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Low instrument flight rules?

Ugh! Sounds vaguely dicey.

Although the recent “miracle” on the Hudson gives us great comfort, The Male Half is wigged when anticipating an airplane ride. The Female Half is positively placid, even during violent turbulence or “bumpy air” as the veteran flyboys call it.)

So it helps to have all the data. Click here to see a swingin’, animated map of the U.S. that shows which areas of the country the pilot will be required to observe Visual Flight Rules, Marginal Visual Flight Rules, Instrument Flight Rules or Low (or Limited) Instrument Flight Rules. And it’s in real time almost!

(Click on the “Aviation” tab to check out the “Upper Air Observations” are at various altitudes– a good indicator of whether your flight will be smooth or bumpy… or maybe it’s best just to fly ignorant!)

In the space of 5:40, we’ll go from the sleet, snow and ice pellets of the NE U.S. to the 61 degrees and 21 per cent relative humidity of the Phoenix desert.