Transition to ICAO flight plans

[jaylw314]

I got this e-mail today.  I realized when I've spoken to ATC the past couple months, they've asked me about my VFR flight plan, which they previously have not had access to.  Does anyone know if ATC is getting access to VFR flight plans across the board now?

FAA Transitions to ICAO Flight Plan Format
Notice Number: NOTC9696

 

The FAA has transitioned to mandatory use of the international flight plan format for all IFR and VFR domestic and international civil flights, effective August 27 at 0500 EST. The change is part of an effort to modernize and streamline flight planning and supports the FAA’s NextGen initiatives.

Benefits of the international form make it easier and more intuitive for pilots to use and will increase safety.  

• An increase in the size of the departure and destination fields to allow a greater variety of entry types, including Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) flight plans
• Transmission of the supplemental pilot data field, which contains pilot contact information, along with the VFR flight plan to the destination facility, to reduce search and rescue response times
• Air traffic control gains access to detailed equipment codes to identify aircraft capability

The international format will also allow for integration of Performance Based Navigation (PBN) and enhance air traffic control services by allowing for easier identification of equipage, which can make greater use of airspace.

With the exception of military flight operations, the international format is required for all IFR and VFR flights across the NAS. Guidance on how to complete an international flight plan is available at www.faa.gov/go/flightservice.

Please contact Flight Service on our feedback email 9-AWA-ATO-SYSOPS-FS@faa.gov if you have any questions.

[gsengle]

Not sure, but ATC now has changed their tune and now are regularly giving our phone numbers and allowing at all facilities direct contact for getting clearances even at places where they used to insist you contact flight service. And I have heard folks on approach now opening VFR flight plans without pushback...

*drum roll*

All this makes it seem almost as if they are slowly winding down flight service....


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[jaylw314]

16 minutes ago, gsengle said:

Not sure, but ATC now has changed their tune and now are regularly giving our phone numbers and allowing at all facilities direct contact for getting clearances even at places where they used to insist you contact flight service. And I have heard folks on approach now opening VFR flight plans without pushback...

*drum roll*

All this makes it seem almost as if they are slowly winding down flight service....


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People are actually opening VFR flight plans with ATC?  I suppose that's nice, but I'll probably still do that with Flight Service for now to offload some of that work from ATC...

[Skates97]

3 minutes ago, jaylw314 said:

People are actually opening VFR flight plans with ATC?  I suppose that's nice, but I'll probably still do that with Flight Service for now to offload some of that work from ATC...

On 1800wxbrief.com if you set up your email and/or cell phone you can open and close VFR flight plans either with a link in the email they send or simple responses to text messages. It will send a text prior to your scheduled departure and you can activate it or cancel it by just responding to the text. You can also close it by responding to the text after you land. Pretty easy to use.

I could use a little guidance on the Equipment and Surveillance options that you have to use with the ICAO format. Under to old domestic format the choices were fewer and seemed more straight forward. I have a NAV/COM with VOR and ILS (no GPS in the panel, just my apps on the tablet) so I am assuming "S" for my equipment. I have a GTX 335 so I "think" for surveillance it would be "L" with "B1" as I do have ADS-B in but it is through the Stratux, not a certified piece of equipment.

[jaylw314]

17 minutes ago, Skates97 said:

On 1800wxbrief.com if you set up your email and/or cell phone you can open and close VFR flight plans either with a link in the email they send or simple responses to text messages. It will send a text prior to your scheduled departure and you can activate it or cancel it by just responding to the text. You can also close it by responding to the text after you land. Pretty easy to use.

I could use a little guidance on the Equipment and Surveillance options that you have to use with the ICAO format. Under to old domestic format the choices were fewer and seemed more straight forward. I have a NAV/COM with VOR and ILS (no GPS in the panel, just my apps on the tablet) so I am assuming "S" for my equipment. I have a GTX 335 so I "think" for surveillance it would be "L" with "B1" as I do have ADS-B in but it is through the Stratux, not a certified piece of equipment.

That's true, the text thing is very handy, but I usually want a current check for PIREPS or any new stuff after takeoff anyway.  Besides, I paid good money for those radios so I'm going to use them, dammit  

your Aircraft Equipment would be just "S", but don't forget DME if you have it, then it'd be "SD".

