IFR trip to EGKA Shoreham (CAS/OCAS and an important lesson learnt)

Good to see British pilots back in the air and meeting again !

I know some pilots in France call the BRIA (ARO) for every FPL filed. Most of the time I depart from a controlled field and I call for « startup » with a handheld. If they instantly reply yes, I ask if they have my FPL, and then I get a « standby », followed by the answer I wanted

One question on non-controlled IFR departures is one allowed to departe/activate the FPL themselves?

I recall some tools offer the option to send departure message DEP on takeoff (AFPEX surely does it for any FPL including I/Y-FPL but need PC & Internet cables and EuroFPL/ForeFlight as well but maybe only for Z/V-FPL?)

I guess those departure DEP never counts as activate ACT and it surely does not clear one into UK LTMA !
But will it keep FPL alive until one gets near CAS in contact with ATC?

One question on non-controlled IFR departures is one allowed to departe/activate the FPL themselves?

Yes; AFPEX can send the DEP message, but good luck running AFPEX when airborne. Practically, you would need to get somebody to do it for you. Or build an SMS to AFPEX gateway running on a PC at home (probably not trivial but definitely possible).

A DEP does not clear you to anywhere. It just activates the FP.

But will it keep FPL alive until one gets near CAS in contact with ATC?

It should keep it alive until an ARR message is generated, plus a margin afterwards, I think… In the Eurocontrol system (I Z Y) this is all done for you (except the VFR ends which are done as they are for VFR) but on a “V” flight there is no tracking so you could file an FP from Shoreham to Kathmandu, send a DEP, 30hrs later send an ARR, and all would be good. There would be some “interesting activity” along the route and especially at Kathmandu. Then you could fly back and see the collapse of the entire UK police force

When departing from LFFK (uncontrolled airfield) I simply climb to just under 3000’ contact the appropriate ATS (there are 3 in my area, so depends which way I am going) and ask them to open my IFR flight plan and give destination, they usually come back with a clearance to waypoint and altitude immediately.
If VFR I wont have a flight plan so I basically give an airborne flight plan (ie, life story) and if needed ask for a transit of CAS. Usually this is granted and if my flight remains in CAS they will usually hand me from 1 ATS to the next seemlessly. Unless otherwise instructed it is my job still as PIC to obey any VFR regulations.
I always thought the job of ATS was to facilitate the smooth and safe flow of air traffic, not to put obstacles in the way.

Peter wrote:

on a “V” flight there is no tracking so you could file an FP from Shoreham to Kathmandu, send a DEP, 30hrs later send an ARR, and all would be good

Here you go a new EGKA-Alps challenge: VFR with your own DEP/ARR message

I usually leave the car on parked on the aircraft stand with my phone number on it’s windshield, that counts as DEP/ARR message for VFR trips once, I got a call once from AD manager if everything is OK after 2 weeks being away in France sitting idle with no FR24 activity

It’s far more reassuring than S&R with a VFR FPL in the UK !

Alpha_Floor wrote:

Spanish ACC controllers (from the Canaries FIR at least) that a pop-up IFR clearance can be arranged on the spot

This has happened to me twice in COVID times due to low ATC workload, but it rarely happened in normal times.

I recall once being a visitor at Palma ACC decades ago when, standing by a console, a light aircraft which had departed MAllorca on a VFR FPL eastwards, probably Italy-bound, called requesting an IFR clearance (not long before changing FIR into Marseille). The controller at our console told him to stby then looked back at her supervisor standing next to me and said " this is the same guy who got a 2hr- slot on his IFR FPL then cancelled . He is trying to sneak the system by filing enroute…" The supervisor smiled and just asked the ATCO to “hand him off to Marseille” even if still 20 nm away from the boundary…

Draw your own conclusions, but if it is a bit of work for us to file a FPL through several FIR’s while devoting full attention to it, just imagine an ATCO while handling his normal work…not always achievable, even if legal.

