No Easy Way North — IFR Mastery Scenario

No Easy Way North

#194 | OCTOBER 2026

Weather is closing in from the north, daylight is slipping away, and geography limits your options. Will you take a short, simple route with more risk exposure or try and negotiate something more to your liking, but that seriously extends your flight time if ATC won’t cooperate?

Elaine Kauh

Elaine is a six-time Master CFI with over 3800 hours of dual given. She provides instruction in high-performance and tailwheel airplanes, flies corporate aircraft, and presents pilot seminars in collaboration with her FAASTeam colleagues in Wisconsin. She’s also a skilled instrument instructor and a contributing editor to IFR magazine. She especially enjoys teaching emergency procedures and training future CFIs, providing stall/spin endorsements in a Super Decathlon.