You Want What?

Incredulous briefer questions flight plan, but who’s the PIC here, anyway?

Recently I was in the flight planning room at an FBO in Knoxville, on the phone with Flight Service to file an IFR flight plan to Orlando. The weather in the southeast was just lousy with thunderstorms.

The weather radar showed a clear corridor down the center of Georgia if we left now. I had briefed the weather on the computer but had called FSS to file the flight plan.

When I told the briefer I wanted to file, he was nothing short of indignant. Hadn’t I looked at the weather? Did I know about the hazardous weather? His tone made his real question crystal clear: Do you know how stupid you are for planning to fly a light aircraft through there on a day like this?

Well, I’m pretty s...