LawrenceDudley wrote:
Handover from Langen Information to Praha Information was easy and relaxed, Praha seemed pretty happy to just let us get on with it.Well, I guess Praha had your flight plan, or did they ask for details? Langen doesn’t handover any details to foreign stations, they just say the frequency and your flight progress strip ends up in the trashcan.
LawrenceDudley wrote:
Duly noted! In the UK you can file and go which I naively assumed was normal.
The reason is that the way VFR FPL are processed in the UK very different from the rest of Europe (and the rest of the world).
For flights departing in the UK, the pilot sends the FPL directly to the final recipients, without any furhter check process.
Elsewhere, the pilot sends VFR flightplans to some responsible ARO office, whose staffs then checks it and distributes it. And that’s essentially what they ask the 60 minutes of time for.
You will find many other small differences across Europe regarding VFR flight plans, as there is little standardization on this, and every state makes their own detail rules. One example is the ALT/LVL field. In most countries, indicating “VFR” is sufficient. But particularly in parts of eastern Europe, they ask or a specfifc altitutde or level indication. And once we go to the route field, it gets even more complicated (many times discussed here..).
The reality however is that if you file electronically (eg. EuroFPL, SD which uses EuroFPL, etc) the FP gets sent by AFTN to the departure tower (as well as destination, and various other addresses as per the AIP VR FP addressing rules for that country) and as soon as they have it, you can depart, which is what matters 
Some countries have retained the “FP checking” function in order to protect the jobs, but it seems to do nothing useful.
Peter wrote:
The reality however is that if you file electronically (eg. EuroFPL, SD which uses EuroFPL, etc) the FP gets sent by AFTN to the departure tower
For ewverywhere else in the wworld except in the UK, this is simply: NO. It is NOT direct. It’s a two-step process, involving human beings. It does take some time.
How the ilot files the flightplan (electronically, or via telephone, or whatever) does not make a difference.
I think we have to agree to disagree on this one
Haha, too funny. I think you have no appreciable exposure to VFR flying in continental Europe.
Just file a flightplan from say Deauville to anywhere and call up the TWR at Deauville two minutes later, asking them wheter they have your flightplan… good luck.
It will be on a (virtual) stack of some officer at the BRIA in Bordeaux, waiting for him to check and distribute. If you are lucky, it takes just five minutes until he does it. If you are unlucky, it takes one hour (lunch break!). And if you are very unlucky, it get’s “lost” somewhere in his stack, and the TWR at Deauville never receives it.
I think you have no appreciable exposure to VFR flying in continental Europe.
On the contrary, but I use VFR only for short runs abroad and don’t post the writeups.
EDIT: I am informed by someone close to the action that, apart from The Netherlands, European flight plans filed with Rocketroute do go to the tower e.g. LFATZTZX (as well as the other places). And I am sure EuroFPL (and thus SD) do the same.
I am not saying that the FP is ignored if it contains something totally crazy; that’s indeed what happens in the UK. I am saying the departure tower does get it when it is filed IF it is addressed to them.
Netherlands is one exception which intercepts the filing and does “stuff” with it.
Peter wrote:
European flight plans filed with Rocketroute do go to the tower e.g. LFATZTZX (as well as the other places). And I am sure EuroFPL (and thus SD) do the same.
Well, you are wrong. Looks like you misunderstood something there.
All these apps do show you, before filing, where they will be sent. I just did one again for a departure from France, and SD duly informs me that it will ONLY BE SENT TO LFYNZPZX.
boscomantico wrote:
For ewverywhere else in the wworld except in the UK, this is simply: NO. It is NOT direct. It’s a two-step process, involving human beings. It does take some time.
If you file using independent tools like SD or directly to AFTN, the flight plan will be sent to exactly the addresses you (or the tool) specify. Each AIP tells you where to send the flight plan, and you’re right that in e.g Germany, the AIP says that it should normally be sent only to the ARO which will check and redistribute.
But AIP-France does say that the flight plan should be sent to other places as well, beside the BRIA, including the tower of the destination airport.
Peter wrote:
Some countries have retained the “FP checking” function in order to protect the jobs, but it seems to do nothing useful.
Or they retain it for quality control since many VFR pilots don’t know how to file a correct flight plan. Sweden does, and it is not a country known for “job protection”.