I don't think many US aircraft or equipment use Enhanced Surveillance for the "L" code, so your Surveillance Equipment would be "EB1". 

Remember, in the "Other info" field, you should also put in "CODE/" followed by your aircraft's mode S code in HEX format

There are some other gotchas, like having to "N" before your airspeed to specify knots, and "A" before altitude to specify barometric altitude.

Realistically, of course, none of this matters if unless you're on an IFR flight or having an emergency, but once you enter the info in your aircraft data on 1800wxbrief.com, you don't have to bother with it again.

 

Edited August 28, 2019 by jaylw314

[PT20J]

2 hours ago, Skates97 said:

On 1800wxbrief.com if you set up your email and/or cell phone you can open and close VFR flight plans either with a link in the email they send or simple responses to text messages. It will send a text prior to your scheduled departure and you can activate it or cancel it by just responding to the text. You can also close it by responding to the text after you land. Pretty easy to use.

I could use a little guidance on the Equipment and Surveillance options that you have to use with the ICAO format. Under to old domestic format the choices were fewer and seemed more straight forward. I have a NAV/COM with VOR and ILS (no GPS in the panel, just my apps on the tablet) so I am assuming "S" for my equipment. I have a GTX 335 so I "think" for surveillance it would be "L" with "B1" as I do have ADS-B in but it is through the Stratux, not a certified piece of equipment.

Equipment code should be S

GTX 335 surveillance code is EB1

Skip

Edited August 28, 2019 by PT20J

[Bob - S50]

3 hours ago, Skates97 said:

On 1800wxbrief.com if you set up your email and/or cell phone you can open and close VFR flight plans either with a link in the email they send or simple responses to text messages. It will send a text prior to your scheduled departure and you can activate it or cancel it by just responding to the text. You can also close it by responding to the text after you land. Pretty easy to use.

I could use a little guidance on the Equipment and Surveillance options that you have to use with the ICAO format. Under to old domestic format the choices were fewer and seemed more straight forward. I have a NAV/COM with VOR and ILS (no GPS in the panel, just my apps on the tablet) so I am assuming "S" for my equipment. I have a GTX 335 so I "think" for surveillance it would be "L" with "B1" as I do have ADS-B in but it is through the Stratux, not a certified piece of equipment.

Assuming your Stratux has dual band reception I'd use EB2.  That tells the system you can receive 1090 signals.  If you use B1 the system thinks you can't receive data so it won't send any.   The only traffic you'll see is other ADS-B OUT equipment.  You won't get TIS-B traffic.

In the Other block include SUR/260B and CODE/(your hex code)

[gsxrpilot]

3 hours ago, jaylw314 said:

People are actually opening VFR flight plans

[gsengle]

Assuming your Stratux has dual band reception I'd use EB2.  That tells the system you can receive 1090 signals.  If you use B1 the system thinks you can't receive data so it won't send any.   The only traffic you'll see is other ADS-B OUT equipment.  You won't get TIS-B traffic.
In the Other block include SUR/260B and CODE/(your hex code)

Not sure I’d count portable equipment...


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[jaylw314]

11 hours ago, Bob - S50 said:

Assuming your Stratux has dual band reception I'd use EB2.  That tells the system you can receive 1090 signals.  If you use B1 the system thinks you can't receive data so it won't send any.   The only traffic you'll see is other ADS-B OUT equipment.  You won't get TIS-B traffic.

In the Other block include SUR/260B and CODE/(your hex code)

I'm pretty sure ADS-B In is independent of the information you give to Flight Service.  The ADS-B ground network sends you TIS-B traffic based on the signal in your transponder broadcast--if you go to your transponder setup menu, there should be an option to tell ATC whether you are ADS-B In capable through UAT, 1090ES or both.  If there is an option to pick both, don't do it--only pick one or the other, or else ATC will not send you any TIS-B traffic since they assume you will be able to pick up other ADS-B aircraft air-to-air. 

https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/not-always-seeing-ads-b-rebroadcast-traffic.109409/

 

Edit: see @Bob - S50's clarification below re: ADS-R vs TIS-B.

Edited August 29, 2019 by jaylw314

[jaylw314]

14 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

??

