Dave Butler wrote:


Psst...wanna know a secret? I do it because I'm lazy. It's more work if
I have to deal with acquiring Flight Following, at least in my
neighborhood.

Hmmm. If I recall your original post you were complaining about having to
do full stop landings and getting a new clearance for each approach.
That's easier than getting flight following? Anyway, flight following is
optional, of course.

Ah, I see where're you're going with this. It's a good point you're making.
I'm hoping, though, to find places where I can be IFR *and* not have to
land.

I VFRed a flight today (given the temperature and a warning about "ice in
clouds", I wanted the freedom to avoid...and I deliberately headed towards
clouds because I'd questions about the forecast). I picked up advisories
immediately outside of CDW's airspace. But I got dropped once during each
leg, instead of getting the handoff that would be my right as an IFRer.

Ugh All that extra talking laugh.

But at least I did get advisories inbound back to CDW. I don't, always.


There's also a fair chance that I'll not be able to speak to anyone while
approaching my "home" airport, which means one less approach.

I don't understand this statement. Your home airport has an approach
control?

NY approach covers the airspace outside of CDW's little Delta-space.

If you can't speak to them, how are you going to get home at all?

W/o speaking to approach, I have to stay below the class B shelf.

If your home airport has no approach control, how does not being able to
speak prevent you from doing an approach? Anyway, why are you unable to
speak?

Sometimes, NY won't take VFR traffic.

As to whether or not I can fly an approach...I *could*. But the approaches
at CDW conflict with approaches to (depending upon which approach) either
TEB or MMU. I'm not thrilled about following one of those w/o speaking to
Approach.

[...]
I don't know that I'm so comfortable with this idea. Being on an
approach
w/o talking to someone because that someone is too busy? What if the
someone is busy because of others on the approach (or perhaps a
conflicting approach)?

Well, that's life. VFR services are on a workload-permitting basis for
controllers. What you are saying is that you are not comfortable flying
VFR, I guess.

Not at all...but I am uncomfortable with the idea that I'm effectively NORDO
on an approach potentially in use (or conflicting with another approach in
use) by a busy approach control. That's too close to "asking for trouble"
for me.


As for others on the approach, well you can monitor the approach control
frequency, and you have a safety pilot looking out the window.

Monitoring is good. Safety pilot is good. Being w/in the system, plus
those two, is better.

In the Raleigh-Durham area, if the RDU controllers are busy enough to say
"unable VFR practice approaches", it's usually because they are busy with
traffic into and out of RDU. The satellite fields are not equally busy.

Do the approaches at the satellites conflict with RDU? The approaches into
CDW conflict with approaches into MMU and TEB. The TEB approach is one
that is used a *lot*...and it's an alpha, so it is wind-independent.

When you're IFR in VMC, you still have a responsibility to see and avoid,

Of course.

that doesn't change just because you're on an instrument flight plan. You
still can have others (VFR) on the approach or on a conflicting approach.

I was on an approach a few weeks ago, and there was a growing traffic
conflict. We never saw the traffic, and were getting ready to
deviate...when approach told us to move.

Of course, you're absolutely right in what you're saying. But I do like
having that extra set of eyes. There's a lot that I as PIC can
see/do/judge better than they...but they've a view I lack.


I usually
do my approaches at nearby non-towered fields that are under the Raleigh
TRACON jurisdiction, followed by an approach to a full stop at RDU, where
I'm based.


I dislike practicing approaches to nontowered fields VFR. It's not very
good practice, I've found, because I need to behave in a "non-IFR" way
towards the end of the approach to avoid other traffic.

Must be a difference in the traffic density where you live versus piedmont
NC. That happens occasionally, but it beats having to land and get a new
clearance as you described in your original posting.

It depends upon the weather...and is *much* more of a problem on weekends
than weekdays.

- Andrew