(Snowbird) wrote:
OK, one thing I've never really understood is the point
of Tower Enroute Control. Maybe it doesn't apply much
here in the Midwest where there's space between TRACONs.

Can anyone explain this to me, using small words and speaking
slowly?

At least here in the northeast, TEC is just another bit of sillyness
instrument students waste time studying.

There are two sets of "preferred routes" listed in the AFD, a set of
"normal" routes and a set of TEC routes. There really isn't any
fuctional difference that I can see. Either way, you have to file a
full IFR flight plan with a route defined by VORs and airways, get your
clearance, fly the clearance, etc. It's just an annoyance that you have
to look in two different places to find the route you want (not to
mention that half the time you don't get it anyway).

My understanding is that in the land of Arnold, they have something
called TEC which works entirely differently. They name the routes so
they're easy to say, and let you bypass most of the flight plan stuff.
But I'll let one of the Arnold-ites talk more about how that works.