Author's Note: This is the shortest chapter of this story...and I will admit it was inspired because I may have pulled a 'Blade' while trying to do fieldwork in the field.


I is for IFR


Just because you have the certification didn't necessarily mean that you should use it. This was especially true for Blade's Instrument Flight Certification. If Blade could see where he was going he was an excellent firefighter and a passible navigator. The moment that things got overly smoky or snowy…or dark…his crew mates started to get concerned about him flying into something. Unfortunately, they hadn't realized the full extent of Blade's inability to use instruments to navigate until the base had been completely socked in with fog.

"Okay Blade, only you could manage to get so lost on base that a search party is required." Maru snorted into his coffee after 'rescuing' the helicopter that had been wandering around on the tarmac for at least an hour.

"Anyone could have gotten lost like that." Blade spat back while trying to tamp down on his shivering.

"You just keep telling yourself that." Maru said as he left Blade to brood in the main hanger. "You just keep telling yourself that."


Term- IFR- Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) are the regulations used to govern flight in low visibility situations. Because you can't use your eyes to navigate you have to rely on the instruments in your cockpit to figure out where you are and safely navigate hazard. A lot of firefighting pilots and some helicopter pilots are instrument rated, but fully realize that just because they have it doesn't mean that they can safely use it in an emergency. As a result, the vast majority of firefighting flights especially helicopter flights follow Visual Flight Rules (VFR).