Flying IFR: departure to landing
The flight in order: preparing, departing, cruising, arriving, and flying the approach — what the pilot does at each step.
- 1Preparation and clearance pickupFiling the plan, getting a clearance on the ground or in the air, and correcting your altitudes for cold weather before you ever release the brakes.16 min
- 2The IFR departureRadar vectors or a published procedure off the runway, the climb-gradient check that keeps terrain underneath you, and the reports ATC expects without being asked.15 min
- 3The en route phaseHandoffs between controllers, the reports you owe ATC without being asked, and staying ahead of a cockpit that moves faster than you can think.14 min
- 4Intercepting and trackingSetting a course, choosing an intercept angle, and bracketing the wind - on a VOR radial, a localizer, and a GPS course line.15 min
- 5The arrivalSTAR or vectors, planning the descent, and the approach clearance that hands you from ATC’s route to the published procedure.15 min
- 6Flying the approachThe briefing, the gates that force a stabilized approach, and riding the localizer and glideslope down toward Boston’s Runway 4 Right.17 min
- 7The missed approachThe decision, the climb, the published procedure, and what to tell ATC - flown for real on Boston’s own missed approach.14 min
- 8From minimums to the runwayThe 14 CFR 91.175 requirements to leave DA or MDA, the approach-light exception, and the visual transition to touchdown.15 min