Thanks all for the replies so far. I really appreciate the help.
So if I can summarise my understanding;
1. If I am over or under on the EET time for the FIR boundary crossing specified on my VFR flight plan, this is not the end of the world. I realise that it is not likely to be out by too much in reality but I was mostly thinking of the situation where an unexpected head/tail wind threw out the calculation from my PLOG.
2. If I am in uncontrolled airspace when I cross the FIR boundary, then I should contact the FIS provider for that airspace initially. Of course I would check the AIP for any rules regarding this but in the absence of anything specifically stated, this would be my best course of action.
If I am in controlled airspace at the time of the crossing then it is likely I will be handed over to the next frequency by whoever I am talking to at the time. If I am not handed over by the time I reach the boundary then I can initiate this myself by requesting/notifying a frequency change. I will of course have done my homework and know who and what frequencies to expect in advance.
3. Regarding the actual calls, if I am in controlled airspace during the crossing then follow the format in the example from Ultranomad. If I am in uncontrolled airspace during the crossing then I guess the call would be similar to that suggested except I assume I would not be assigned a squawk code in this case.
One last question...do you call
when you cross the FIR or
before you cross the FIR? I seem to recall reading somewhere that you should call 5 minutes before but I cannot seem to find where I read that now. Maybe it is country specific and I read it in one of the AIPs I was looking at but I really can't remember.
Regarding the requests for a specific route to provide more information, I don't really have one at this stage. I am still just considering the possibility of international flight (sounds cool just to write that) and haven't really sat down to work out where I might want to go yet.
And yes, don't worry, I am familiar with the need to close my flight plan
- assuming I am not flying to an airport in CAS that will close it for me automatically.
Thanks again.