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About Dottie Norkus
Expertise
I can address questions concerning: airline pilot employment & entry level airline careers in the Unites States, women pilots, flight training, pilot certification, flight scholarships (mostly for women), aviation & airline safety topics, aviation accident investigation, air carrier accidents and airline operations. ***Please note, I cannot address flight training or career queries from outside the United States. If you are not in the USA, please direct your question to the message boards at www.PPRUNE.org as you can surely find an answer there. For those in India try http://www.indianpilots.com Also, I cannot address questions about aero engineering degree programs/careers or aviation management careers.

Experience
U.S. Regional Airline Pilot. I have also had 15 years previous experience in airline ground operations, as well as a part 91 commercial skydive pilot and ferry pilot.

Organizations I belong to
I am a charter member of Women In Aviation International as well as the International Organization of Women Pilots: the Ninety Nines. I keep a database of flight scholarships for women (mostly SW USA) and mentor student pilots.

Education/Credentials
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University certificate in Aviation Safety/Accident investigation.

You are here: Experts > Shopping > Air Travel > Aviation/Flying > ILS & VFR

Aviation/Flying - ILS & VFR

Expert: Dottie Norkus - 12/17/2006

Question
Im really confused about what the acronyms ILS and VFR mean. I was wondering if you could help me out. Thanks.

Answer
The acronym "VFR" stands for Visual Flight Rules, which are the 'rules of the road' (Federal Aviation Regulations) for pilots when the flying weather is good. Basically, the weather is "VFR" when the visibility is better than 3 miles and clouds can be avoided by 1,00ft over the top, 2,000 ft horizontally and 500 ft below (depending on the type of airspace, this varies slightly). See this chart for specifics-
http://www.faa.gov/ATpubs/AIM/Chap3/aim0301.html#tbB190ROBE

Read all about "VFR" here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_flight_rules

An ILS is an Instrument Landing System. This is what pilots use for horizontal and vertical guidance to a runway in poor weather conditions or "IMC/Instrument Meterological Conditions". Flying in IMC, pilots are regulated by "IFR/Instrument Flight Rules". Also, pilots must be appropriately rated and their aircraft equipped to fly in IFR weather. Read more about IFR here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrument_flight_rules

And all about how an ILS system works here-
http://www.planesimulation.com/ils.htm

Hope this helps
Dottie

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