ATC coordination and planning service

C

C W

Filing Flight Plan
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Sep 2, 2022
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C W
Hey everyone,

I’m gauging interest in a service I am starting, which provides coordination with ATC for all aerial activities in the US. If anyone is interested in learning more or providing feedback, I will send you the form!

Thanks in advance!
 
Which flight sim are you creating this for?

When you say "all aerial activities," does that include skeet shooting and kite flying?
 
C W said:
Hey everyone,

I’m gauging interest in a service I am starting, which provides coordination with ATC for all aerial activities in the US. If anyone is interested in learning more or providing feedback, I will send you the form!

Thanks in advance!
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So charging for what people can do for free?
 
Aerial event planning for surveys, parachutes, flyovers, airshows, drones etc.. anything that requires/recommends coordination with ATC.
 
C W said:
Making a process easy for people that want to get things done without a hassle.

No different than going out to eat ‍
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Oh.

So again, you will charge a fee for what they can do for free.

Not sure about the “hassle”, it’s actually not.

Best of luck.
 
Tough crowd. But really, if you are gauging interest in a service, you really need more detail about what you will be doing and the market you are trying to attract. It may be as simple as a radio call with the ATC facility at the time to get an extra set of eyes. A medium level might be calling a busy Class D tower if it's going to be in their airspace to discuss best times. OTOH, if you are talking about something that will involve multiple facilities, I can see where it might be useful.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Tough crowd. But really, if you are gauging interest in a service, you really need more detail about what you will be doing and the market you are trying to attract. It may be as simple as a radio call with the ATC facility at the time to get an extra set of eyes. A medium level might be calling a busy Class D tower if it's going to be in their airspace to discuss best times. OTOH, if you are talking about something that will involve multiple facilities, I can see where it might be useful.
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I appreciate the feedback and understand completely. My description was vague to weed out the initial trolls. My goal is to provide a service to provide the coordination needed by pilots to the ATC facilities being impacted. Having 20+ years ATC experience I know how to communicate effectively to FAA, I know which facilities will need coordinated with and have built a contact list of those departments in order to handle things without delay.
 
Guess i cant see what would need coordination with atc that couldnt be solved with a quick radio or phone call. Survey, photo, and pipeline guys wouldnt need it. Airshow is already coordinated with FAA, drop zones already coordinate.

Only thing i could see is maybe drone notam help and thats only cause i know fack all about drone guys needs.
 
There are already procedures in place for the events you speak of. How would your form be any different than the current forms? Is it approved by the FAA?
 
Someone with experience in this respect doesn't need help. Joe blow bugsmasher wouldn't be needing whatever you're trying to sell.
 
Velocity173 said:
There are already procedures in place for the events you speak of. How would your form be any different than the current forms? Is it approved by the FAA?
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My proposal is a process for coordination rather than a regulatory form. When coordination is needed, several things need to be taken into account to ensure everything gets added to the facilities agenda. LTA’s, specific airspace constraints etc.. pilots historically just send it to the facility and they will end up either getting a delayed start Or postponed altogether. The reason this happens is because it needs to be tailored to be directed to the correct sites within the building that has jurisdiction, which is not common knowledge for many pilots needing the work.
 
Racerx said:
Someone with experience in this respect doesn't need help. Joe blow bugsmasher wouldn't be needing whatever you're trying to sell.
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Thank you for your feedback.
 
falconkidding said:
Guess i cant see what would need coordination with atc that couldnt be solved with a quick radio or phone call. Survey, photo, and pipeline guys wouldnt need it. Airshow is already coordinated with FAA, drop zones already coordinate.

Only thing i could see is maybe drone notam help and thats only cause i know fack all about drone guys needs.
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I appreciate your feedback and I agree that most routine things can be handled with a quick radio call or phone call. I am considering the added layers that pilots don’t see on the other end of the phone that if handled properly would negate the need for any follow up call to the facility.
 
So instead of calling ATC on the phone or radio, I need to call you on the phone or radio to make the call to ATC on the phone or radio for me? Then you will need to call me back on the phone or radio to relay what ATC told you on the phone or radio.

Ever play the telephone game?

Exactly what problem are you trying to solve by involving yourself as a third party? And how exactly do you see this service providing a benefit that someone is willing to pay for? Sorry, but you are a solution in search of a problem.
 
midwestpa24 said:
So instead of calling ATC on the phone or radio, I need to call you on the phone or radio to make the call to ATC on the phone or radio for me? Then you will need to call me back on the phone or radio to relay what ATC told you on the phone or radio.

Ever play the telephone game?

Exactly what problem are you trying to solve by involving yourself as a third party? And how exactly do you see this service providing a benefit that someone is willing to pay for? Sorry, but you are a solution in search of a problem.
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A very large majority of pilots use some sort of program to map out their route of flight or calculate their gas, etc. those are all things that everyone is capable of doing as well. I believe it is safe to assume that the reason they are paying for a service or a subscription is to make their life easier. That is my goal. It is not to solve a large problem. It is to make things run smoother for everyone involved.
 