[skydvrboy]

I hardly ever file a VFR flight plan, but I'd like to make sure I have the right surveillance code set up if I do.  I'm using a KT 76 transponder, a Sky Beacon on my wingtip, and a dual band stratux.  I think that makes my code SU1.  Is that correct or should I be using SU2?

[jaylw314]

27 minutes ago, skydvrboy said:

I hardly ever file a VFR flight plan, but I'd like to make sure I have the right surveillance code set up if I do.  I'm using a KT 76 transponder, a Sky Beacon on my wingtip, and a dual band stratux.  I think that makes my code SU1.  Is that correct or should I be using SU2?

AFAIK, SkyBeacon is UAT ADS-B In/Out, right?  So your Surveillance Equipment should be CU2, since you have a mode C transponder

Edited August 28, 2019 by jaylw314

[gsxrpilot]

37 minutes ago, jaylw314 said:

??

Meant to be a bit tongue in cheek... but I just haven't ever filed a VFR flight plan and didn't realize they were that common. I use flight following all the time, if not on an IFR flight plan. But I've just never filed VFR.

[jaylw314]

3 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

Meant to be a bit tongue in cheek... but I just haven't ever filed a VFR flight plan and didn't realize they were that common. I use flight following all the time, if not on an IFR flight plan. But I've just never filed VFR.

Really?  Well, you do have a turbo motor, so I suppose you're never stuck in the mountains below radar coverage.  THAT's when you're glad somebody knows what your route is... 

I usually do both VFR flight plan and flight following on trips longer than an hour or so.  That's what brought the VFR flight plan thing to my attention, I asked for flight following and ATC asked if that was my VFR flight plan I had filed.  I did a double take, because they've specifically told me previously they had no access to info about VFR flight plans...

[gsxrpilot]

42 minutes ago, jaylw314 said:

Really?  Well, you do have a turbo motor, so I suppose you're never stuck in the mountains below radar coverage.  THAT's when you're glad somebody knows what your route is... 

I usually do both VFR flight plan and flight following on trips longer than an hour or so.  That's what brought the VFR flight plan thing to my attention, I asked for flight following and ATC asked if that was my VFR flight plan I had filed.  I did a double take, because they've specifically told me previously they had no access to info about VFR flight plans...

Yeah, I've been flying a turbo for the last 3 years but prior to that it was an M20C. I've just always used flight following. I haven't been in a situation, including flying the M20C through the Rockies and the PacNW, where I thought a VFR flight plan gave me any more protection than flight following did. 

But I can learn and should probably review...

[jaylw314]

50 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

Yeah, I've been flying a turbo for the last 3 years but prior to that it was an M20C. I've just always used flight following. I haven't been in a situation, including flying the M20C through the Rockies and the PacNW, where I thought a VFR flight plan gave me any more protection than flight following did. 

But I can learn and should probably review...

I good example would be the Mt Shasta area between California and Oregon.  At some point you get handed off from Oakland Center to Seattle Center, but at least once I've had to go back and let them know I couldn't pick up the next center on the radio yet.  They could probably see me on radar, but with flight following they'd only know my destination, not necessarily the exact route I'd fly, so it's reassuring to know there's a backup if radio or radar contact (or both) are lost...

[EricJ]

1 hour ago, gsxrpilot said:

Yeah, I've been flying a turbo for the last 3 years but prior to that it was an M20C. I've just always used flight following. I haven't been in a situation, including flying the M20C through the Rockies and the PacNW, where I thought a VFR flight plan gave me any more protection than flight following did. 

But I can learn and should probably review...

I used to file VFR until I started getting phone calls and notices from the destination ramp folks to call FSS after the previous FSS office failed to forward my delayed departure time, or some other system screw-up that became an annoyance.   It started happening to me with enough regularity that the easy solution, rather than finding out SAR had been looking for me already on some flight, was to just stop filing when VFR.   Kinda didn't like that solution, but at the time it seemed the most practical.

Since I've added the GPS navigator hooked up to the 406 MHz ELT and ADS-B-out, I'm even less motivated to file when VFR, especially if Flight Following is used.    In my experience the benefit of filing is small and the demonstrated potential for the system to screw up negates that advantage.   I wish it wasn't that way for me, but that's how it's gone.

