Do you use the Semicircular rule?

[will fly for food 06]

Hello,
Im new to the PPL flying after flying in the RAF. On a cross country yesterday i was using the semicircular rule due to amount of haze. I was tempted to take RIS rather than just FIS because of the amount of traffic that was flying in opposite directions at similar levels. This is not a telling off to those people i am just interested how many of you use this rule when flying VFR?

[S-Works]

The UK tends to use quadrantal not semi for VFR flight.

[will fly for food 06]

Oh dear thats what i meant:confused:. Not good first impressions. It must be this time change thats made me lose my lie in:zzz:.

[jamestkirk]

Don't get too uptight. At least you are paying attention and using your initiative when faced with poor visibility, so well done.

No, you will not find everyone following the same advice.

But, bear in mind, the VFR quad/semi is only advice and you can fly anything you want, even above 3000' in VFR (airspace permitting).

A RIS is a good idea.

[Whopity]

Most PPLs seem to fly below 3000 feet possibly because they don't want to complicate things by
a) flying quadrantals and
b) having to set 1013

Practically speaking with the average UK weather and controlled airspace it is not very often possible to adhere to the quadrantal rule.

[will fly for food 06]

Thanks for the replies everybody. Some interesting thoughts from all. Flying alot in the westcountry so not much controlled airspace above.

[Single Spey]

Note: The quadrantal rule is one of the Instrument Flying Rules.

[jamestkirk]

Absolutley right.
It is advised though for VFR but it's totally your descretion.

[Pitts2112]

I usually try to fly at odd heights (not a problem, really, given my apparent inability to hold altitude for more than a few seconds at a time :)) to avoid the likelihood of finding someone else at my level. That and a constant lookout, including moving the nose around once in a while to have a look under it, pretty much do the trick.

It might help that straight and level bores the hell out of me so I'm usually up to something, even on a cross country, even if it's just butter-churning the stick a bit. It breaks the monotony of a boring flight and helps me keep a good lookout because my scan territory is always changing.

Pitts2112

[gcolyer]

Most PPLs seem to fly below 3000 feet possibly because they don't want to complicate things by
a) flying quadrantals and
b) having to set 1013


You dont have to fly on flight levels (1013) above 3000 feet. Depending on the atmospheric conditions will determine the available transition level.

You can still fly the QNH above 3000 and report alltitude.


I usually try to fly at odd heights


This implies you only fly on QFE. Or am I being pedantic?? :bored:

[jamestkirk]

In the west country, do all the A/G & AFIS controllers follow all instructions with 'my lover..'.

[gcolyer]

More like

Bristol App G-XXXX

Brizol App Ooo Ar Parse yer message

[gcolyer]

You didn'y adhere to Wales???

[stickandrudderman]

Ooh, a sticky subject!

[Whopity]

This implies you only fly on QFE. Or am I being pedantic?? :bored:
NO you've missed the point; many PPLs avoid it because it adds further complication, nothing more nothing less. If we used QNH to a sensible level then more PPLs would fly higher and fewer would fly into the ground!

[mccourtm]

I might be wrong here and may have it reversed but don't you use the semi-circle rule in controlled airspace and the quadrantal rule in uncontrolled airspace:confused:

[big.al]

As a general rule, if I'm on a local flight (eg. a triangular route and turning at Point A and Point B, returning to the same airfield) I'll fly at an odd altitude, say 2700ft, rather than the oft-used 2000ft or 2500ft.

If I'm travelling cross-country and cloud base permits, I'll usually aim for a quadrantal flight level, providing my course isn't taking me just either side of 180 etc etc (which would mean a level change at every waypoint!). If the course is a dead straight line then this isn't a problem.

All of my flying is VFR.

[scooter boy]

"and cloud base permits"
This is an essential consideration on our often cloudy little island.
Sometimes the man upstairs has put the clouds at awkward levels that do not fit with our direction of flight - what to do in this inconvenient situation?

By the way, to complicate things further it is all different over in Italy.

Basically - fly by the quadrantal rule when safe to do so.

SB

[3FallinFlyer]

I might be wrong here and may have it reversed but don't you use the semi-circle rule in controlled airspace and the quadrantal rule in uncontrolled airspace:confused:

As I understand it - Quadrantal in UK uncontrolled - Assigned Altitude/Flight Level in controlled - Semicircular in Europe and most of the rest of the planet. But I'm probably wrong!! :}

[Humaround]

"More like

Bristol App G-XXXX

Brizol App Ooo Ar Parse yer message"

I'm still waiting to hear Bristol mention "aerial" as in "the Bristol aerial..."
:)