pilot can not fly under an IFR flight plan- The only option I see to this is flying with flight following and doing a vfr practice approach at your destination.  You won’t be flying the IFR altitudes but you can practice all of the other fundamentals including the radio comms, navigation, and approaches. 

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