Could be that you are not looking deep enough into available resources
before filing. Don't stop at preferred routes and Tower Enroute, but have
a look at STARS as well. I fly into NYC (Republic, Islip Teterboro)
from upstate New York or New England without any route changes, or few,
but I try to file in a way that resembles the traffic they are used to
dealing with. A STAR may be designed for traffic initiating from much
further up and much further out, but it is a good indication of what ATC
is looking for. If you file some waypoints which resemble the STAR there
is every chance you will be cleared "as filed" and have few, if any, route
changes along the way.

STARS, preferred routes, Terminal enroute - whatever, it's to your
advantage to try to program a flight that fits into what ATC is expecting.
If you say you "never" get what you file, this is not my experience on the
US East Coast, and it could mean you are unlucky, or just as likely you
might pay more attention to how you file.




In article
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says...


Hello fellow pilots,

I need help finding a preferred route from KPBI - KGNV. I have to do a
flight plan for my ground course and can't find the route. Also, do i
have to calculate for winds as I do for VFR flights? How would I do
that?

Hello fellow pilot,

The advice you were given in the NG about finding preferred routes in
the
A/FD will work and is what you should do for your ground class.

In the real world when I am flying IFR somewhere I've never been
before I
have a system to get my route ahead of time.

On the east coast and at my uncontrolled airport where we get our
clearances
by calling the local approach facility, I rarely get ANY flight plan I
file
no matter where I look it up from. I end up getting a new and unique
one
ATC wants me to fly while I'm sitting in the plane with the propeller
spinning at 90 bucks a Hobbs hour (and this is in my own plane!).
Then I
have to throw out my original flight plan with all my calculated times
and
fuel burns. Next I have about 5 minutes release time and a 5 minute
void
time to mark my charts with an erasable highlighter, enter all the
waypoints
into the GPS, finish my checklist items, taxi, do the run-up, taxi
into line
for departure, do my before take-off checklist and pray there aren't
too
many planes ahead of me for takeoff such that I can get into the air
before
my void time expires.

Needless to say it's like a cockpit karate tournament during those
tense 10
minutes. To save myself this trouble I file my flight plan early
while at
home with a departure time 30 minutes from whatever time it is. I
then call
from home to get my clearance and learn the route I'm going to get. I
then
tell them that I am going to cancel my flight plan and I will have to
call
back later to re-file. They never ask why and just say that my flight
plan
is cancelled.

Now I have all the info I need to mark my charts, enter the waypoints
in the
GPS ahead of time and calculate my times and fuel. Now when I really
pick
up my clearance there isn't this mad rabid rush.

GW