Table of Contents
- 🧭 The IFR Flight Plan and Weather Context
- 🛬 Executing an IFR Arrival at a Non-Towered Airport
- 🎧 How a CTAF Frequency Mistake Created a Runway Conflict
- ⚠️ The Human Impact (And the Walk of Shame)
- 🧠 Why IFR to VFR Transition Mistakes Happen So Often
- 📋 IFR to VFR Transition Checklist (Non-Towered Airports)
- 🧑✈️ What I’d Teach a Student After This
- 🧠 Lessons Learned from an IFR to VFR Transition Mistake
- 🚀 How Flight Level One Helps Prevent Mistakes Like This
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✈️ Even experienced CFIs can make IFR to VFR transition mistakes, especially when arriving IFR into a non-towered airport. This is a real-world example of how a simple CTAF frequency error nearly created a head-on runway conflict—and why procedural discipline matters right up until shutdown.
This story starts with a winter flight from Richmond, Virginia to Venice, Florida (KVNC). It was a family visit between Christmas and New Year’s—routine, familiar, and exactly the kind of flight where complacency can quietly sneak in.
🧭 The IFR Flight Plan and Weather Context
🌦️ The weather wasn’t terrible, but it demanded respect.
- ☁️ Solid overcast for most of the ~600 NM route
- 🟡 IFR on both ends
- 🟦 Destination weather: MVFR with ceilings around 2,000 AGL
- 🛬 Planned arrival: RNAV Runway 23 at KVNC
KVNC is a non-towered airport with four runways (15/23 and 13/31). That detail matters—a lot—when transitioning from the structured IFR environment into the self-coordinated VFR world.
🛬 Executing an IFR Arrival at a Non-Towered Airport
📡 As I approached Venice, I was talking with Tampa Center, fully expecting that to be my final controller before canceling IFR.
- 🎧 CTAF was already staged in the standby window
- 🧠 The mental model was set: “Land, cancel IFR, switch to CTAF, all good.”
Right before the initial approach fix, however, I was handed off—unexpectedly—to Tampa Approach. That small disruption mattered more than I realized.
I dialed Approach into standby, switched over, checked in… and then—by memory—re-dialed CTAF back into standby.
⚠️ That’s where the error happened.
🎧 How a CTAF Frequency Mistake Created a Runway Conflict
🛬 Winds were calm.
📡 I was cleared for the RNAV Runway 23 approach.
🟢 Everything appeared normal.
After breaking out and ensuring a safe landing, I canceled IFR and switched to what I thought was CTAF.
📻 Dead air.
I was making position calls.
No responses.
No chatter.
That should have been my first hard stop.
What I didn’t realize was that I had mis-dialed the CTAF frequency. Meanwhile, local VFR traffic was actively using Runway 05, opposite my landing direction.
As I touched down and rolled out, I suddenly saw a Glasair landing head-to-head toward me.
😬 No collision—but way too close for comfort.
⚠️ The Human Impact (And the Walk of Shame)
🧑✈️ After shutdown, several local pilots walked up—clearly frustrated.
From their perspective:
- 📣 They had been broadcasting runway-in-use
- 🚨 They saw a conflict developing
- 🎧 I appeared unresponsive
Legally? I hadn’t violated any rules.
Operationally? I had absolutely created unnecessary risk.
And that distinction matters.
🧠 Why IFR to VFR Transition Mistakes Happen So Often
🧠 This wasn’t about skill—it was about mode switching.
Here’s why these mistakes are common, even among experienced pilots:
- 🔁 Cognitive inertia — staying mentally “IFR” after canceling
- 🎧 Expectation bias — assuming silence means no traffic
- 🧠 Muscle memory errors — dialing by habit instead of verification
- ⏱️ Task saturation — approach + comms + configuration + weather
The danger zone is that gray area after canceling IFR, when structure drops away but traffic risk increases.
📋 IFR to VFR Transition Checklist (Non-Towered Airports)
✅ This is the checklist I now consciously run—every time:
- 🎧 Verify CTAF frequency visually (don’t trust memory)
- 📻 Confirm radio activity before descending below pattern altitude
- 🛬 Explicitly identify runway-in-use before landing
- 🔄 Mentally switch modes: IFR rules off, VFR procedures on
- 👂 Silence = investigate, not proceed
If something feels off, it probably is.
🧑✈️ What I’d Teach a Student After This
🧠 I now emphasize this to every instrument student:
“Canceling IFR doesn’t mean the workload goes down—it meansyou
Non-towered airports demand situational awareness, not just regulatory compliance.
🧠 Lessons Learned from an IFR to VFR Transition Mistake
🔑 The biggest takeaway wasn’t technical—it was behavioral.
- 🕷️ Listen to your spidey sense
- 🎧 Dead air is a warning sign
- 🔄 Transition procedures matter as much as transition altitudes
- 🧑✈️ Experience does not make you immune
This was a humbling reminder that proficiency is perishable, even for CFIs.
🚀 How Flight Level One Helps Prevent Mistakes Like This
✈️ Mistakes like this are exactly why Flight Level One exists.
FL1 analyzes real pilot behavior—logbooks, recency, approach patterns, and operational context—to identify hidden proficiency gaps before they turn into close calls.
If you fly IFR into non-towered airports, this scenario applies to you.
Stay sharp. Stay humble. Stay safe.
🧠 Final Thought:
The most dangerous words in aviation aren’t “I don’t know.”
They’re “I’ve done this a hundred times.”