![]() ![]() If you’re on the ground and really need a complicated routing across multiple fixes and airways, I recommend you just take the time to file an IFR flight plan. Third, include your destination, and don’t be overly picky about your routing to get there. There are certain words that key us into the fact that you don’t have a filed IFR flight plan, such as “requesting a pop-up IFR clearance” or-in plain ol’ English-”I don’t have an IFR flight plan filed.” If we hear these kinds of phrases, we won’t waste time hunting through the computer or our rack of flight plan strips. Second, be clear about your non-filed status. “Lumberg Approach, November Six Alpha Bravo, calling on the ground at Claxton Airport.” Okay, now I’ve got your position nailed down and I can select the right transmitter. Don’t just say, “Lumberg Approach, this is November Three Alpha Bravo, calling on the ground.” On the ground where? Depending on my airspace configuration, I could have thirty uncontrolled airports under my supervision. By the time you do that and get back to ATC, they’ll have your flight plan, so there’s no need for a pop-up.īe as specific as possible with your position on your initial call. ![]() If you’ve got to talk to Flight Service, you may as well file an IFR flight plan with them. Let’s look at the pilot on the ground first, and assume you’re talking to ATC directly, not via a Flight Service relay. Pop-up clearance requests can come from aircraft on the ground wanting to depart and from aircraft already in the air wanting to stay legal and safe. Like most things in aviation, though, there are a few things that can get you into trouble, and a few points to keep in mind to make it all easier. While a filed IFR flight plan is always preferred, the ATC system and the controllers who operate it are flexible enough to work without one. Other common uses are maintenance flights that need to hop up into the Class A flight levels briefly to test pressurization or engine systems and VFR flight following aircraft that are concerned about weather conditions further down their route. There are many common scenarios that I encounter regularly as an approach controller, such as flight school aircraft who departed a marginal VFR airport on a training flight and return to find their home base went IMC. The reality is this: pop-up clearances happen all the time, all across the United States. Nevertheless, our pilot swore he’d give the center a call once the flight was over and get some real clarification. No sense in winning a battle to lose a war. Not wanting to flunk his BFR, the pilot opted to wait the weather out as suggested. His instructor, to our pilot’s surprise, said it wasn’t possible to do that. The pilot suggested they use the listed ground-based radio frequency to call the overlying ATC center for a “pop-up” clearance. To top it off, the part-time tower was closed. Since they had planned to depart VFR, they didn’t file an IFR flight plan. As he and his instructor were about to depart, the airport weather went from a manageable SCT006 to BKN006, requiring an IFR clearance. The pilot wasn’t having much luck on his flight review. ![]()
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