Skip Miller
Final Approach
My wife and I were flying VFR KHPN – KMVY to visit friends. We were to depart Monday, September 14 2009 at 9am. The weather could not have been better, we even had tailwinds on the way out. 135 kts. over the ground in an Archer! 
But that is getting ahead of the story.
It turns out that President Obama decided to make a speech in NYC that day, and the TFR for his visit went up at 10:05. KHPN is just barely under the outer ring of the NY Class Bravo, and therefore in the outer ring of the TFR. Departing at 9am - no problem… but just in case I called Flight Service the night before for an outlook briefing specific to the TFR. As part of the briefing, I asked “who gives me the VFR squawk code.” “Oh, you can get that from NY Approach”. “Got a phone number? I can’t take off without one.” “Oh, right. In that case, call clearance delivery.”
The inevitable delays occurred on my end, and we were not ready to taxi until 10:15. The TFR was already in effect. I needed a VFR flight plan and a squawk code for a grand total of three miles on my route of flight, and then I would be outside the outer Class B ring and therefore beyond the reach of the TFR. By this time I had filed and opened my VFR flight plan with FSS, and completed all preflight checks except the runup, and had taxied to the edge of the movement area. I called ground and asked him about the VFR squawk code. They at first confirmed I needed to talk to CD. They called back just before I changed radio freq, and said that I needed to call Flight Services, and that CD would not be able to help me. I couldn’t raise FSS on the radio from that location, so I shut down and contacted them on the cell phone.
I was greeted by a surprised and incredulous FSS operator. “They told you to call me for a squawk code? We can’t do that!” I told him the whole story up to that point, and he suggested I call the Tracon, and gave me a phone number.
I called the Tracon and got right through. The sympathetic guy said it is the tower’s responsibility to issue squawk codes, and he would call the tower and straighten it out. I gave him my cell number and he promised to call back. He did, but I was talking to FS again, so he left a voicemail. (I called FS to add an hour to my VFR Flight Plan arrival time… turns out I needed it!) Tracon left me a different telephone number at the Tracon, to a desk that was allegedly responsible for coordinating squawk codes.
I called that one, and was met with the same “they told you what?” response. Aside from that, he too was quite helpful. He asked for some time to research the matter, he would call the tower, and would call me back.
He did. He said “we are no longer supposed to do this, but I am filing an IFR flight plan for you with a VFR altitude, and “VFR – Squawk code to exit TFR” in the remarks. Give it a few minutes and then call Tower.” I began to monitor tower and ground, and before I called them, ground called me. I got the squawk code at 11:15 so we wasted an hour on the ground. I was glad I had shut down! The rest of the flight went well. We returned late at night with no TFR in effect, with stars above and visibility limited to 30 miles. I know that won't impress you westerners, but for the east coast, that is as about as good as it gets. The T-D spread was down to 2 degrees so it was beginning to haze up out in the Islands.
I still don’t know what the correct procedure for getting the VFR squawk code is
. What worked, eventually, was calling Tracon and whining. And according to the helpful guy at the Tracon, he wasn’t supposed to do what he eventually did for me to spring me loose.
The point of this story: Who at AOPA should I send this to? It is clear that the FAA and FSS locally need better information about how to handle VFR departures and arrivals into the outer ring of TFRs, and I think AOPA is the logical collection point for these stories/complaints. They need to spearhead an effort for better information dissemination within the ATC organization on behalf of all non-IR pilots.
Thanks!
-Skip
But that is getting ahead of the story.It turns out that President Obama decided to make a speech in NYC that day, and the TFR for his visit went up at 10:05. KHPN is just barely under the outer ring of the NY Class Bravo, and therefore in the outer ring of the TFR. Departing at 9am - no problem… but just in case I called Flight Service the night before for an outlook briefing specific to the TFR. As part of the briefing, I asked “who gives me the VFR squawk code.” “Oh, you can get that from NY Approach”. “Got a phone number? I can’t take off without one.” “Oh, right. In that case, call clearance delivery.”
The inevitable delays occurred on my end, and we were not ready to taxi until 10:15. The TFR was already in effect. I needed a VFR flight plan and a squawk code for a grand total of three miles on my route of flight, and then I would be outside the outer Class B ring and therefore beyond the reach of the TFR. By this time I had filed and opened my VFR flight plan with FSS, and completed all preflight checks except the runup, and had taxied to the edge of the movement area. I called ground and asked him about the VFR squawk code. They at first confirmed I needed to talk to CD. They called back just before I changed radio freq, and said that I needed to call Flight Services, and that CD would not be able to help me. I couldn’t raise FSS on the radio from that location, so I shut down and contacted them on the cell phone.
I was greeted by a surprised and incredulous FSS operator. “They told you to call me for a squawk code? We can’t do that!” I told him the whole story up to that point, and he suggested I call the Tracon, and gave me a phone number.
I called the Tracon and got right through. The sympathetic guy said it is the tower’s responsibility to issue squawk codes, and he would call the tower and straighten it out. I gave him my cell number and he promised to call back. He did, but I was talking to FS again, so he left a voicemail. (I called FS to add an hour to my VFR Flight Plan arrival time… turns out I needed it!) Tracon left me a different telephone number at the Tracon, to a desk that was allegedly responsible for coordinating squawk codes.
I called that one, and was met with the same “they told you what?” response. Aside from that, he too was quite helpful. He asked for some time to research the matter, he would call the tower, and would call me back.
He did. He said “we are no longer supposed to do this, but I am filing an IFR flight plan for you with a VFR altitude, and “VFR – Squawk code to exit TFR” in the remarks. Give it a few minutes and then call Tower.” I began to monitor tower and ground, and before I called them, ground called me. I got the squawk code at 11:15 so we wasted an hour on the ground. I was glad I had shut down! The rest of the flight went well. We returned late at night with no TFR in effect, with stars above and visibility limited to 30 miles. I know that won't impress you westerners, but for the east coast, that is as about as good as it gets. The T-D spread was down to 2 degrees so it was beginning to haze up out in the Islands.
I still don’t know what the correct procedure for getting the VFR squawk code is
. What worked, eventually, was calling Tracon and whining. And according to the helpful guy at the Tracon, he wasn’t supposed to do what he eventually did for me to spring me loose. The point of this story: Who at AOPA should I send this to? It is clear that the FAA and FSS locally need better information about how to handle VFR departures and arrivals into the outer ring of TFRs, and I think AOPA is the logical collection point for these stories/complaints. They need to spearhead an effort for better information dissemination within the ATC organization on behalf of all non-IR pilots.
Thanks!
-Skip
