There are literally thousands of small airports around the country which are used every day by general aviation pilots without the ben- efit of an instrument approach. Some of them lie in uncontrolled air- space and are not subject to the IFR rules. But there are many in controlled airspace to which operations are conducted quite legally when the weather prevents VFR flight all the way. If there is an air- port close by with a published procedure, you may be able to make the approach there, break it off when you arrive in VFR conditions, and proceed to your “little airport” destination.
This is a good plan, but only under certain conditions; you must be sure that the weather will permit a safe VFR operation from the end of the published approach to the non-IFR airport, the approach used to get you down to VFR conditions should not lead to a “No Special VFR” airport if the weather is pushing visual minimums, and you should be prepared to land at the IFR airport if you can’t con- tinue VFR.
Every bit as important as the other considerations is your respon- sibility to communicate to ATC your intentions as early in the flight as possible, preferably in the Remarks block of your flight plan request (“will proceed VFR to Little Airport”). You’ll earn the undying enmity of the controllers if you wait until you’re on final approach and fitted neatly into the landing sequence to let them know that you are going
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to “break it off” and go to some other airport. There is usually no problem if you will just make your desires known early in the game. It’s a completely legal procedure and can work to your advantage under the proper conditions; it appears underhanded and less than professional when a pilot tries to “sneak” an approach for the pur- pose of proceeding to a non-IFR field. Unless your flight presents a traffic hazard for them, ATC will go along with you, sometimes even supplying vectors to the “little” airport.
IFR Flight Plans from a
“No-Facility” Airport
Well, here you are, back at the airport after a day’s work with your clients in West Snowshoe, Montana. When you arrived this morning, the sun was shining in a clear blue sky and the forecast promised the same thing all day. Now, preflighting the Barnburner in cold rain falling from a 500-foot overcast, you’re not so sure. Besides that, the FBO has gone home— thank the gods who look out for pilots that there’s a telephone booth outside the hangar.
All is not lost because there is still a way to obtain a clearance under these conditions; the only requirement is that you are able to contact someone in ATC: a Flight Service Station, a nearby tower, or even Center. (If there’s plenty of ceiling and visibility, you might take off and remain VFR while you file your flight plan and receive clear- ance, but there’s no guarantee of a quick clearance, and you might wind up flying around a lot longer than you’d like.)
A more efficient way to get the job done is to call the nearest FSS on the phone, explain the situation, and file a flight plan, with the ad- ditional request for a “void-time” clearance. (Choose the route and altitude to the first fix with great care because you will be entirely on your own until ATC acquires you on radar. File so as to get on an air- way as soon as you can to take advantage of the guaranteed terrain and obstacle clearance. It may be necessary to refer to a sectional chart to make sure of the elevations along your route to the first fix.) Under these conditions, Flight Service will likely ask you to stand by, and will call your flight plan request directly to the governing Center while you wait. Bear in mind that this procedure is almost always un- dertaken from an out-of-the-way airport, and there will probably be little if any traffic in the immediate area. When a delay is probable, Flight Service will have you call back in a few minutes or will take 58
your phone number and call you back; the latter is especially impor- tant when you have no more quarters.
If the system can handle your flight now, your clearance will be issued with a release time and a void time. You may not depart be- fore the release time nor after the void time. The deadline imposed by the void time may not be very far away, but if it’s too close for comfort, tell the FSS specialist and it will be revised. In anticipation of this, figure how long it will take you to board your passengers and taxi to the runway before you call for a void-time clearance.
It’s important to get ready for a void time 10 or 15 minutes from now because Center doesn’t want to hold airspace open any longer than necessary. If ATC hasn’t heard from you shortly after the void time, they assume that you have taken off and suffered communica- tions failure, and therefore, they must open up routes and altitudes for your entire proposed trip, just in case. This is one of those situa- tions in which good pilots can exercise their judgment and refuse a void time that is too close. Remember that you will probably be tak- ing off into IFR conditions (otherwise you wouldn’t be concerned about the void time), and this is no time to be racing the clock. When you file your flight plan with FSS, let them know that, because of the distance to the runway or whatever, you cannot possibly be off the ground in fewer than 20 minutes (or a reasonable length of time according to the situation). FSS will pass this on to Center, and they’ll more than likely respect your problem. From the time you enter the clouds, this type of clearance is no different than any other, and all the rules of IFR operations apply.
You can help yourself by anticipating the need for a void-time clearance. Suppose that during the afternoon in West Snowshoe you noticed the clouds beginning to thicken. If you suspect IFR condi- tions for your takeoff in the evening, call Flight Service and file your flight plan in advance, with the expectation of needing a void time. The FSS specialist may even be one step ahead of you and have a clearance waiting when you call.
Having received a void-time clearance, you must respect its limi- tations as if it meant life or death, which it might. Be sure your watch agrees with ATC time, and do all within your power to leave the ground not 1 second before or after the appropriate times. If you can’t make the void time (and fuel-injected engines are notorious for not starting in a situation like this), shut everything down, swear a lot, run through the rain to the phone booth, call Flight Service, and start all over again. It might be wise to toss a couple of quarters into the
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glove box of your airplane the next time you fly; you never can tell when your passengers might be as broke as you are!