I’ve been wondering how to talk to atc while heading to land at a private strip (not on vfr sectionals). If I am on flight following do I just cancel advisories when the field is in sight? How does it work with descending below vfr minimums to land? Is there any extra steps I need in order to land somewhere that atc does not know about?
Nope just cancel only if you can maintain VFR. If the private airport is far from any other public airport I would just describe my destination as "private airport 25 miles northeast of KXXX airport" for reference in the initial call up.
Bottom line is cancel FF when you have your destination in sight. Nothing more complicated than that.
It would rare that the aircraft wouldn't have a name, when airports have a name use it. ATC usually knows the name and location.
@David Anthony That would depend on which ATC. Here’s an example in my neighborhood. Fairways airport, OG20. It isn’t charted. Most private airports have identifiers. Portland Approach controllers will likely know it by name. But if your initial request for Flight Following is from another ATC facility farther away they likely won’t, you’ll need to give them the Identifier. That of course pretty much holds true with charted airports also.
Usually, I report the destination in sight and ATC takes that as a hint that I really wanted to cancel services. It almost always results in a "RADARSERVICESTERMINATEDSQUAWKVFRGOODDAY." IFR, I either cancel IFR which usually gets the same thing preceded by "CANCELLATION RECEIVED" or an admonishment to cancel IFR on the ground over the radio or via flight service.
This is the correct answer, but I would handle it slightly different. Tell them you're cancelling FF, but let them know you're landing at an airport that is not charted. A friend of mine flew into a private airport in Texas (Fort Parker) that is now on the sectional, but it wasn't when he flew in. We were having a fly-in and all sitting around when I heard sirens. Then we heard more sirens and they were getting closer. I joked with my friend that someone had reported him going down. Turned out to be true. He had flight following to Mexia Airport, but cancelled when he got close. It must have been a light day because they kept watching him and saw him come up short of his destination airport. Since you have to give them a destination, which can't be an uncharted airport, make sure to be clear. It's how you would want to be treated.
I go into crop duster strips of often, most of which aren’t on the map. Just give them a general location like “10 mi SE of KABC” and that you would like to cancel and that’s about it. Never had a problem.
Not wanting to change the thread but I’ve actually asked for flight following to a small public airport and they had me direct to another local larger airport until I got into the flight service covering the area of the airport. Not sure if they didn’t find it in their database after I spelled it out or if they just preferred the other option. In the last instance I was flying from the Atlanta area to Defuniak Springs FL - 54J. They routed me to KECP Northwest Beaches instead. Comically, KECP would have been my choice but it was closed to GA due to a recent hurricane and relief efforts. Like someone commented, “an unnamed field 25 NM south from KABC” would surely suffice.
This airport in sight thang has taken on a life of it’s own over the years. There is no requirement for controllers to get an airport in sight report. Them asking for it and withholding termination until they do causes problems sometimes. Like they keep you on frequency when you should be over to CTAF already. Now if you’ve asked for navigational help from them in finding the airport that changes things.
While I am one for mastering proper radio phraseology, just tell them what you are doing in plain english as you approach. It is that simple. "NorCal, Skylane 345, be advised I am going to land at a private strip XX miles NE of XYZ." If you want to make it easy when establishing FF pick a nearby airport code as a destination so they can enter it into the system and not have to explain at every handoff if you are crossing sectors. They just want to know what general direction you are headed so they know what to expect from you in issuing traffic advisories and anticipating handoffs. If by "VFR Minimums" you mean minimum safe altitudes go back and read the first line of FAR 91.119.
The only time that's happened to me, in my limited experience, is when there's traffic between me and the field and they don't want to let me go before they determine it's not a factor.
It’s not uncommon that they hold on because the airport hasn’t been reported in sight. On hazy days this can be a problem. Some pilots initiate the termination and go over to CTAF on their own. The flip side is it’s CAVU and the pilot see’s the airport like 30 miles out and ATC terminates them right then. As if Flight Following is about finding the airport instead of what it is, traffic advisories.
I was responding to the post above mine, which discussed some controllers terminating flight following when the pilot has an airport in sight “as if Flight Following is about finding the airport instead of what it is, traffic advisories.” There are plenty of threads here asking about how to do things while receiving flight following. There are pilots who ask for clearance to change altitude or destination while on flight following. My narrow observation is that there are various expectations about flight following amongst pilots and controllers alike.
It must be because this is a male dominated environment and lots of people don’t read the instructions. The instructions are pretty clear about what flight filling is and is not. Nothing ambiguous about it but there are some pilots that are scared to talk to ATC at all so I guess nothing is surprising.
My airport is a private airport, 2OK2. Sometimes Kansas City center controller won't know where Twin Lakes, 2OK2 is. So I'll give them KTIK, Tinker AFB, it's 6 1/2 miles NW of us.
What are the VFR minimums to land and what are the ATC requirements to land at an uncontrolled airport.
That’s what the PCG says. The AIM (4-1-15) apparently calls the general service, provided to IFR and participating VFR pilots, by the name Radar Traffic Information Service. The problem I was flippantly raising is not what FF actually is. The problem is the abundance of misconceptions about what it. If you Google “flight following site: pilotsofamerica.com” you’ll see over 10,000 results just from the discussion generated here over the years. I found a 2015 UND master’s thesis on the topic, one of the research questions within it being what pilots understand flight following to be. Many articles about it in various magazines and blogs include a “what it’s not” section to dispel common myths. The more I think about this, the more I believe that pilots spend more time talking about what flight following means than art critics spend talking about what modern art means.
Just a word for the wise.... If you land at a private strip and hear banjo music and these guys ask if you would like to go on a canoe trip, politely decline and go somewhere else....quickly.
