This is all it takes to really mess up the plans ûof incoming pilots who have not considered ûan alternate.

Anyone who has been through instrument training has had to memorize the requirements for alternates, but unfortunately the emphasis is on remembering the numbers rather than on the importance of the concept. I learned this the hard way one time, on a beautiful VFR trip.

We had flown cross-country for nearly four hours to the destination resort airport. The weather was absolutely gorgeous along the entire route, typical for a nice summer morning in the Rocky Mountain West. The FAA requirement was just a 30-minute fuel reserve under these conditions, but I try to never shave my fuel that close. When I started the trip, I had nearly an hour of…