Filing a flight plan online

[cptcollins]

Hello all,

Apologies if this has been brought up before but is there anyway I can file a VFR flight plan online without the hassel of filing out the tedious CAA form and finding an ever illusive fax machine? I've done it many times before using CFMU but that's catered for more professional outfits and commercial operations. They have a wonderful online filing system in New Zealand, why is there not one so commonly known here?

What does everyone else do? All comments welcome

Best regards and blue skys

[Nashers]

https://ts1.flightplanningonline.co.uk/

[IO540]

The above AFPEX site is one I use. A good system with lots of features, but downloads a 5MG java application every time you start it, making it virtually unusable when mobile on GPRS/3G.

Homebriefing (http://www.homebriefing.com)is another. Not free but very good. I use this too - for when on the move. For Euro 37 they will do 10 flight plans, after which you have to prepay some more. They do unlimited flight plans if one end is in Austria or Switzerland.

As for sites which will do flight plans for anywhere to anywhere, that is all that is known.

There are other sites but they are limited to flight plans starting or ending in a particular country.

[dublinpilot]

There are other sites but they are limited to flight plans starting or ending in a particular country.

Some aren't limited to flights ending or starting in a particular country, but are equally useless because they are limited to residents of that country. eg. Norway's system. (We'll they aren't useless to residents of that country, but you get the idea ;) )

[IO540]

OK, AFPEX is limited to UK residents only, so it is basically the same as Norway's facility (which I didn't know about).

[172driver]

AFAIK, homebriefing.com is the only one that operates worldwide w/o any restrictions. Great service :ok:

[IO540]

AFPEX also has no geographical restrictions, but to get the login you need to be UK resident.

I use both Afpex and Homebriefing.

Afpex is quite nice in the speed with which you get the ACK upon filing an IFR flight plan - a second or two. HB takes 2-5 minutes, presumably because somebody has to okay it.

Homebriefing is much more user friendly, but is not free.

[7AC]

Homebriefing is your only man.
It is excellent and will send acknowledgements and slots to your mobile by sms.
Pay the money, you get what you pay for and it's good value.

[A and C]

For the first month AFPEX was very good but over the last few weeks I have "lost" a number of flight plans.

Now I call the people at LHR flight briefing (who are very helpful ) to check that the plan has gone in and re-file if necessary.

[IO540]

Were these VFR or IFR ones, A&C, that got lost?

IFR ones, once ACKd, should not just get lost.

There is a difference at the tower of your departure airport though. If you filed the FP through their flight plan filing terminal (or whatever facility they provide) they will see the whole flight plan including the supplementary info (life rafts etc). If you file via AFPEx, they don't get that extra stuff, and IME might wonder if the flight plan has also been sent to the destination etc.

Most UK GA airfields are not familiar with this stuff and it confuses the hell out of them. They are used to people filing flight plans by walking up the steps to their tower :)

Whereas Homebriefing probably (*) just send the whole VFR FP to the departure aerodrome and let it deal with any subsequent distribution.... IFR ones, they send to Brussels.

(*) On one occassion, HB told me they send VFR flight plans to the dep, dest, and the FIS of any airspace in which you have specified a waypoint. However, later they denied this, saying they merely send them to the departure ARO, and have not responded to subsequent emails asking the same Q.

[A and C]

Both IFR & VFR have gone missing!, I suspect the IFR ones have been "lost" in Brussels because the "continentals" can't get a grip on the UK's IFR outside controled airspace.

[IO540]

If you get an ACK, it should be in the system.

Whether you will get into the airways system with an OCAS-IFR FP is another matter.

You can file an IFR FP from say Lydd to Bournemouth at FL040, via SAM or whatever. This goes to Eurocontrol allright. But if you try to call up London Control for an airways entry, they won't want to know. My very limited experience with this kind of stuff is that there is no way to elevate IFR-OCAS FPs into a proper airways flight.

But that is not the same thing as it getting lost.

Unless somebody at Eurocontrol looks at it, realises it is OCAS, and deletes it from the computer after the initial distribution?? Then, the departure+destination will have a copy but nobody enroute will know about you.

How exactly did it get "lost" i.e. who exactly told you they didn't have it?

[A and C]

The first one (IFR) the tower had not received when I called for start. the second one (VFR) no trace when I contacted LATCC flight briefing, Now checking the third one (IFR) no FPL sent to the departure airfield but in the system.

On Sunday I will see what happens

Finally the big THANK YOU!!!! to the guys at LATCC for all the checking and chasing that they have done over the last few weeks.

[bookworm]

There should be a perfectly good audit trail for this, starting from your outbox. Suggest you review what was sent, and follow up with AFPEx to work out where it actually went.

[LH2]

is there anyway I can file a VFR flight plan online without the hassel of filing out the tedious CAA form and finding an ever illusive fax machine?

What has been said, except that in my experience, it's often quicker and cheaper just to do it by phone. I have filed plans this way by calling up essentially whoever I have a number for, e.g., French AIS for a flight entirely within Germany, and even a Spanish airport for a flight in Austria. Same for closing flight plans, which is just as important.

And yes, flight plans will get lost, misrouted, and mislaid. It's a fact of life, so it's better to double-check if there is a concern. Also, for VFR flights sometimes tower will not check for the existence of a flight plan, which will then not be activated when you take off, and will eventually be cancelled. If in doubt, remind tower that you have a flight plan.