when should i file vfr flight plan?

[bookworm]

About an hour and a half after landing Fairoaks, I received a mobile call from the Distress/121.5 cell at Swanick asking if I was ok, as Cambridge had called them due my overdue /non-arrival there.
I assumed that an IFR plan would be closed on landing, but it seems if you divert your original destination is not advised by the ATC system.

It's up to the ATS at the aerodrome you land at (or you, if there isn't one!) to send an ARRival message, telling the interested parties that you've arrived safely at a different airport than planned. Sometimes, they don't know, or forget, that it's a diversion. Better to prompt them.

[Fuji Abound]

In general, yes, a flight plan is required for crossing a national border, for an IFR flight and for some classes of controlled airspace

Backpacker

A FP is NOT required for an IFR flight OCAS in the UK.

I was not aware that a FP is required between some Schengen countries either.

[IO540]

AIUI a FP is always required when crossing borders.

[BossEyed]

Originally Posted by BackPacker

The full submission is not necessary when entering Controlled Airspace

That is a dangerous sweeping statement.

BackPacker, you're quoting me, and it is not.

My response was to the question specifically asked:

Originally Posted by cessna310

When should/must i file vfr flight plan while flying in UK?

What is, or is not, required in The Netherlands is entirely irrelevant to his/her query.

A couple of other points:

douglas.lindsay's report that Glasgow have requested online FP filing for CAS transit is absolutely right - but this was reported by them (via NOTAM)as being a temporary measure only whilst new systems bed in. I don't think this has changed - has it? In any event, it is currently local to them only.

A number of people on this thread have mentioned that a FPL is useful if you go missing en-route. Yes, but all should be aware that overdue action will only be initiated in the UK if a "responsible person" triggers it. If you are flying to/from many (the majority) of the smaller fields and strips in the UK, that responsible person may need to be somebody you explicitly nominate and task with undertaking that the warning role. Unlike elsewhere in the World, overdue action may well NOT be triggered just because you are late, and you need to understand this if you intend to make use of a Flight Plan as SAR insurance.

[Jan Olieslagers]

Sorry - but this question from somebody with a frozen ATP and 1200 hours total time?
Is Euro training so poor that
a) this type of question really has to be asked and
b) more importantly seemingly not knowing where to go to find the answer without having to ask in the first place?


The quality of questions sometimes beggars belief.

SoCal, it may sound like provincialism to you, looking on from a distance, but could you kindly replace "Euro training" by "UK training"?

Further comments restrained to avoid counter-productivity.

[cessnapete]

bookworm

Thanks, didn't know that. I always assumed that having had a re-clearance from the Airways system they would inform your orginal FP destination.
Pete

[bookworm]

Thanks, didn't know that. I always assumed that having had a re-clearance from the Airways system they would inform your orginal FP destination.

I found out a few years ago when on a flight from Cambridge I'd diverted into Maastricht trying to get to Spa. Cambridge called me on my mobile, saying that Brussels was asking what had happened to me. I too found it a bit odd, as the diversion had required a reclearance from Brussels Control.

[codemonkey]

a couple of the above posts seem to contradict on the subject of entry to class D airspace. on one hand the letter of the regulations seems to require a flight plan for VFR flights "within class B, C & D airspace". on the other hand it's been suggested that clearances for this will be given in flight, no flight plan required. is there a difference between flight "within class D" and "through class D" or is this a situation where practise has actually diverged from the rules?

[Gertrude the Wombat]

is there a difference between flight "within class D" and "through class D" or is this a situation where practise has actually diverged from the rules?

No.

What you have missed is that "clearances given in flight" are, whether they look like them or not, flight plans.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Originally Posted by Genghis the Engineer

And no, you don't need to do so when crossing from London to Scottish. You do however flying to the Island of Ireland.

G

Correction to this post - Republic of Ireland you need to file a flight plan, Northern Ireland you don't (but do need special branch clearance).

G

[douglas.lindsay]

douglas.lindsay's report that Glasgow have requested online FP filing for CAS transit is absolutely right - but this was reported by them (via NOTAM)as being a temporary measure

My information might be out of date. I'll try to confirm tomorrow and come back here with the updated story.

[douglas.lindsay]

douglas.lindsay's report that Glasgow have requested online FP filing for CAS transit is absolutely right - but this was reported by them (via NOTAM)as being a temporary measure

My information might be out of date. I'll try to confirm tomorrow and come back here with the updated story.

Spoke to Glasgow ATC today - they're still asking for a full FP if you want a zone transit.

[BossEyed]

Thanks for taking the trouble to enquire, Douglas. Did they indicate whether they now consider this to be a permanent standing request?

This thread, from Flyer, describes and discusses the situation as understood when this request first arose back in June.