I'D SEEN THE SAME TREND many times while flying VFR over the Appalachian Mountains early in the morning: Some METARs report IFR ceilings but good visibility along my intended path of flight. Weather briefers might warn of mountain obscuration, but more often I find blue skies with a thin layer of clouds blanketing the valleys in which airports lie. Flying VFR over the top on these mornings-while keeping legal cloud separation-often delivers a smooth and stunningly beautiful flight and does not add undue risk so long as the undercast layer is not solid and some airports along your route are VFR should you have an emergency. On this cool summer morning, AOPA Senior Photographer David Tulis and I planned to fly from Frederick, Maryland, to Lancaster, Ohio. I would lead our loose formation in my Cessna 140 followed by David, a half mile in trail in his Piper Tri-Pacer-both classic airplanes sporting basic VFR instrumentation. The ceilings along our route had risen to near VFR minimums and we timed our departure to coincide with TAF forecasts of VFR conditions over the mountain airports by the time we arrived. We had plenty of fuel and could always turn around if conditions had not improved as forecast.
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