What are the rules in relation to position reporting in non-controlled airspace?
I flew the Caravan C208B to Merimbula on the weekend and decided to go IFR so I could pay a little bit towards the controllers’ salaries and superannuation through the enroute “toll” charge.
I asked the controller in the Melbourne Centre if I needed to give a position report overhead Nowra at 8,000 feet but was told that this was not required because I was within radar/ADS-B coverage. It appears that commercial pilots routinely do not give position reports in uncontrolled airspace when operating IFR when they are in radar/ADS-B coverage.
In looking up the CASA regulations, it looks as if you still have to give a position report under certain circumstances when under surveillance. If you don’t (and I didn’t) how does an unsuspecting VFR pilot who is descending through your level know where you are?
As you know, we are the only country in the world that has all of the frequency boundaries on the charts so VFR pilots must monitor and answer IFR pilots when in the vicinity of each other. In this particular case, all the hundreds of VFR pilots flying nearby, monitoring the frequency and passing through my level would have had no idea I was there.
Can someone bring me up to date on what the rules are?