Flight Following question

So far, every time I come out of ROG and request flight following to it
doesn't matter where, I get a discrete squawk that allows departure to
hand me off to Memphis Center, or Dallas, or Kansas City. Coming out of
LIT however I've never been given anything except a local code and then
about 15 miles out the familiar "radar advisories terminated, squawk
VFR, have a nice day".

I specifically tested this twice on Friday, making sure that when I
called up clearance delivery and then ground that I made it very plain
that I was requesting flight following. Both times, again they dumped me
from the system between 15 and 20 miles out. The second time, I forced
the issue and stated that I was requesting flight following for the
enroute segment if able. I was then given a Memphis enroute code and
handed off within about 10 miles.

My question for the group is: is there a special terminology that should
be used when requesting full-enroute flight following? Or, why do some
controllers provide that service automatically and others seemingly only
under duress? (I don't think it is a controller issue, however it might
be a facility policy issue).

"Jim Carter" wrote in
news:000801c71c01$25c5bf10$4b01a8c0@omnibook6100:

So far, every time I come out of ROG and request flight following to
it doesn't matter where, I get a discrete squawk that allows
departure to hand me off to Memphis Center, or Dallas, or Kansas City.
Coming out of LIT however I've never been given anything except a
local code and then about 15 miles out the familiar "radar advisories
terminated, squawk VFR, have a nice day".

VFR flight following is on a workload permitted basis.

If approach doesn't give you a hand off, just call center servicing the
area and pick up flight following through them.

If you know you have been given a local code, you may want to contact LIT
approach and ask if VFR flight following is available outside their
airspace.

They can answer accordingly or advise you what frequency to contact for
continuation of VFR flight following.

Allen

"Jim Carter" wrote:

My question for the group is: is there a special terminology that should
be used when requesting full-enroute flight following?

This exact situation happens routinely here in the Phoenix area. If I request flight following, even when I
state a destination outside Phoenix tracon's airspace, they will normally just give me a local squawk code
and terminate services when outside their airspace. I've found that the magic words that seem to work
are, "... request flight following with a center hand-off", sometimes with an "if able" or "time permitting"
thrown in for good measure. The controller will then get a center squawk code from Albuquerque center,
and hand me off.

My impression is that it's just a workload thing. Flight following is on a workload permitting basis, and they
can minimize their effort by just getting a local squawk with no coordination, and no hand-off. It is mildly
annoying, I must agree. If I tell them my VFR destination which is clearly in center's airspace, it would
seem that they could make the effort to coordinate it.

Mike

Flight Following questionJim, as others have indicated, it can be variable.
I have had most luck with "Request flight following to destination" or
"Request to be put into the system for flight following to destination". Or
you can just file an ATC flight plan for VFR flight following. That
automatically puts you into the system.

Stan

"Jim Carter" wrote in message
news:000801c71c01$25c5bf10$4b01a8c0@omnibook6100.. .
So far, every time I come out of ROG and request flight following to it
doesn't matter where, I get a discrete squawk that allows departure to hand
me off to Memphis Center, or Dallas, or Kansas City. Coming out of LIT
however I've never been given anything except a local code and then about 15
miles out the familiar "radar advisories terminated, squawk VFR, have a nice
day".
I specifically tested this twice on Friday, making sure that when I called
up clearance delivery and then ground that I made it very plain that I was
requesting flight following. Both times, again they dumped me from the
system between 15 and 20 miles out. The second time, I forced the issue and
stated that I was requesting flight following for the enroute segment if
able. I was then given a Memphis enroute code and handed off within about 10
miles.
My question for the group is: is there a special terminology that should be
used when requesting full-enroute flight following? Or, why do some
controllers provide that service automatically and others seemingly only
under duress? (I don't think it is a controller issue, however it might be a
facility policy issue).

"Stan Prevost" wrote in
:
Or you can just file an ATC flight plan
for VFR flight following. That automatically puts you into the
system.

Filing VFR flight plan DOES NOT put you in the system. It's only for
search and rescue, nothing more.

You don't activate the flight plan with ATC, but with FSS on a VFR flight
plan.

