gwengler wrote:

Without re-filing in the air I would have been in
contravention of CAR 602.73 (2):
"No pilot-in-command shall operate an aircraft in VFR flight unless a
VFR flight plan or a VFR flight itinerary has been filed, except where
the flight is conducted within 25 nautical miles of the departure
aerodrome."

This passage from Transport Canada's Instrument Procedures Manual (TP
2076E), section 4.1.7 clarifies it a bit:

A pilot may cancel the IFR flight plan or change to a VFR flight plan
provided the aircraft is operating in VFR weather conditions, and is
outside Class A or B airspace. Where conditions permit the remainder of a
flight to be conducted in accordance with VFR, and the pilot so chooses,
the pilot may notify ATC by:

a/ cancelling the IFR flight plan - CANCEL IFR FLIGHT PLAN; or

b/ converting the IFR flight plan - CHANGE FLIGHT PLAN TO VFR.

Only an acknowledgement should be expected when either of the above
messages is transmitted. To convert to a VFR Flight Plan, the pilot must
contact the appropriate flight service station to airfile a VFR Flight
Plan if any other flight plan changes are required.

I just called the London FIC to double-check. They told me that after you
cancel IFR you have an almost-normal VFR flight plan, except for the fact
that it will be ACC rather than FSS that has to alert S&R if you do not
arrive on time. They said that you might run into one tricky problem if
you're flying through Montreal or Ottawa terminal airspace, however --
Montreal and Ottawa want to know the squawk codes for all aircraft flying
through before first contact: if you file an IFR flight plan, terminal has a
(virtual) slip for you, of course, and if you file a VFR flight plan, flight
services calls Quebec FIC and *tells* them your code so that they can pass
it on to terminal. If you switch to VFR in the air, however, terminal won't
have your slip or a phone call from FSS, so people sometimes run into
trouble flying VFR though those two terminal areas if the pilot does not
check in with FSS after cancelling IFR -- it's a little hole in the ACC/FSS
procedures right now, probably because the required squawk codes for VFR is
a very new thing.

Without re-filing in the air I would have been in
contravention of CAR 602.73 (2):
"No pilot-in-command shall operate an aircraft in VFR flight unless a
VFR flight plan or a VFR flight itinerary has been filed, except where
the flight is conducted within 25 nautical miles of the departure
aerodrome."

I don't think so. Even if you didn't want to call it a VFR flight *plan*,
you have a responsible party (ACC, no less) who knows your expected time of
arrival and will put out an alert if you don't show up: that qualifies as a
VFR flight itinerary and still satisfies the CAR.


All the best,


David