VFR position reporting

Neil Gould writes:

Why don't you just take a ground school course?

It would be in French, and I don't want to learn about French
aviation. It would be expensive, and I have no money for such things.
It would be very time-consuming, and I don't have enough time for
that. And it would probably be at an airport somewhere, for which I
have no transportation.

I read books when I can afford them, and I visit Web sites.

It can be less expensive than an intro flight, though not
nearly as much fun, but it would answer many of this type of
question for you.

I can't afford classes or intro flights.

As to this particular primitive question: there is no need to report your
position to anyone unless you are experiencing some problem, regardless of
whether you have flight following. This should be obvious, and easy to
understand by asking yourself, "Who would care to know this information?"

Search and rescue teams. If you never provide a position report, they
won't know where you went down. If, like many VFR pilots, you don't
even bother to file a flight plan, they might not even know you are
missing. By the time they look for you and find you, you're dead.

--
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"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...

Search and rescue teams. If you never provide a position report, they
won't know where you went down. If, like many VFR pilots, you don't
even bother to file a flight plan, they might not even know you are
missing. By the time they look for you and find you, you're dead.


This is correct. From the pilots I have talked to, I see several
philosophies: 1) Flying over popluated areas, a crash is going to be known
and reported well before any automated trigger for search and rescue would
be initiated; 2) A wife/SO/friend knows to call FSS if they don't call/show
up by XX:XX; 3) File a flight plan so at least they will have a route path
to search; 4) File a flight plan and use flight following. ATC will prompt
for position reports if they don't have radar coverage. There are no
mandatory reporting points for VFR flights even on a flight plan; 5) Don't
do anything. Ce La Vie.

In terms of timing the start of search and rescue, 2) and 3) are about the
same. 1) is only good if the whole flight is over populated areas. 4) will
get the fastest response and has other benefits. 5) is unacceptable for my
personal minimums.

I tend not to file flight plans only because I don't typically go from point
A to point B. Sometimes, I don't know where I will end up or how I will get
there. A flight plan would only have them searching in the wrong place.

2) is always armed for me but then I have a loving partner and family. I
tend to write out my basic plan so that they can (while fighting back the
tears) convey to FSS the best places to search. Backing that up is either 1)
or 4).

Filing a flight plan with passengers on board is a mixed bag. On the one
had, I want to offer the most protection to my passengers as possible. On
the other hand, it is nice to be able to chit-chat and sightsee without
worring about ATC.

It is pretty unusual to just call FSS out of the blue with a position
report. They will certainly make a note of it but without 2), it won't do
much good until days later when you don't show up for work. Other than
filing a flight plan, there is no such thing as "N123 over podunk VOR. If
you don't hear from me in an hour, come looking."
-------------------------------
Travis
Lake N3094P
PWK

Mxsmanic,

By the time they look for you and find you, you're dead.


And the likelyhood of this what, based on which statistics? In other
words, are we talking about a real-world problem or something you made
up as a hypothetical scenario?

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Thomas Borchert writes:

And the likelyhood of this what, based on which statistics? In other
words, are we talking about a real-world problem or something you made
up as a hypothetical scenario?

I like to keep safety on my side. You can do what you want.

--
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Mxsmanic,

I like to keep safety on my side.


Well, you're sitting in a room. That should do it, no reporting
necessary.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Thomas Borchert wrote:

Mxsmanic,


I like to keep safety on my side.



Well, you're sitting in a room. That should do it, no reporting
necessary.

I believe he should report his position to his
parents on an hourly basis.

Thomas Borchert writes:

Well, you're sitting in a room. That should do it, no reporting
necessary.

I'm simulating real life, therefore reporting is a good idea.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

You can file all of the position reports you want, or not- it won't make any
difference since you are not flying. The majority of planes registered in
the US are equipped with ELT's (look it up), which is why most pilots no
longer need to file position reports. The newer ELT's with GPS interface are
now detectable by SARSAT within the accuracy of the GPS signal.

Viperdoc writes:

You can file all of the position reports you want, or not- it won't make any
difference since you are not flying. The majority of planes registered in
the US are equipped with ELT's (look it up), which is why most pilots no
longer need to file position reports. The newer ELT's with GPS interface are
now detectable by SARSAT within the accuracy of the GPS signal.

Aircraft with plenty of fuel on board will often burst into flames
when they crash, so pilots who still have lots of fuel need not file
position reports.

--
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As usual, the logic of your argument is flawless. I apologize. My main
computer crashed and I have been working off of my laptop, and I had
neglected to add you to the killfile. It won't happen again.