Ah, okay. I’ve had that a couple of times. You end up having to do IMCR-style IFR. I’ve also had Scottish Control call EGNS prior to departure to suggest different routing/levels which would then open the Class A door, but it’s not predictable.
Thanks,
J
You end up having to do IMCR-style IFR
Yes, exactly.
The chances of such a flight plan getting elevated to a “proper one” is very tiny. I have never succeeded. Last time I tried it (with Manchester Control) they quite deliberately frustrated me, by asking me for a CAS intersection which is on the edge of CAS, and I had no easy way in the cockpit of finding one, and they weren’t going to suggest one.
Whereas a “proper” flight plan enables you to just climb as required to stay above wx.
But IMCR style IFR is not that bad is it? If I come down the East Coast (from Aberdeen) to DVR I am outside CAS most of the way except a transit of Newcastle (and that is class D so OK for IMCR)….if I want to be in CAS I stay at F090 or above and (request to) join the London Class A south of Norwich….if I want to avoid Class A I can descend to 5000’ and remain in Class G….but still IFR…..to me it is a question of cloud levels and icing as to which I would choose….in terms of safety of flight, you can still get a Traffic service (or maybe a Deconfliction service), so no difference (I doubt your non-transponding types are at 5000’)….I usually ask for a Traffic service rather than a Deconfliction service because otherwise any and every primary, non-transponding target requires a vector to avoid….because their altitude is unknown
[edit: I should add that in Scottish control, when popping in and out of CAS between say Newcastle and POL, or between Newcastle and Aberdeen they automatically offer Deconfliction (at least when at F090 and above) and treat you exactly as though you were still in CAS….even airliners are handled this way]
Yes – it is a good tool for a certain type of job.
It’s good for going up and down the UK east coast.
It’s good for summer flying, especially alone or with passengers who are OK with turbulence – because one often can’t get above the clouds due to CAS.
It’s good for “VFR” abroad 
I have only ever met one IMCR holder who says he never entered IMC outside the UK – and it definitely isn’t me!
I flew on it for 4 years and had a great time.
It’s less good for the winter because one can be stuck in freezing IMC with no way up. OK if you are deiced, and even more OK if you are 2000kg+
Unfortunately there are IMCR holders out there who think the autorouter will generate IFR routes for them. It’s a challenge to think of a reasonably concise explanation of why you can’t do that.
Fair enough….yes if you do not have a full IR auto-routing tools are not that useful….however when I file a RR flightplan at FL100 say to go to Gloucester say I will get a “proper” accepted IFPS flight plan….when I depart Aberdeen I am directed via BALID usually (which is on P18 and in Class D CAS)….from there, unless I climb to FL160 I will drop out of CAS….Aberdeen will offer Deconfliction and I am handed over to Scottish Control who coordinate with Newcastle for re-entry to P18 / CTA….again unless I am at FL130 or above I will drop out again…and be offered Deconfliction and a re-entry clearance “on track to POL”…. As far as I am aware my flight plan does not get binned simply because I drifted in and out of CAS…and it remains a “proper” flight plan
Fair enough….yes if you do not have a full IR auto-routing tools are not that useful….
I don’t think they are useful at all – except maybe in Scotland where you can pop in and out of CAS and still keep the service.
And even then, unless Thomas and Achim manage to successfully modify the algorithm for an “independent Scotland” as they say, you will not get a decent routing…..so I always (when flying up here) create a route manually in SkyDemon and cut and paste it into RocketRoute for filing…
I think the only way to make this stuff work to everybody’s satisfaction will be to collect about 5 years’ worth of user complaints and hand-code the whole lot 
The original routing tools basically did that (it was the only way, because the only way to autoroute was to route the published airway maze and iteratively submit the result to the validation gateway while faking a human with a web browser, and decode the error messages and try again and again…) but it’s a process which is not long term sustainable unless you charge serious money for running the operation.
ATC are never going to publish their preferred routes. In fact UK ATC are bound by the Official Secrets Act (presumably to stop them reporting all the UFO sightings) so very little information comes out anywhere, even anonymously. A lot of UK ATCOs read EuroGA but they aren’t going to suggest anything.
But IMCR style IFR is not that bad is it?
Not at all… If you’ve done all your pre-flight preparation for it. If, however, you’ve planned for airways and end up unexpectedly outside them with a different route, levels, and clearances, then it’s a considerable mental and workload switch to make. You could maybe make a case for cancelling the flight and re-filing. Personally, I still find the transition from an hour or more of airways IFR to the unprotected world of either IFR or VFR OCAS takes several minutes to get used to.
J
Yes… we could have a debate about how much “VFR awareness” an IR holder needs to maintain.
If you are flying a 747, 100% in CAS, then “zero”.
In GA, quite a lot, but I don’t think all pilots are aware of it, especially non UK pilots flying into the UK on “I” flight plans.
But even if you are prepared fully IFR, at some French airport (e.g. Poitiers) on a Sunday might mean an unmanned departure, so you are de facto VFR until you can get somebody on the radio and get a clearance.
I always fly with a tablet running a VFR chart, for this reason, and for emergency use. Unfortunately panel mounted avionics do a terrible job of this (due to map data licensing, mainly).
