Dropped FF.....

bluerooster

bluerooster

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....but they didn't tell me that I was dropped.

Departed PBF, called MEM Center, was given squawk code, told to Ident, I then heard "...radar contact, Alt. 31.xx, I have you at (alt.) say equipment." I reply with aircraft type, and confirm the alt setting, and never heard another peep. I was expecting to be handed off shortly to FTW, so I went ahead and set the frequency on standby. Then forgot about it. Long about Ardmore, It dawned on me that I hadn't heard anything from MEM, so thinking I missed the handoff, I called MEM, and FTW, couldn't get either one. I switched to 1200, and continued on my way.
When I landed, I called about it, and was told that I was never in the system. :confused:
 
When you called Memphis center, what exactly did you say? Asked on what you wrote above, what is not in evidence yet is Flight Following obtained before takeoff, or the FF request to the controller that declared radar contact.
 
bluerooster said:
....but they didn't tell me that I was dropped.

Departed PBF, called MEM Center, was given squawk code, told to Ident, I then heard "...radar contact, Alt. 31.xx, I have you at (alt.) say equipment." I reply with aircraft type, and confirm the alt setting, and never heard another peep. I was expecting to be handed off shortly to FTW, so I went ahead and set the frequency on standby. Then forgot about it. Long about Ardmore, It dawned on me that I hadn't heard anything from MEM, so thinking I missed the handoff, I called MEM, and FTW, couldn't get either one. I switched to 1200, and continued on my way.
When I landed, I called about it, and was told that I was never in the system. :confused:
Click to expand...

That could happen, them saying you were “never in the system.” You were, you talked to a controller and he gave you instructions. The ‘system’ here is the computer. What coulda happened is he gave you the code and saw the Ident so he Radar Identified you and said Radar Contact. But he didn’t get you entered into the ‘system’ and get a Track started on you. That he asked you for information, your ‘equipment,’ that would be part of entering and initiating the Track ‘after’ identifying you makes me think that’s the case. Then he forgot about you. Was he real busy? Did you hear change of voices shortly after this happened? Things like this happen during position relief from time to time. They do seem to have dropped the ball.
 
I once was getting FF and hadn't heard in a while and I found I couldn't raise the frequency I'd last been assigned so I cancelled in the blind and dialed up 1200. By the time I popped up on the CTAF at my destination, there were people there relaying messages from approach trying to find me.

Of course, on the other hand, I've been IFR and realized I've flown out of range of my previous station. In that case I just called up the nearest facility and asked if they could help.
 
bluerooster said:
...Departed PBF, called MEM Center, was given squawk code, told to Ident, I then heard "...radar contact, Alt. 31.xx, I have you at (alt.) say equipment." I reply with aircraft type, and confirm the alt setting, and never heard another peep....
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Did you include your equipment code with the aircraft type?
 
luvflyin said:
That could happen, them saying you were “never in the system.” You were, you talked to a controller and he gave you instructions. The ‘system’ here is the computer. What coulda happened is he gave you the code and saw the Ident so he Radar Identified you and said Radar Contact. But he didn’t get you entered into the ‘system’ and get a Track started on you. That he asked you for information, your ‘equipment,’ that would be part of entering and initiating the Track ‘after’ identifying you makes me think that’s the case. Then he forgot about you. Was he real busy? Did you hear change of voices shortly after this happened? Things like this happen during position relief from time to time. They do seem to have dropped the ball.
Click to expand...
That’s why I asked what time. MEM gets really busy at night
 
AggieMike88 said:
When you called Memphis center, what exactly did you say? Asked on what you wrote above, what is not in evidence yet is Flight Following obtained before takeoff, or the FF request to the controller that declared radar contact.
Click to expand...
Contact went like this;
me: Memphis center, Cherokee 5705F with VFR request.
MEM: n5705F, say request
me: 5705F departing Pine Bluff, Papa Bravo Foxtrot, climbing to four thousand five hundred, enroute to F05, Flight following please.
MEM: 5705F squawk xxxx (I don't remember the code) and ident.
me: xxxx and ident, 05F
MEM: Radar contact, I have you at 4300, LIT altimeter 30.xx, say equipement.
me: 30.xx, equipement Papa Alpha two eight one four zero, Cherokee 140. 05F.


That was the last I'd heard from anyone to me on that frequency.
 
I guess, what I should have done when I got to PBF for fuel, was to let them know it was a fuel stop. And I would be continuing on shortly. I would have been told to keep the squawk, and call them on this frequency, when I departed.
Time of day was about 17:00Z.
 
bluerooster said:
Contact went like this;
me: Memphis center, Cherokee 5705F with VFR request.
MEM: n5705F, say request
me: 5705F departing Pine Bluff, Papa Bravo Foxtrot, climbing to four thousand five hundred, enroute to F05, Flight following please.
MEM: 5705F squawk xxxx (I don't remember the code) and ident.
me: xxxx and ident, 05F
MEM: Radar contact, I have you at 4300, LIT altimeter 30.xx, say equipement.
me: 30.xx, equipement Papa Alpha two eight one four zero, Cherokee 140. 05F.


That was the last I'd heard from anyone to me on that frequency.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you didn't give him your equipment code (/A, /G, or whatever). (Whether that could have interfered with entering you into the computer, I don't know.)
 
Palmpilot said:
Sounds like you didn't give him your equipment code (/A, /G, or whatever). (Whether that could have interfered with entering you into the computer, I don't know.)
Click to expand...
As a general rule, they get snippy when I do that, as they want to know what the aircraft is. I had my azz handed to me over the air by ATL for giving them a /G, when they asked for equipment. They were refering to the equipment that I was flying, not what was in the panel. :confused:
 
Never heard a controller reference “equipment” as in your type aircraft. That would be some slang phraseology.

He should’ve said “say equipment suffix.” You reply with “slant golf.” If they want to know what you’re flying, they’ll say “say type aircraft.”
 
Did you hear them looking for you on 121.5?
 
EdFred said:
Did you hear them looking for you on 121.5?
Click to expand...
not at all. But I did hear someone trying to contact a different aircraft on 121.5. I could only hear half of the conversation
but it was apparent that they made contact.
 
And, this is why you shouldn't rely on flight following for anything. It's a nice-to-have, and nothing more.
 
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