VFR Cruising Levels and the Semicircular Rule

In its table of cruising levels, SERA divides tracks into two semicircles: 000° to 179° and 180° to 359° (the semicircular rule). Which semicircle your track falls in decides your VFR cruising level.

The rule in the table

Track (magnetic)	VFR flight levels	Altitudes
000° to 179°	FL 035, 055, 075, 095, 115, 135	3,500, 5,500, 7,500, 9,500, 11,500, 13,500 ft
180° to 359°	FL 045, 065, 085, 105, 125, 145	4,500, 6,500, 8,500, 10,500, 12,500, 14,500 ft

Rule of thumb: for 000° to 179° you fly odd thousands plus 500 ft, for 180° to 359° even thousands plus 500 ft. The table also lists the IFR flight levels, for example FL 030 next to FL 035 and FL 040 next to FL 045. So every VFR level is 500 ft above the IFR level of the same track group.

When the rule applies

• You are flying VFR in level cruising flight. A cruising level is a level maintained during a significant portion of a flight.
• You are more than 3,000 ft above the ground or water, or above a higher datum specified by the competent authority.
• Neither an ATC clearance nor the competent authority specifies otherwise.

Finding your cruising level in three steps:

1. Check that the rule applies: level cruising flight and more than 3,000 ft above the ground or water.
2. Work out your magnetic track and assign it to the semicircle 000° to 179° or 180° to 359°.
3. Choose a VFR level from the row of your semicircle.

Track, not heading

What counts is your track, not your heading. Track is the projection on the earth’s surface of the path of the aircraft. Heading is the direction in which the longitudinal axis of the aircraft is pointed. The FAA handbook describes track as the combination of the motion of the aircraft and the motion of the air. With a crosswind, heading and track do not coincide. The table uses magnetic track.

Altitude in feet or flight level?

A flight level (FL) is a surface of constant atmospheric pressure related to 1,013.2 hPa. The table gives every level as a flight level and in feet, for example FL 055 and 5,500 ft. How you express your level depends on the transition altitude: up to the transition altitude you use altitudes, from the transition level upwards flight levels. The transition level is the lowest flight level available for use above the transition altitude.

What the EASA syllabus says

The EASA syllabus for the PPL(A) theoretical knowledge lists the visual flight rules in the subject Air Law under “Annex 2: Rules of the air”.