When Special VFR Is the Right Call with Adam Boyd

Special VFR is often treated like a footnote in ground school—something you can do, but probably never will. In this episode of the Air Facts Podcast, we talk with Adam Boyd, 2025 National CFI of the Year, about why that mindset may be incomplete.

Adam is an ATP, three-time Master CFI, Designated Pilot Examiner, and C-130 Instructor/Evaluator Pilot with the Arkansas Air National Guard. With more than 26 years of flying experience, he’s logged time everywhere from small-town North Carolina to the Pacific and beyond. But it was a recent departure in his RV-4 under a stubborn 900-foot ceiling that reshaped how he thinks about Special VFR.

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Adam Boyd

Adam Boyd is an ATP-rated pilot and CFI with over 26 years of flying experience.He’s flown across the US in various light single engine aircraft and internationally as a C-130 pilot for the USAF.A veteran of conflicts across the Middle East, Central Asia, and Eastern Africa, Adam currently serves as a C-130 Instructor and Evaluator pilot with the Arkansas Air National Guard.He is also a Designated Pilot Examiner, three-time Master CFI, and is the 2025 National CFI of the Year.Adam lives in Cabot, Arkansas, with his wife Anna and their two children.

Latest posts by Adam Boyd (see all)

• When Special VFR Is the Right Call with Adam Boyd - March 4, 2026
• Task Prioritization in a C-130H Emergency - January 19, 2026
• When Special VFR Is the Right Call - October 1, 2025