I would concur that if you're getting flight following, filing a VFR flight plan is generally redundant. If you don't check in with the next sector/facility, they will start looking for you.
I do have a little trick for flight following, particularly if you aren't flying a straight line from A-to-B and want to put some waypoints in the plan. Your mileage may vary between ATC facilities on this. Go online and file an IFR flight plan, except in the altitude box, put 'VFR'. You can put in an altitude if you'd like: for 6500 you'd put in VFR/065. Foreflight and DTC Duat will accept this, I have never tried with any other online filing service.
I think the way VFR flight plans are being handled is backwards, particularly the lack of integration with flight following and the ATC system. There are certainly better ways of handling this, AFSSs effort to integrate with on-board trackers and the rumored ability to activate and close flight plans via text message sound like they are heading the right direction. If I fly up and down the east coast VFR, I just get flight following. You are allways in radar contact and most places are so densely settled that you will most likely land in someones yard in case something goes wrong. Towards that hilly part in the middle, filing VFR flight plans has value.
I doubt it. I don't think there are that many VFR plans filed and a facility could have the option of not printing VFR strips.
That's NOT what Goodish states. Goodish says that filing IFR could indicate the INTENT for a pilot to actually fly IFR. It was a silly letter when it was written and frankly in contradiction with the FAA's own policy in several facilities (OAK, PCT, etc...). It's unclear how filing a plan for FF change the load at all. The controller has to enter a plan when he gives FF anyhow so one exists in the system either way.
Note that FF isn't necessarily going to get you SAR services. You could get dropped (squawk VFR have a nice day) etc....
Hell, even IFR doesn't guarantee anything. There was a guy who was on an instrument approach (and active clearance) and his last words on being switched to advisory frequency that he probably would be back on the missed given the weather. Well, he crashed on the missed. The controller forgot about him. Wasn't until the next day that someone went looking for him (though I don't think he would have survived in any event).
We also had a station SAR (H-46) aircraft that was out and about a lot. If I was to have an aircraft go down to say engine failure, I could have one of them overhead in minutes.
I sometimes fly from Austin to Marfa Texas. Not many H-46's there, plus it's hard to raise any ATC on the radio below ~5000'.
ForeFlight now allows you to open and close your flight plan.
It worked a few weeks ago when I used it on a student cross-country.
Goodish states the preferred method which I described so it IS in the letter.
The preferred method that is described in the letter seems ridiculous though. If your VFR plan never makes it to ATC, there is zero point to noting "Flight Following" in the remarks.
Either the author of the letter was misinformed, or was actively misdirecting Mr Goodish. The way it's described, I can file VFR then call up ATC and they'll have some idea of who I am.
I filed a VFR flight plan only once - as a student pilot.
I did a 4200nm cross country, VFR the whole way.
I've used this feature in Foreflight several times now and it works great. As I enter the runway for takeoff i click activate and after clearing the runway at my destination I click close. The first time I used it I called FSS just to make sure. The briefer told me everything worked fine, giving me the exact times of both actions. In my mind it is just too easy to not file.
'Rarely file... only for special, long-distance flying adventures. And few of those. Gotta file for border crossings. I'll monitor ATC. I fly with a SPOT and, having done it for years, knows that it works. On any significant flight, I email several friends and family with an itinerary and a link to my SPOT track. Most of our friends/family know they can click on the link any weekend, to see if we are flying and where.
That doesn't help you out much though if you don't give position reports to LM every 30 minutes or so while flying. If you're on a 250nm XC and all they know is that you left point A but didn't arrive at point B, then they have a helluva lot of area to cover in the search.
The purpose of a VFR flight plan is so that someone starts looking for your downed aircraft if you run into trouble and don't show up on time right?
Well, I see the point of that if you're over water or in Alaska or over a desert- basically anywhere that you could crash or make an emergency landing without anyone seeing you. Otherwise who would know, where would they look?
But over land throughout most of the mainland US what are the odds nobody would see you and come looking before you'd even be missed at your destination? I'm seriously asking, any statistics or interesting stories?
The purpose of a VFR flight plan is so that someone starts looking for your downed aircraft if you run into trouble and don't show up on time right?
Well, I see the point of that if you're over water or in Alaska or over a desert- basically anywhere that you could crash or make an emergency landing without anyone seeing you. Otherwise who would know, where would they look?
But over land throughout most of the mainland US what are the odds nobody would see you and come looking before you'd even be missed at your destination? I'm seriously asking, any statistics or interesting stories?
The AFSS script readers in AZ wouldn't know where Hagerman Pass was if they were sitting in an airplane looking down at it.
If you crash you're either dead or your're alive and call on a cell or use a 406 MHz PLB. Either way a flight plan won't matter. If it was 1970, sure I'd file but today, there's no need.
Yeah I can believe that. I'm used to flying VFR here in the midwest where I can see dozens of farmhouses at all times.
Yup, but if they provide the landmark to the air-force rescue coordination center, it will still be a valuable piece of information to focus the SAR effort.
I've more or less given up on VFR flight plans after a few experiences having a really hard time getting through to FSS to open them in the air. Plus, the areas I'm flying are very well radar covered anyway, and I take flight following. That being said, I did file (and open!) the couple of times recently I flew over sparsely populated Appalachia at night.
I rarely file VFR (exceptions are using VFR Lake Services to cross the Great Lakes at night - and to pass through Canadian airspace without having to file an International Flight Plan)
I Never talk to ATC if there is a way to avoid it
If I crash and die (shrug) they will figure it out someday
If I am in the air and having problems and no one is answering the radio there are the 7000 codes on the transponder to get attention
If I am below radar there is the ELT switch on the panel
(not sure why I would bother with either when the guy on the ground cannot fly the plane for me)
If you have to depend on someone on the ground to bail your butt out you had no business leaving the ground in the first place - period
A typical long XC flight for me is going from Michigan to Florida and back and not using the radio except for unicom when landing and taking off. I manage to pull it off roughly half the time - the other half weather forces me to file or I have passengers that need to be dropped off at a controlled airport. If these are bad habits they seem to work for me
Let me caution you about routinely using VFR filing. What becomes routine soon becomes enshrined in regulation. And you know how much we need more regulations over GA![]()
Nope, or I wouldn't fly over trees, water, cities, mountains, IFR, etc., etc., etc.
Love flying at night, great air.
No more flight plans.
Not worth it.
Lately, I've been using a technique my current instructor taught me, which is when I start a flight, to switch my watch to my other wrist as a reminder that I haven't closed my flight plan yet. It seems to work.
I can certainly relate to not wanting Big Brother to know where you are though, the way things have been going.
So a buddy of mine was sort of flabber gasted today when he asked me if I filed a flight plan this past Sunday when I flew to the coast and I said no. The trip is 116nm straight west and I get FF as soon as I depart OVE and also LLR on the way back (about 5mi after departure) I also got a standard briefing from Lockheed Martin.. At 175hrs he said I was learning bad habits? So what the consensus here? Should I file? After all I'm talking to ATC..
I don't think you are at all. Hell, in a congested area FF is probably the better idea. That way a controller will immediately know if you drop off radar etc and won't wait until you're overdue to start looking for you.
Also, if it helps, I attend SIU carbondale and our flight program is nationally ranked. Our school policy on VFR plans is that if you're doing a cross country you must either file a flight plan, or get flight following. Either works. I wouldn't worry too much about it.