Originally Posted by
WestBoundPilot
Am I right in thinking that you can fly VFR in rain provided visibility is above the minimum distance (I could check the METAR for visibility)? And what about snowing conditions in a C172 which has no anti-/de-icing except pitot heat? Would it be prudent to turn back? Thanks!
My first reaction was don't feed the troll, but after reading some of the other answers ...
There is nothing wrong with flying in rain or snow, as long as you know what you are doing.
METAR will not be the whole story, as that is typically ground based. My rule of thumb, if you can see through, you can fly through. If it gets dark inside, you may have turbulence in rain and that is to avoid. Trust your skills and trust your judgement.
Snowing is no different to rain, but beware of icing. Again, there is nothing wrong flying through snow, if visibility is within legal limits. A C172/C182 is able to take quite a fair amount of ice, so even if there is ice building up, it rarely is an immediate emergency. Usually the fear (not to say German Angst) is far worse the actual possible threat.
So, yes, I do fly frequently VFR through rain and snow and am still alive, no pox collected in these conditions, no alien abuse, not to say quite uneventful for all occasions so far (including ice on a pitot heat only C172). Untrained and fearful students should avoid these conditions, but there is no reason to follow the contemporary fully comprehensive cover avoid all risks mentality.