It is better to travel than to arrive

[Kolibear]

What do you do if you have to divert?

Consider a fairly average VFR flight (no formal Flight Plan) where you've planned to take off from A and land at B .

You've booked out at A for destination B and called B to check they are open and the weather etc is fine.

Halfway between A & B, the weather turns grim and you decide to divert into C .

Would you:-

Radio A and tell them you are now going to C
or
Radio B and tell them you're now going to C, prior to calling up C and telling them to expect you.

Or would you wait until you've landed at C and then phone A (or B ) to tell them of the change of plan.

Or would you just do nothing?

[matspart3]

If 'B' has an ATC service, they may take overdue action if you don't turn up. It's a popular misconception, but overdue action is not solely related to the filing of a flight paln.

Basically, if you haven't pitched up when you said you would (via RT, phone PPR etc.), B would be obliged to begin looking for you not less than 30 mins after that time. Sounds onerous and heavy handed, unless you're upside down in a pile of wreckage somewhere between A, B & C!

Rule 20 of the ANO spells it out in typically unclear fashion
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/CAP393.PDF

[Monocock]

It depends what kind of field C is.

If it is a decent sized field with an efficient tower I would ask the guy at C to call B whilst getting the circuit details etc.

Otherwise, if B is within radio range, I would call them and tell them of my intentions. If not in range, I would phone once "alighted".

Have been in the situation several times and have done this. B is always very appreciative of the call and phoning from the ground is a good idea anyway as it confirms that they have heard it from the horses mouth.

[Whipping Boy's SATCO]

Go to C (ie fly the aircraft and don't worry about talking to B yet).

Land.

Phone B.

Have a coffee.

[TheKentishFledgling]

I'd call B and tell them I'm going to C, then call up C, and then once on the ground, call up A just to be polite. BUT if it's a rented aircraft from A, they should be told ASAP.

Bloody hell - all this ABC stuff has given me brain ache!

tKF

[Rod1]

Did a flight from Tatenhill to Dundee. Called Dundee before t/o, weather was ok, 1000 ft cloud base expected to increase. 20 miles from Dundee, call up, weather down to 200 ft along that part of the east coast. Ask them to call Carlisle, weather fine, divert accordingly. I did not let Tatenhill know and do not think it was required.

Rod1

[Chilli Monster]

What WBS says is what I say too.

It's not 'A's problem - they're not the ones who are going to be taking overdue action on you. If the weather is such that you have to divert don't mess around distracting yourself by telling people who don't need to know straight away whilst in the air - get it on the ground wherever you need to and then sort out the admin.

[slim_slag]

You ANC :ok:

[dublinpilot]

Have to agree with WBC & CM.

If you are diverting, your work load is probably going to be a fair bit higher. (Because of the diversion, and the adverse weather).

Usually, there woun't be a major difference in your expected time of arrival.

So fly the airplane, naviagte to where you are going, and when on the ground communicate with where you were expecting to go to originally.

Don't forget if you happen to have a flight information service, to let them know you are diverting, and ask them to contact C for you.

If you happen to get a quiet phase on the diversion, where the workload has dropped, then you can call B up if you want, but I'd leave it until I was on the ground.

dp

[Monocock]

You ANC

:confused:

[Rote 8]

ANC - Aviate - Navigate - Communicate.

I would route to C and phone B once on the ground.

[Monocock]

OOPS, I thought the slim slag was going to go to C via N!!!!!:8

[Andy_R]

Which works fine until you call up C (B is out of range) and upon landing at C, telephone B....


...... have coffee....



... and 45 minutes after calling B, are notified by C that B were ringing around trying to find you as you hadn't notified them.

Yes it happened not long ago :confused:

Guess even ATCO's are human ;)

[Gertrude the Wombat]

called B to check they are open and the weather etc is fine I do that, but I usually do it from home before leaving for the airport and don't give them a reggie ('cos I don't know which plane I'm going to be given yet) and don't give them a more accurate ETA than, say, "middle of the afternoon" (because I don't know how much time I'm going to have to spend faffing around on the ground refuelling, scrounging headsets, whatever).

I take a "no problem, look forward to seeing you" as the necessary PPR.

If I never actually make it to B (usually because of weather) it's not occurred to me that I ought to call B and tell them I won't be arriving - all they know, anyway, is that some 172 might be turning up sometime during the afternoon, so they can't take any "missing" action because they don't have enough information.

So, am I doing something wrong here? Should I be making a more definite "booking" to arrive at B so that they can search for me if I don't turn up? If so, how come destinations never ask for details on the phone if I don't volunteer the information?

[Chilli Monster]

So, am I doing something wrong here? Should I be making a more definite "booking" to arrive at B so that they can search for me if I don't turn up?
Nothing wrong with what you're doing at all. The above scenarios are if you've actually booked in with specific details and the airfield is expecting you.

[ck4707]

Sorry to be pedantic, but the title of the thread leads one to ask the question, what is the correct qutation and who said it??

[RodgerF]

ck

I think the quote you are looking for is

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive"

Robert Louis Stevenson "Virginibus Puerisque" Chapter 6 El Dorado