Flying IFR in a glider

wrote on 6/27/2020 4:28 AM:
A controller can't approve such a request without sticking their neck way out.

Get in touch with the facility (Seattle Center?) and work out a window. You can use other LOAs to make a draft. Window should be clear of both low- and high-altitude airways if possible.

Years ago (20?), it was possible to get "individual LOAs" with a Center, that
would allow you to request a block of airspace above 18K. It did not not require
an IFR rating. Sterling Starr had one for the Montana area, and I had one for the
Washington area. I used it so infrequently, I let it lapse. It's a flexible
solution for the individual pilot, if it's still available.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1

On Saturday, June 27, 2020 at 7:17:16 AM UTC-6, Eric Greenwell wrote:
wrote on 6/27/2020 4:28 AM:
A controller can't approve such a request without sticking their neck way out.

Get in touch with the facility (Seattle Center?) and work out a window. You can use other LOAs to make a draft. Window should be clear of both low- and high-altitude airways if possible.

Years ago (20?), it was possible to get "individual LOAs" with a Center, that
would allow you to request a block of airspace above 18K. It did not not require
an IFR rating. Sterling Starr had one for the Montana area, and I had one for the
Washington area. I used it so infrequently, I let it lapse. It's a flexible
solution for the individual pilot, if it's still available.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1

That's apparently still possible! A friend of mine who flies out of a small airport in CO has a LoA with Denver and he gets regularly cleared to FL230 or FL250. As a commercial airline pilot, he knows of course whom to contact and all the right phraseology.

Uli
'AS'