Maybe with the new text-based stuff it'll be easier and a bit more solid.

[Seymour]

2 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

but I just haven't ever filed a VFR flight plan and didn't realize they were that common.

My first in years was an ICAO VFR flight plan that was required for the Canada overflight (Buffalo to Port Huron) on the way to OSH. 

I learned a bunch about my avionics in the process.

[Skates97]

3 hours ago, jaylw314 said:

I'm pretty sure ADS-B In is independent of the information you give to Flight Service.  The ADS-B ground network sends you TIS-B traffic based on the signal in your transponder broadcast--if you go to your transponder setup menu, there should be an option to tell ATC whether you are ADS-B In capable through UAT, 1090ES or both.  If there is an option to pick both, don't do it--only pick one or the other, or else ATC will not send you any TIS-B traffic since they assume you will be able to pick up other ADS-B aircraft air-to-air. 

https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/not-always-seeing-ads-b-rebroadcast-traffic.109409/

I read the thread over on POA and I'm trying to wrap my brain around it. So my Stratux picks up both UAT and 1090ES. My GTX 335 broadcasts 1090ES. I should have the settings on the GTX 335 set to only show ADS-B In capable for 1090ES so that the UAT that the ground station is receiving is rebroadcast to me on the 1090ES? Am I understanding this correctly?

[gsxrpilot]

36 minutes ago, jaylw314 said:

I good example would be the Mt Shasta area between California and Oregon.  At some point you get handed off from Oakland Center to Seattle Center, but at least once I've had to go back and let them know I couldn't pick up the next center on the radio yet.  They could probably see me on radar, but with flight following they'd only know my destination, not necessarily the exact route I'd fly, so it's reassuring to know there's a backup if radio or radar contact (or both) are lost...

I posted this a few years ago here on MooneySpace. 

I was flying between Napa and Roseburg. This was in our M20C and we were on Flight Following talking to Oakland Center. As you said, right around Mount Shasta, Oakland was handing us over to Seattle Center. I acknowledged the hand off from Oakland, but didn't immediately get through to Seattle. A few minutes later Seattle called me. I quickly responded and apologized for not checking in. Seattle just said, "I assumed you were busy taking pictures of that peak just of your right wing". Which happened to be exactly the case.

I think we were at 10.5 or 11.5 but didn't have any problem talking to both Oakland and Seattle. I'm sure if I were lower, it could have been a problem.

I do have an IR so if I think a flight plan is warranted, it's always IFR.

[eman1200]

....Realistically, of course, none of this matters if unless you're on an IFR flight or having an emergency, but once you enter the info in your aircraft data on 1800wxbrief.com, you don't have to bother with it again....

Until someone asks how your plane is equipped. Used to be a nice simple /G response, now it’s, well, who knows, I won’t remember this nonsense.

[gsengle]

I read the thread over on POA and I'm trying to wrap my brain around it. So my Stratux picks up both UAT and 1090ES. My GTX 335 broadcasts 1090ES. I should have the settings on the GTX 335 set to only show ADS-B In capable for 1090ES so that the UAT that the ground station is receiving is rebroadcast to me on the 1090ES? Am I understanding this correctly?

Is your stratux aircraft installed equipment or portable? Portable doesn’t count I don’t think.


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[PT20J]

3 hours ago, gsxrpilot said:

7 hours ago, jaylw314 said:

People are actually opening VFR flight plans

I've quit on VFR flight plans except when crossing the border. Last time I had FSS fail to activate one and another FSS fail to close another one. I contacted each FSS in the air by radio. Instead I get flight following. I figure with flight following, ADS-B, and a 406 ELT that the VFR flight plan doesn't offer much -- and given my latest experience, it seems unreliable.

Skip

[PT20J]

3 hours ago, Bob - S50 said:

Assuming your Stratux has dual band reception I'd use EB2.  That tells the system you can receive 1090 signals.  If you use B1 the system thinks you can't receive data so it won't send any.   The only traffic you'll see is other ADS-B OUT equipment.  You won't get TIS-B traffic.

In the Other block include SUR/260B and CODE/(your hex code)

Huh?