Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) are weather conditions that require aircraft pilots to fly primarily by reference to instruments rather than outside visual references, as they could in Visual meteorological conditions (VMC). National regulations define the boundary between IMC and VMC, based on visibility and either ceiling (on the ground) or distance from cloud. The criteria tend to be stricter in controlled airspace, especially near airports, where there is a lot of traffic and greater visibility and cloud clearance is desirable. An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. ... Instrument flight rules (IFR) allow an aircraft to be flown in weather conditions that do not meet the minimum requirements for visual flight rules (VFR). ... In aviation visual meteorological conditions are those in which visual flight rules (VFR) flight is permitted - that is, those in which pilots can see so far that they dont have to rely on their instruments to fly safely. ...
It is important not to confuse IMC with Instrument flight rules (IFR) -- "IMC" describes the actual weather conditions, while "IFR" describes the rules under which the aircraft is flying. Aircraft can (and often do) fly IFR in clear weather. Instrument flight rules (IFR) allow an aircraft to be flown in weather conditions that do not meet the minimum requirements for visual flight rules (VFR). ...
Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) is a set of regulations and procedures for flying aircraft without the assumption that pilots will be able to see and avoid obstacles, terrain, and other air traffic; it is an alternative to Visual flight rules (VFR), where the pilot is primarily or exclusively responsible for see-and-avoid.
In such conditions the pilot will control the attitude of the aircraft by watching the flight instruments, and will rely entirely on ATC for separation (though large airliners and, increasingly, smaller aircraft now carry their own terrain- and collision-avoidance systems such as TCAS).
It is important, however, not to confuse IFR with IMC: the vast majority of IFR flying is done under visual meteorologicalconditions, and in many cases, the pilot will be controlling the aircraft primarily by outside visual references, as with VFR.
Instrumentmeteorologicalconditions (IMC) are weather conditions that require aircraft pilots to fly primarily by reference to instruments rather than outside visual references, as they could in Visual meteorologicalconditions (VMC).
National regulations define the boundary between IMC and VMC, based on visibility and either ceiling (on the ground) or distance from cloud.
It is important not to confuse IMC with Instrument flight rules (IFR) -- "IMC" describes the actual weather conditions, while "IFR" describes the rules under which the aircraft is flying.
Feeds |
Contact