IFR SOPs

On Saturday, August 16, 2025, at 0900 CST, 0700 PST, John will present this as via zoom as a webinar for the FAA’s Coffee and Wings program, which is hosted by Laura Herrmann, in Minneapolis, MN. This will count for FAA Wings Credit.

In this presentation, John discusses what are referred to among professional pilots as Standard Operating Procedures, or SOPs. for short. This PPT addresses SOPs and how they can be applied when flying IFR in general aviation airplanes. However, VFR pilots can also apply some of these SOPs to their flying.

SOPs generally start before the flight, and continue throughout the entire flight, finally ending after landing, when you taxi in, park the airplane and shut down on the ramp. They provide guidance to the pilots during each phase of flight, so the pilot(s) know what is expected. This results in a safer operation overall.

See how you can apply these to your flying, to be a better, safer IFR or VFR pilot, whether flying single pilot (SP) or as part of a 2-pilot crew. Some are common-sense procedures, also known as ‘generally accepted industry practices’, that may vary, depending on the operator, but that result in conducting safer flight operations