VFR Vs IFR: What They Mean And Which One You Need

IFR stands for Instrument Flight Rules. It is a set of regulations permitting a pilot to fly by sole reference to the aircraft instruments, under an air traffic control clearance, including inside cloud. Flying IFR requires an instrument rating on top of a pilot certificate, and it requires the aircraft to be equipped and inspected for instrument flight.

VFR stands for Visual Flight Rules — flying by looking out of the window, with the pilot personally responsible for seeing and avoiding other aircraft and terrain. It requires specific weather: in Class D airspace such as Van Nuys, 3 statute miles visibility and cloud clearance of 500 feet below, 1,000 feet above and 2,000 feet horizontally, under FAR 91.155.

Under VFR you navigate visually and separate yourself from other traffic, so the weather must be good enough to see. Under IFR you navigate by instruments on a filed flight plan and air traffic control separates you, so cloud is not a barrier. Every pilot trains VFR first; IFR is a rating added to an existing certificate, and it needs 40 hours of instrument time under FAR 61.65.

In Class D and Class E below 10,000 feet MSL, 3 statute miles visibility with 500 feet below, 1,000 feet above and 2,000 feet horizontal cloud clearance. Class B requires 3 statute miles and clear of clouds. Class G during the day at or below 1,200 feet AGL drops to 1 statute mile and clear of clouds. The full table is in FAR 91.155.

No. A private pilot certificate is a VFR certificate and stands on its own — 40 flight hours minimum under FAR 61.109, $10,900 in our Standard program. The instrument rating is added afterwards, and it requires 50 hours of cross-country pilot-in-command time plus 40 hours of instrument time under FAR 61.65.

$11,700 at LA Flight School in Van Nuys, which covers the instruction and aircraft time to meet the FAR 61.65 requirements. A meaningful share of the 40 required instrument hours can be flown in our Redbird MCX full-motion simulator at $189 a session, which is the single largest saving available on this rating.

No. VFR requires you to remain a specific distance from cloud — 500 feet below, 1,000 feet above and 2,000 feet horizontally in most airspace you will use. Entering cloud without an instrument rating and clearance is both illegal and one of the most consistently fatal situations in general aviation, which is why private pilot training includes 3 hours of basic instrument work.

Yes, and for an unexpected reason. LA weather is excellent — 355 flyable days a year — but from May through August a thin coastal marine layer sits over the basin every morning. An instrument-rated pilot files, climbs through it in about ninety seconds and flies in sunshine. A VFR pilot waits until it burns off or cancels.

$179 an hour, wet, single-engine — the package rate for enrolled students. That rate is fixed when you enroll and does not change while you train, and it is already built into the program prices: $10,900 Standard, $15,900 Comprehensive and $22,500 Premium for private pilot, and $11,700 for the instrument rating.

Single-engine training on the Standard and Comprehensive private pilot programs is flown in our Cessna, Piper and Diamond aircraft, all of which we own and maintain. The Premium program at $22,500 is flown in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo with a full glass cockpit, and multi-engine work is flown in the Piper Seminole.