VFR on FlightAware?

itsjames2011

itsjames2011

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Jul 21, 2014
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165
Location
Chicopee MA
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Display name:
James
For the last couple weeks I have been flying the club aircraft N8010L. It seems that everybody's flights but mine always have data available on FlightAware.

Nobody files IFR as the airplane is not certified yet all flights except for mine show up in the log. I take flight following on every trip. Any ideas?

James
 
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I just checked my last trip. I did flight following both ways. One way was on FA but the return flight wasn't. I have found that when I initiate flight following with either Denver or Springs approach I rarely show up. When I initiate it with Denver Center or other center facilities, or get a center code when starting out with Springs approach, I show up. I have read that usually you have to be on a center code to have it show up. This has usually been my experience.

Carl
 
No way to make it happen

I contacted flight aware. They said:

"[FONT=&quot]Hello Bryan,[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Thank you for contacting FlightAware and unfortunately were only able to track IFR flights at the moment due to FAA regulations. Also every now and then a VFR flight will make it through the FAA feed but this rarely happens. "[/FONT]
 
My guess from what has been said is you are entered into the system if you pop up on flight aware. As a TRACON controller my choices for flight following are as follows. N12345 enter. This gives a local squawk. Now if I type N12345 ::space:: ABC*XYZ ::space:: type aircraft ::space:: altitude ::enter:: I can put you in the system... maybe... That generates a code that will follow you through the NAS. Guess which one is more common.

At a center, they tend to have technology that is more recent and it is MUCH easier to make changes to or enter a flight plan in the system. What takes them a few key strokes involves me fighting with a Commodore 64's cousin.
 
its definitely weird. I flew ~450 miles from Austin, TX to El Paso, TX a few weekends ago and my wife tracked me and the boys on the way out. I fly out of a Class D but have to pick up flight following from Austin Approach on my way out.

A few days later I fly out of the El Paso Int'l Airport and pick up FF on my climb out. No track in FlightAware on the way back.

So, yeah...not telling what the magic sauce is to get it to pick up.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
No way to make it happen

I contacted flight aware. They said:

"[FONT=&quot]Hello Bryan,[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Thank you for contacting FlightAware and unfortunately were only able to track IFR flights at the moment due to FAA regulations. Also every now and then a VFR flight will make it through the FAA feed but this rarely happens. "[/FONT]
Click to expand...

I would say it's much more frequent than rarely.
 
Like Approach_controller said, it all depends on how the controller entered you into the system.
 
From personal experience, if I'm flying VFR on flight following and ask ATC to enter the information into the FDIO, pronounced "fi-doh", it always shows up on flightaware.
 
Approach_controller said:
My guess from what has been said is you are entered into the system if you pop up on flight aware. As a TRACON controller my choices for flight following are as follows. N12345 enter. This gives a local squawk. Now if I type N12345 ::space:: ABC*XYZ ::space:: type aircraft ::space:: altitude ::enter:: I can put you in the system... maybe... That generates a code that will follow you through the NAS. Guess which one is more common.

At a center, they tend to have technology that is more recent and it is MUCH easier to make changes to or enter a flight plan in the system. What takes them a few key strokes involves me fighting with a Commodore 64's cousin.
Click to expand...

Around here it doesn't happen but coming from the midwest, even after having what appears to be a non-local squawk (because it doesn't seem to change form handoff to handoff, controllers periodically ask me what my origin was. I suspect it wasn't just curiosity...do they have to keep reentering that?
 
Controllers can verbally pass information and radar identification (a manual handoff) to another facility which results in the pilot getting seamless flight following without it ever being input into the FDIO. If you're going someplace 1 or 2 approach controls over, I probably wont put you in the computer.
 
If you get Flight Following chances are it will show on flightaware. If you just takeoff and fly local Vfr it won't be on flightaware.
 
I wounder what FAA regulations they are talking about?

I always get FF on the ground before takeoff but on the last 4 flights in Aug. only the outbound flights show up on FlightAware.

SixPapaCharlie said:
No way to make it happen

I contacted flight aware. They said:

"[FONT=&quot]Hello Bryan,[/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Thank you for contacting FlightAware and unfortunately were only able to track IFR flights at the moment due to FAA regulations. Also every now and then a VFR flight will make it through the FAA feed but this rarely happens. "[/FONT]
Click to expand...
 
Gucci Pilot said:
Like Approach_controller said, it all depends on how the controller entered you into the system.
Click to expand...

I determined from a friend of mine who is an air traffic controller that the flight shows up if you are given a regular squawk code, but not if you are given a "local code".

The local codes are typically "0750". On one trip, I got a typical code, like "5342" or something, on the way there and Flightaware tracked me. On the way back I got a local code and Flightaware did not track me. Usually, the farther I travel, the more likely I will get the regular code--the closer, the more likely I will get the local code. But both the inbound and outbound leg on the same recent trip were handled differently for me recently. :dunno:
 
I've talked to them in the past, the feed for non-IFR flights is flakey (not the IFR flights are tremendously reliable). Frankly, there's no way to tell absolutely if a plan being tracked is IFR or not. The assigned altitude is a hint but not foolproof.
 
