VFR weather minimums for airplane pilots
Compare basic VFR visibility and cloud clearances by airspace, altitude and time of day, with worked weather examples.
Choose the airspace first, then the weather row
Basic VFR minimums depend on the airspace you occupy, your altitude and sometimes day versus night. MSL means altitude above mean sea level; AGL means height above the surface beneath you. The Class G rows require you to distinguish both. Visibility below is flight visibility in statute miles, not nautical miles. This table covers airplanes under 14 CFR § 91.155; helicopter provisions are different.
| Airspace / altitude | Time | Visibility | Distance from clouds |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | Any time | 3 SM | Clear of clouds |
| C or D | Any time | 3 SM | 500 ft below, 1,000 ft above, 2,000 ft horizontal |
| E below 10,000 ft MSL | Any time | 3 SM | 500 ft below, 1,000 ft above, 2,000 ft horizontal |
| E at or above 10,000 ft MSL | Any time | 5 SM | 1,000 ft below, 1,000 ft above, 1 statute mile horizontal |
| G at or below 1,200 ft AGL (regardless of MSL altitude) | Day | 1 SM | Clear of clouds |
| G at or below 1,200 ft AGL (regardless of MSL altitude) | Night | 3 SM | 500 ft below, 1,000 ft above, 2,000 ft horizontal |
| G above 1,200 ft AGL and below 10,000 ft MSL | Day | 1 SM | 500 ft below, 1,000 ft above, 2,000 ft horizontal |
| G above 1,200 ft AGL and below 10,000 ft MSL | Night | 3 SM | 500 ft below, 1,000 ft above, 2,000 ft horizontal |
| G above 1,200 ft AGL and at or above 10,000 ft MSL | Any time | 5 SM | 1,000 ft below, 1,000 ft above, 1 statute mile horizontal |
“500 below” means the aircraft is at least 500 feet below a cloud; “1,000 above” means at least 1,000 feet above one. Horizontal distance is a separate requirement. “Clear of clouds” supplies no numeric separation distance, but it does not allow flight inside a cloud. Class A has no basic VFR table entry.
Three limits a memory aid can miss
- Surface-area ceiling: except under the special VFR provisions, you cannot operate beneath the ceiling under VFR within the lateral boundaries of controlled airspace designated to the surface for an airport when the ceiling is below 1,000 feet (§ 91.155(c)).
- Airport visibility: takeoff, landing and traffic-pattern entry within the lateral boundaries of B, C, D or E airport surface areas require at least 3 SM reported ground visibility, or flight visibility if ground visibility is not reported, except under the special VFR provisions (§ 91.155(d)).
- Narrow Class G night exception: below 1,200 feet AGL, an airplane in an airport traffic pattern within one-half mile of the runway may operate clear of clouds with visibility below 3 but at least 1 SM (§ 91.155(b)(2)). This is not a general night cross-country minimum.
At the exact base altitude of a Class E area, § 91.155(e) treats the aircraft as being in the airspace directly below for this section. Avoid using a boundary altitude as a practical operating margin. Special VFR is a separate ATC-clearance procedure under 14 CFR § 91.157, not permission to select a more convenient row from this table.
Worked example: the ceiling is not the only test
Assume active Class D, terrain and airport elevation of 500 feet MSL, a uniform cloud base at 2,000 feet AGL, and 4 SM flight and reported ground visibility. The cloud base is 2,500 feet MSL. At 2,200 feet MSL you are only 300 feet below it: the visibility passes, but the required 500-foot separation below clouds does not.
At 2,000 feet MSL the vertical separation would be exactly 500 feet. That arithmetic alone is not a recommendation to fly there: horizontal separation from other clouds, terrain clearance, airspace permission and personal margins still matter.
Check yourself: Class E at exactly 10,000 feet MSL?
The at-or-above row applies: 5 SM visibility, 1,000 feet below and above clouds, and 1 SM horizontally. “Below 10,000” does not include 10,000.
Practice reading the conditions, not just the color
Open free flight, configure a weather preset, and compare the aircraft’s altitude and cloud position with the correct row. Use the knowledge-test study mode for weather questions. A station’s VFR/MVFR/IFR category is not a complete legal assessment of your aircraft’s position; work through the airspace, visibility and cloud distances separately.
FAA references
- 14 CFR § 91.155 - FAA regulation on eCFR.
- 14 CFR § 91.157 - FAA regulation on eCFR.