Allen

-----Original Message-----
From: A Lieberma ]
Posted At: Saturday, December 09, 2006 8:48 PM
Posted To: rec.aviation.ifr
Conversation: Flight Following question
Subject: Flight Following question

"Jim Carter" wrote in
news:000801c71c01$25c5bf10$4b01a8c0@omnibook6100:

So far, every time I come out of ROG and request flight following to
it doesn't matter where, I get a discrete squawk that allows
departure to hand me off to Memphis Center, or Dallas, or Kansas
City.
Coming out of LIT however I've never been given anything except a
local code and then about 15 miles out the familiar "radar
advisories
terminated, squawk VFR, have a nice day".

VFR flight following is on a workload permitted basis.


Yep, I'm aware of that which is why I expected maybe that was the issue.
Last Friday however, when I decided to "test" that theory I got handed
off to Memphis and the sector controller seemed very chatty - with
almost nothing else going on.

Little Rock (Adams Field) has instituted a non-IFR pre-taxi clearance
delivery frequency. First you pick up ATIS, then call non-IFR clearance,
then finally you get to talk to ground control for a VFR departure. It's
almost like they are trying to justify some positions rather than
improve safety or efficiency on the ground.

I would think that encouraging flight following would help their
numbers, but since they tend to work as an isolated little unit with VFR
traffic very few of the guys I fly with use them for that purpose. That
can't help their numbers.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Adams ]
Posted At: Saturday, December 09, 2006 9:24 PM
Posted To: rec.aviation.ifr
Conversation: Flight Following question
Subject: Flight Following question

"Jim Carter" wrote:

My question for the group is: is there a special terminology that
should
be used when requesting full-enroute flight following?

....
are, "... request flight following with a center hand-off",

I'll try that next time I'm down there. Good idea.

"Jim Carter" wrote in news:000401c71c0e$aadf0190
$4b01a8c0@omnibook6100:

Little Rock (Adams Field) has instituted a non-IFR pre-taxi clearance
delivery frequency. First you pick up ATIS, then call non-IFR
clearance,
then finally you get to talk to ground control for a VFR departure.
It's
almost like they are trying to justify some positions rather than
improve safety or efficiency on the ground.

Is there a NOTAM on that somewhere for a non IFR pretaxi clearance
frequency? Just checked DUATS, and they only have the following
frequencies:

UNICOM 122.950
JONESBORO FSS (JBR) 1-800-WX-BRIEF NOTAM FILE LIT
APCH/P DEP/P CLASS C 119.5(222-041)
APCH/P DEP/P CLASS C IC 135.4(042-221)
ATIS 125.65(501-324-2618)
CD/P PTC 118.95
EMERG 121.5
GND/P 121.9
IC 135.4
LCL/P 118.7

What you describe above *almost* sounds normal for me as I would do the
following for departing Little Rock based on my DUATS briefing:

Get ATIS 125.65
Contact Clearance and Delivery for my VFR intentions (or IFR) 118.95
Contact ground for taxiing 121.9
Contact Tower 118.7 for departure
Contact departure frequency 119.5 or 135.4

Allen

"Jim Carter" wrote in message
news:000801c71c01$25c5bf10$4b01a8c0@omnibook6100

My question for the group is: is there a special terminology that
should be used when requesting full-enroute flight following? Or, why
do some controllers provide that service automatically and others
seemingly only under duress? (I don't think it is a controller issue,
however it might be a facility policy issue).

Besides the obvious workload issue, I have read about different ATC
facilities unable to handoff VFR traffic. Luckily, I haven't had that
happen, but I don't think you'll find a "magic phrase" to make it work
seamlessly in your situation (based on the history you mentioned).

--
John T
http://sage1solutions.com/blogs/TknoFlyer
Reduce spam. Use Sender Policy Framework: http://openspf.org
____________________

On 2006-12-10, A Lieberma wrote:
"Stan Prevost" wrote in
:
Or you can just file an ATC flight plan
for VFR flight following. That automatically puts you into the
system.

Filing VFR flight plan DOES NOT put you in the system. It's only for
search and rescue, nothing more.

You don't activate the flight plan with ATC, but with FSS on a VFR flight
plan.

Allen

He did not say to file a VFR flight plan, he said an ATC flight plan for VFR
flight following - you check the IFR box, put VFR or VFR/altitude in the
altitude box.

-Milen