Bill Watson wrote:
Ron Lee wrote:
"Robert M. Gary" wrote:

On Oct 31, 6:03 pm, (Ron Lee) wrote:
I took a long trip from Colorado to TN to GA, Kitty Hawk, NC, MO and
back home and used FSS multiple times. Wait time was essentially ZERO
and the briefings were complete, useful and professional. I have
heard of horror stories but I did not encounter any.

Ron Lee
Hopefully its getting better. I spent 20 minutes on hold in my plane
trying to get an IFR clearance through FSS on my cell phone.

-Robert

Seems like I heard some ATC facility encourage a pilot to NOT use FSS
to get a clearance on the same trip. I did not use FSS during the
initial takeover by LockMart so my point of reference is only this
past week.

Ron Lee
Sounds like 2 different things here - my working understanding of the
system is I get briefings and file plans with FSS. I get clearances
from ATC. Getting a clearance from FSS is an exercise in relayed
messages I think.

At uncontrolled airports without local radio outlets, in the past you
needed to call an ATC number to get a void time clearance. Sometimes
that number was hard to find or identify. I think the very latest
issue of AOPA mag mentions that there is now an 800 number for such
clearances. That sounds like it could be a good thing for those of us
going to unfamiliar small airports.
*IFR clearance delivery:*
888/766-8267

KC