IFR MASTERY SCENARIOS
This month's scenario Turkey Day Turbulence #195 | NOVEMBER 2026 A short IFR hop across Florida turns into a challenging IFR workout as the descent brings sharp wind shifts, turbulence. Do you try again where you just missed or divert somewhere less convenient, maybe even all the way back home to drive instead?Start scenario →
Which Way To Winnemucca
Who thought a busted heater could create an IFR dilemma? But that's exactly what's happens with your family high over the western mountains in IMC. You have few options and none are ideal. What will you choose?
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Getting Out Of Houston
A trip to a big city airport throws you a curve, and now you're on climbout and confused without much time for clarification. What's the proper choice in terms of safety, even if you're not sure it's correct by the book? And if you choose wrong, how much trouble might you cause?
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Yellow's Not That Bad
Heading home from a weekend in Vegas, you and two friends face a wall of yellow-colored radar returns on your cockpit display. Is continuing on a good bet or a dangerous gamble?
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Hanging Out Over Groton
It's a dark and chilly autumn night with your family in the back as you approach the seaside airport your plane calls home. You're faced with a dilemma: Accept a few minutes flying low and over the water on approach, or divert only for fear of something so unlikely, it's hardly ever considered.
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Phantom Aircraft At Erie
After a challenging series of practice approaches, you return to your home airport to find that winds and traffic seem completely different than ADS-B weather led you to expect. In fact, it seems aircraft are popping up out of nowhere, busting VFR minimums, and landing the wrong way. What now?
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PIC Of The Right Seat
Your airplane partner is signed off for his instrument checkride, but must wait a week to take the test. On an actual IFR day, he asks if you'll file IFR and ride right seat while he flys to stay sharp. You're not an instructor, although you're quite proficient in this airplane. Will you do it?
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The Tower At Santa Maria
It's a crystal clear night as you descend for Santa Maria, California on an IFR flight plan. You're feeling secure and ahead of the airplane until ATC throws you a curveball that puts everything into question: They say you're low, even though your centered on the approach and PAPI. How can this be?
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Maintaining Personal Minimums
Since getting your instrument rating, you've been steadily honing your skills--and lowering your personal minimums. Now you're faced with an approach that's below your current personal minimums, but above the minimums you were planning on going to. Will you give yourself a "field promotion"?
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Ice Fishing In A Mooney
It's a shock to you and your buddy when just passing through a cloud for 30 seconds turns an IFR practice flight into a serious icing emergency. Now what will you do to salvage the situation and get an airplane safely on the ground when you can't see out the windscreen and can barely hold altitude?
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To Turn Or Not To Turn
When the frequency gets busy and ATC can't talk fast enough, it can seem like you've been forgotten—and perhaps you have been. How far will you let this situation deteriorate before you take preemptive action, even though it may be in direct violation of an ATC clearance? The clock is ticking.
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An Escalating Gear Issue
Getting your whole family and a week's worth of gear to the Gulf means flying a loaded Beech Baron near the limit of its fuel range. That's not a problem … until your landing gear decides to take its own holiday right as you approach the final approach fix. Will this be an annoyance or disaster?
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Cold Reception In The U.S.
After a wedding weekend in Canada, you're hopping south across the border to get home to Seattle, Washington. The only catch is that potentially sub-freezing clouds stand between you and your appointment with U.S. Customs and Immigration. Which branch of the government will you risk making angry?
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The Real Best Glide
We all tell ourselves that if we had an engine failure in IMC, we'd simply head for the nearest airport. However, what seems nearest isn't always the best choice - or even the airport we're most likely to make. What would you do with an engine failure in flight levels where strong winds are a factor?
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Getting Into Greenville
It's a rare day when dozens of VFR aircraft complicate an instrument approach to minimums, but that's exactly what's happening as you try to visit the Greenville International Seaplane Fly-In. Is there a way to end this flight safely, or is it simply time to call it quits? The decision is up to you.
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Confusion In Silicon Valley
We commonly think of ATC as our partner in the cockpit, especially when we fly alone. Yet ATC is as fallible as any other human resource. What will you do when you when the situation leaves you only moments to decide if following the clearance as issued will lead to salvation or catastrophe?
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A Different Kind Of Approach
Not everyone can afford a glass panel in their aircraft, but the iPad revolution means anyone can have a moving map and backup attitude indicator for less money than a new TV. Having that backup is one thing, but using it in place of an instrument during an emergency is something else.
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Three Hops To Oshkosh
You and three pilot friends have been planning this trip to Oshkosh since last year. The first leg to Buffalo went flawlessly, but now you must negotiate your way through a line of dangerously strong thunderstorms and you can't get the routing you think is safe. What's your plan?
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An Off-Airway Dilemma
It's been a long week away on business followed by a long flight home. Now less than 100 miles shy of your weekend, with icing above and low IMC below, you've lost your primary guidance instrument. Or did you? See if you can finish this flight at least close to your original plans.
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Charts At The Ready
iPads and other EFB devices have become increasingly popular in the cockpit with the incredible situational awareness and detailed information they provide. But when something goes wrong on an IFR flight you make frequently, does your iPad help you or hurt you?
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A Dizzying Approach
It sounded perfect for building your IFR confidence: 1000-foot ceilings and stable clouds with a mission to bring your daughter home from a commercial airport to your home town. Now you're on approach in IMC without an instructor on board--and the instrument indications don't make sense.
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