The IFR departure

Radar 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 read · Flying IFR: departure to landing

After this lesson you can

  • Explain when a departure is flown as an ODP, a SID, or radar vectors.
  • Convert a published climb gradient in feet per nautical mile into a target rate of climb in feet per minute.
  • Fly a radar-controlled departure using the standard sequence of instructions.
  • List the reports ATC expects during the climbout without a specific request.

N7421G taxis for Runway 17 at KMHT. Manchester has no published Standard Instrument Departure for a light single, so the clearance is a routing "as filed" with a radar vector off the runway: departure control will simply give a heading. Boston Logan, only a few minutes away by air, does have named departure charts - the LOGAN4 - and knowing how a real SID like that is built makes it obvious why a controller-given vector is doing exactly the same job with fewer printed words.

The departure phase is short, but it is the one part of the flight where the airplane is closest to the ground and climbing away from it at the same time. Getting the climb gradient and the initial instructions right here removes the one variable that cannot be fixed later: terrain.

The rest of this lesson

  1. 1.Two ways off the ground: ODP, SID, or vectors
  2. 2.Reading a real climb-gradient requirement
  3. 3.The clearance, in shorthand
  4. 4.Flying a radar-controlled departure
  5. 5.Reports ATC expects without being asked

These 5 sections, their figures, the checks along the way and the end-of-lesson quiz come with the IFR track. Paid once, yours for good.

See what the IFR track costsEvery module 1 is free to read, no account, no card.

Key terms

Try to recall each definition before turning the card.