David7700 said:
I determined from a friend of mine who is an air traffic controller that the flight shows up if you are given a regular squawk code, but not if you are given a "local code".

The local codes are typically "0750". On one trip, I got a typical code, like "5342" or something, on the way there and Flightaware tracked me. On the way back I got a local code and Flightaware did not track me. Usually, the farther I travel, the more likely I will get the regular code--the closer, the more likely I will get the local code. But both the inbound and outbound leg on the same recent trip were handled differently for me recently. :dunno:
Click to expand...

Since we fly high and 2 hrs/300nm+ on most trips, our vfr flights show up 95% of the time. I try to be as friendly and professional as possible. GA VFR guys are not always the best at phraseology(I am a lot more comfortable than I was just after my ticket). All flights east of the Mississippi River if that matters.
 
I added "+REQ FF 44N" to my SFRA egress plan last weekend, so my strip was in the system from the start. My FlightAware track was from wheels up to when radar services were terminated about two hours later. There was no track on the way back, despite being on flight following for an equal distance; the difference was that I picked it up in the air. YMMV.
 
Quite a few of my flights show up on flight aware while I'm VFR on flight following.
 
It's how the controller puts you in the system. Since sequestration ,it seem I get entered into the system ,more often ,when requesting flight following.
 
Approach_controller said:
My guess from what has been said is you are entered into the system if you pop up on flight aware. As a TRACON controller my choices for flight following are as follows. N12345 enter. This gives a local squawk. Now if I type N12345 ::space:: ABC*XYZ ::space:: type aircraft ::space:: altitude ::enter:: I can put you in the system... maybe... That generates a code that will follow you through the NAS. Guess which one is more common.

At a center, they tend to have technology that is more recent and it is MUCH easier to make changes to or enter a flight plan in the system. What takes them a few key strokes involves me fighting with a Commodore 64's cousin.
Click to expand...

Oh C'mon! You guys have TI-89 level tech!
 
Question for the ATC folks: Is it helpful for us VFR pilots to include FF routing/type/altitude in the remarks?

Also, thanks for discussing the distinction between local and NAS codes; I'd been wondering about that recently.
 
GeorgeC said:
Question for the ATC folks: Is it helpful for us VFR pilots to include FF routing/type/altitude in the remarks?

Also, thanks for discussing the distinction between local and NAS codes; I'd been wondering about that recently.
Click to expand...

If you're filing a VFR flight plan with FSS/DUATS/etc..., ATC will never see it; Flight Service uses it for S&R. There is some discussion in an older thread about clicking the "IFR" box, and putting VFR in the altitude block; ATC will get this flight plan, but YMMV on how it is handled -- some controllers will just chuck it in the trash because it says VFR on the strip, some will treat it like a pop-up IFR flight plan without the "cleared to" part.

If you want flight following to a distant airport, your best bet is to specifically request flight following all the way to your destination. Simple flight following requests can be handled at the scope (point A to point B), and you're "in the system" if the controller enters the few extra required keystrokes. More complex routes (A to C via B) require inputting the plan via the FDIO ("the computer"), which may be right next to the controller in some TRACONs, or could be on the other side of the room.

The problem here is that some of the radar systems figure out who your flight plan should be passed to (who is the next sector/facility?) you'll fly through based on the flight plan in the computer. If you want to go south around a big lake, but your destination is east, the automation may not be able to pass your information on to the facility to the south because "the computer" thinks you want to go east and doesn't care that you don't want to fly that way to get there. That could cause your flight following to be terminated, even if you're "in the system". There are work-arounds, but it depends on controller workload/motivation and access to the FDIO. Newer technology bases the information transfer based on the direction you're flying rather than what's in your flight plan, so as "NextGen" continues to go in around the country, it will be easier to have your flight plan passed seamlessly from Air traffic facility to facility.

Every terminal radar facility has a bank of beacon codes for local VFR operations. Most of then start with 0 (some are different, like in the Chicago area the bank is 5101-5177). If you get one of these codes, you will almost definitely not show up on Flight Aware. If you get a code outside of your local VFR code bank, it is assigned by the center's HOST (or ERAM) computer and you probably will show up on Flight Aware for at least part of your flight.
 
Thanks. I ask because I recently requested flight following from W00 to 44N (as part of my SFRA plan, not a VFR plan with FSS), but I failed to mention that I was going by way of W29 58M KMQS KPTW. Along the way, controllers occasionally asked me what my on-course heading was, presumably because I had strayed from the direct route. Next time, I'll add "REQ FF KFOO*KBAR*KBAZ" and see what that gets me...
 
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