For those that are providing thoughtful feedback and discussion, I really do appreciate it. I am just gathering data right now and look forward to coming out with some streamlined processes to make life just a little bit easier.
 
C W said:
A very large majority of pilots use some sort of program to map out their route of flight or calculate their gas, etc. those are all things that everyone is capable of doing as well. I believe it is safe to assume that the reason they are paying for a service or a subscription is to make their life easier. That is my goal. It is not to solve a large problem. It is to make things run smoother for everyone involved.
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Flight planning is one thing, and easily and automatically done through many free and paid apps, but what exactly are you proposing to provide in terms of ATC? Are you going to receive and relay a clearance? Negotiate a new route? I don't understand what new service you are providing that a pilot would benefit by outsourcing. Pilots have a pretty straight forward relationship with ATC that I don't see a third party being in the chain of communication as an advantage.
 
midwestpa24 said:
Flight planning is one thing, and easily and automatically done through many free and paid apps, but what exactly are you proposing to provide in terms of ATC? Are you going to receive and relay a clearance? Negotiate a new route? I don't understand what new service you are providing that a pilot would benefit by outsourcing. Pilots have a pretty straight forward relationship with ATC that I don't see a third party being in the chain of communication as an advantage.
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Coming from the ATC world I see the end results of the planning efforts for many non-routine operations that create significant impact. The amount of work that goes into getting everything coordinated so the pilot does not get significantly delayed or impacted, is immense. My goal is streamline that process of coordination so the back-and-forth communication during planning can effectively be eliminated. I would not be providing a significant service for the flyer. I understand that it is a smaller market of pilots who perform the work of surveys and flyovers and such. However, I know there is a very large and growing group of drone operators and experimental aircraft that are having a hard time navigating the processes that all of the season of pilots are very well acquainted with. My hope is to cater to those groups.
 
C W said:
Aerial event planning for surveys, parachutes, flyovers, airshows, drones etc.. anything that requires/recommends coordination with ATC.
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So this is a service targeting an airboss rather than a typical GA pilot?

If not, can you please provide a concrete example of the interaction between the pilot, your service and ATC?
 
asicer said:
So this is a service targeting an airboss rather than a typical GA pilot?

If not, can you please provide a concrete example of the interaction between the pilot, your service and ATC
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Thank you, this is targeting air, boss, survey pilots, flyover coordinators, parachute operators. Routine GA pilots are doing a great job with all of the currently existing tools available.
 
I'm in the dark about what you are proposing. How giving us about a specific example, with a "Today" description of how things work and a "Tomorrow" description showing how your service will change things.

Something like this:
SCENARIO - EAA chapter planning a YE event
TODAY - XX contacts YY and ZZ, submits form 12345, etc., etc.
TOMORROW - XX contacts CW, etc., etc.
 
C W said:
Thank you, this is targeting air, boss, survey pilots, flyover coordinators, parachute operators. Routine GA pilots are doing a great job with all of the currently existing tools available.
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Are "air, boss, survey pilots, flyover coordinators, parachute operators," not doing a great job? What's the problem, and how do you fix it?
 
You may also find ATC is unwilling to deal with you. I helped my wife bring in a pile of small GA (including some NORDO) into IAD. We offered to play middle man for a bunch of canned clearances to get people out of there, but the tower insisted we just have everybody call up individually (and poo poo'd our, everybody flight straight out at or below 1500 until clear of the bravo idea).
 
I can see some issues regarding legal responsibilities with a middle-man in the mix, who is neither the PIC nor part of ATC. When this service confuses something like an aerobatic box or misses a NOTAM, who would be held legally responsible?
 
Half Fast said:
I can see some issues regarding legal responsibilities with a middle-man in the mix, who is neither the PIC nor part of ATC. When this service confuses something like an aerobatic box or misses a NOTAM, who would be held legally responsible?
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On the other hand, after 9/11 we had a special flush to get us out of VKX (I was stuck on the ground their for five weeks). Dave Wartofsky essentially worked it out with Washington Approach to get void time clearances for all of us and he sat there with his watch and cleared us one at a time into the air when our release time window came.
 
Half Fast said:
Are "air, boss, survey pilots, flyover coordinators, parachute operators," not doing a great job? What's the problem, and how do you fix it?
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The FSDO already handles air shows (air boss), flyover request, and parachute drop request. Survey pilots typically contact the facility that controls the airspace they wish to work in for coordination.

None of this is difficult to request.
 
C W said:
I appreciate the feedback and understand completely. My description was vague to weed out the initial trolls. My goal is to provide a service to provide the coordination needed by pilots to the ATC facilities being impacted. Having 20+ years ATC experience I know how to communicate effectively to FAA, I know which facilities will need coordinated with and have built a contact list of those departments in order to handle things without delay.
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Where all did you work as ATC
 
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