Several times I have filed VFR Italy to Spain during French Grève to avoid a 3-hr slot voiding the trip and the service obtained through Marseille FIR was obviously and deliberately sub-standard and bordering negligence on a long SEP overwater leg.

Usually, but especially in COVID times, the service I get from ATC , French, Swiss, Italian and even Spanish is excellent.

The issue with Spain ATC is whenever you are requesting something airliner traffic will not do…just do as they do and you’ll be fine ;)

My experience with UK ATC and IFR was always good but I could never get the hang of the different types of services while flying OCAS, usually easier for me to stay in CAS, but several times I was advised in detail by ATC that my planned route would take me OCAS for this and that period of 20nm as if that was a big issue…. that would typically be transparent in terms of ATC communication in Spain.

Nice report and always intresting to hear those ATC stories from the UK.

Alpha_Floor wrote:

I find it interesting how London Information is kind of a “gate keeper” for London Control. They need to check you out first before they hand you their frequency. Like a bouncer in a night club. In Spain you would just call the Control frequency directly (actually there is no separate Info/Control in Spain, but I wonder how this works in Germany who do have Info and Control separately as well).

Yes, the German FIS (Langen Information) is also a kind of “gate keeper” for the Radar-frequencies, and I actually dislike this concept very much. On the other hand, I must admit that Langen Info is often very helpfull and friendly, but that depends also on the FISO. Some are very motivated to help you, others not so much. If you know the local Radar-frequency, one is however free to call Radar directly. I do that sometimes and always got a friendly controller on the radio how helped me out, but that is not the “recommended” route the DFS (German variant of NATS) wants pilots to use. But this is more a discussion for VFR-flights. In Germany, IFR-flights are always handled by Radar as you fly always inside airspace E, D or C (except for AFIS-airfields, where IFR-traffic is allowed to enter G inside a RMZ). Only if you start VFR from an uncontrolled aerodrome without ATC or AFIS, you should call FIS first after takeoff, to get initial IFR-clearance, but they will do that guaranteed and pass you immediately over to Radar.

gallois wrote:

I always thought the job of ATS was to facilitate the smooth and safe flow of air traffic, not to put obstacles in the way.

Again what we are encountering in the UK is basically ATC saying “that is not my job” because of the fragmented system of private fiefdoms based on a user-pays concept rather than having the whole thing set up as infrastructure.

London Info are very helpful but very busy. NATS uses it, at the minimum possible cost, to fulfil ICAO obligations like providing universal FIS (although non-radar) and doing things like opening flight plans and liaising with anything OCAS that has filed IFR and wants to climb into the system.

If you’re trucking along OCAS and ask e.g. Farnborough Radar to do something with your flight plan – be it activate a VFR one to Le Touquet or sort out your IFR with London Control – you’ll be politely but firmly told that’s not possible. The ATCOs and system-apologists on UK forums will patronise you about how busy ATCOs are and how the system is supposed to work, but there’s no escaping the reality that you’re really being refused because the controller isn’t paid to do that.

The practical problem with most UK flights (or at least anything in the south east) as @Alpha_Floor demonstrates with his outbound route is that you launch OCAS but wanting to climb into CAS relatively quickly after takeoff – such is the volume of Class A airspace at low-ish levels. The cumbersome system means this is rarely possible and so you end up stopping your climb or holding, perhaps to the point where you may as well have just stayed outside and continued to destination VFR.

UK airspace is not that bad neither, one just have to be careful with CAS/OCAS and plan for both, some of it is ATC attitude but the rest is just no public funding…

You don’t have to file VFR FPL and go no-TXP (no electrics ) not talking to anyone to hold your hand if you know you way and can take care of yourself, just the bloody AD PPR

You can fly uncontrolled IFR from grass strip in OVC003 and land in another grass strip in OVC005 with freezing level at 3000ft amsl not talking to anyone while flying as you wish bellow CAS

Not flexible when one starts mixing CAS/OCAS: asking for avoid or amended clearance in CTR, climb or stay high in TMA, Radar Services OCAS, handovers between “non-compatible or far ATSU units”…and one will then get the ugly face !