Flight Following and when to get it it

Shawn said:
Correct

While almost anyone can help you with FF, unless directed differently by ATIS I always request FF from the first controller I talk to at any airport:

"Clearance Delivery, Skylane 12345 at Atlantic with Echo VFR Flight Following Watsonville 4,500"...or same with ground if that is were you start.
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I'd add type to that. For well-known types they might know it and enter it automatically. But whenever I forget, I always get, "Say type."

A great reference for all this stuff is "Say Again, Please" by our own Bob Gardner.

https://www.amazon.com/Say-Again-Please-Guide-Communications/dp/1560277602
 
coloradobluesky said:
Ive had ATC know about my VFR flight plan too. They CAN get it.
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I'm not saying there is zero chance. I will say in 15+ years of doing ATC all around the country in military tower, contact tower, FAA tower and FAA TRACON there has been zero availability to do it. Never even heard another controller suggest they could.
 
I'm not up on the details, but if I recall another thread correctly, accepting flight following obligates you to follow ATC instructions. . .no issue, if you're good with that. An admittedly few times I've had ATC get a bit tight-jawed about my route, to the point of saying "I need to know where you're going" - when I was going to wander about a bit, or follow a shore line. . .I just gradually stopped using FF when VFR. Not a lot of value in it for me, and the quiet is a nice change. I operate from the DC FRZ, so every flight essentially starts IFR, for practical purposes. VFR, once clear of the SFRA, FF doesn't add much. . .that said, if I'm going any distance, it's usually IFR.
 
Radar Contact said:
I'm not saying there is zero chance. I will say in 15+ years of doing ATC all around the country in military tower, contact tower, FAA tower and FAA TRACON there has been zero availability to do it. Never even heard another controller suggest they could.
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Only controllers who can access are those at ARTCC and it's purpose isn't for FF, it's for SAR.
 
Sundancer said:
I'm not up on the details, but if I recall another thread correctly, accepting flight following obligates you to follow ATC instructions. . .no issue, if you're good with that.
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So does flying under Part 91.
 
Harold Rutila said:
So does flying under Part 91.
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That's gonna come as a shock to NORDO and VFR aircraft not using FF . .I know I can't tune my ears to hear VHF transmissions. . .

Seriously, and obviously, I meant accepting FF while VFR in airspaces that otherwise wouldn't require talking to ATC. . .
 
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