Hello,
I contacted Pilot2ATC, and to do a touch and go at multiple airports they said you have to fly without VFR Flight Following, so without a flightplan. Does this happen in real life too?
Does this also mean, that when you have no flight plan, you do not have to ask for departure clearance at an uncontrolled airport? So at an uncontrolled airport you just take off at your own discretion, and once airborne, you dial in to the control area without a flight plan? Does this happen in real life?
If anyone knows, please let me know.
Greetings,
Boudewijn
I can only speak to USA flying:
Flight following is typically a service you get when flying between two points, not while doing circuits. If you were to fly between airports, you’d request flight following for the trip out, but once entering a field’s airspace to land (or touch and go) they’d terminate flight following services. If you were to then finish circuits and start out to another field, you could request flight following again, typically from an approach/departure controller.
You never need to file a flight plan in real life for VFR, even with flight following. Flight following isn’t connected to a flight plan, you can request it even if you’re just cruising around at your own discretion or doing maneuvers.
If you’re at an untowered airport and you’re flying VFR, you just announce taxi or takeoff on the common traffic frequency to other planes in the area. You don’t need “clearance” unless you’re IFR. Once airborn, if you want flight following, you call up Approach or Center for the area and request it.
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In the US, flight following and VFR flight plans are independent of one another. You can fly with both, one or the other, or neither. It’s not a bad idea to do both as often as possible for safety’s sake.
Technically a VFR flight plan should end at the first airport of intended landing. Multiple legs get additional, separate flight plans. So no round-robins, no padding the ETA for pattern work, etc.
However, in practice, people often do that.
When departing an uncontrolled field, you have to call the FSS and open the flight plan (or do it electronically), usually just prior to, or just after departure. There is no “clearance” for a VFR flight plan in the US. At a towered field, same deal, EXCEPT some class C or B airports do require VFR departures to contact clearance delivery. This will usually be noted in the NOTAMs or ATIS for that field.
Either way, you need to close your flight plan no more than 30 minutes after your ETA or they’ll send the Civil Air Patrol or the local Sheriff after you to confirm you’re still alive. And if your ETA changes because you decided to do a couple laps, call up flight service and either cancel or change your ETA. For me, that decision depends on my workload and how sparsely populated/attended the airport is. If it’s out in the sticks and nobody’s around, I might leave the FP open until I ultimately full-stop, just in case I buy it on base to final.
Tl;dr - this is how it’s done, except when it’s not, and here’s how people do it anyway. Clear as mud, as usual, here in the States.
Meanwhile in Canada, you only need a flight plan if flying VFR further than 25nm of your departure airport. :). So for Touch and Go at your local airport, as long as you don’t leave the area, you don’t need to file a flight plan.
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Same in the UK. No flight plan required for local VFR.
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Ok, thanks guys, very country specific, so no general clear rules I guess. But still informative, thank you.
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Well, that’s because every country has its own rules…
But OK, I’ll put it this way: Pilot2ATC isn’t wrong. Theirs is a realistic implementation. Fact is it’s not an ICAO legal requirement to even have a radio on board for VFR flight outside of controlled airspace.
Found a video on YouTube earlier where an IRL TBM owner/operator was extolling the beta range on the prop and how it could be useful for reversing out of tight spots on the ground (he chose his words very carefully!)
Oops. Wrong thread!
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