SkyDemon Forums

Extended MSA Functionality - Minimum Safe Altitudes for IFR

http://forums.skydemon.aero/Topic32941.aspx

By jaimebeneyto - 3/8/2021 9:59:57 PM

 
pilot-byom - 3/4/2021 7:20:51 AM
Please No!

We are vastly over administered already and I don't feel any need for more clerks business in daily life. The Skydemon method to allow for everybody to define the individual limits is fine with me. For hard regulation airboundaries, such as restricted areas or danger areas, ok, but for weak limits, which are always subject to pilots decision to break in favor of flight safety it adds only additional stress to pilots on low training level - and most private are. Again, a strict No from me.

Btw, 'minimum IFR altitude' is not that easy, you have to take into account the national deviations from SERA and that is a complicated thing. In Germany i.e. there is a MVA minimum vector altitude as they do not allow (in violation of SERA) to fly IFR in airspace Golf.

I don't think you got what I meant exactly.
I am asking for more control for HARD limits which are mentioned in SERA. Not WEAK limits subject to pilots, as you say.
SERA stipulates 2000 ft of clearance in mountainous terrain. There is currently no way to tweak MSA's for each leg, there is only one setting for all. This can lead to having too low IFR MSAs when flying at higher altitudes or in mountaineous regions.

I don't understand what you mean with the MVA in Germany. A pilot doesn't have to even know what the MVA is at all, that's something for ATC to issue radar vectors, nothing that concerns the pilots and which has nothing to do with IFR minimum safe altitudes.
By jaimebeneyto - 3/1/2021 2:09:46 PM

Hello,

I wish to request extended functionality of the MSA computation by SkyDemon. 

As it stands now, the following options are available:
- Vertical and horizontal clearance from terrain (for example, 1300 ft vertical and 5 NM horizontal)
- Vertical and horizontal clearance from obstacles (for example, 1000 ft vertical and 5 NM horizontal)

In order to replicate the SERA.5015 rules for IFR, a distinction has to be made between flying over high terrain or in mountainous areas. I believe "high terrain" means, elevations of 6000ft or higher (correct me if I'm wrong). Not sure of how "mountainous areas" are legally defined in SERA. Could there be an additional option to add additional clearances when the terrain elevation is higher than a given value? Or when flying over mountains?

Additionally, would it be possible to add an option that shows the "minimum VFR altitude" in compliance with SERA.5005? That is, a VFR flight should not operate below 1000 ft AGL over congested areas, or 500 ft AGL over ground/water.

This way we would have a minimum IFR altitude (the MSA) and a minimum VFR altitude, two figures.

Thoughts on this?
Kind regards,