Connecting midair while IFR

[David Yu]

What's the rule for connecting to PE while in the flight levels?

If I'm doing a flight from the east (New York for example) and my destination is LAX, do I have to connect and check in on the network prior to the Denver ARTCC? Or if my TOD falls within the LA ARTCC, can I fly through Denver ARTCC offline and connect and check in to PE prior to my TOD in LA ARTCC?

[zerofay32]

File as you normally would. If you are ZLA only then you will have to wait to connect until you are within the ZLA boundary. If you have both subscriptions, then you can be connected the whole flight. The check in is the same regardless, you call once you are in the ARTCC boundary and pick up your IFR just like any other flight.

[David Yu]

File as you normally would. If you are ZLA only then you will have to wait to connect until you are within the ZLA boundary. If you have both subscriptions, then you can be connected the whole flight. The check in is the same regardless, you call once you are in the ARTCC boundary and pick up your IFR just like any other flight.

So if I have both subscriptions, can I connect at the ZLA boundary or am I required to connect at the ZDV boundary?

I'm just wondering because if I can connect at the ZLA boundary, then I would be able to do other things while I'm in ZDV airspace (offline of course) without having to sit at the computer and monitor the radios. Then I would connect to PE at the ZLA boundary for my descent and landing.

[Keith Smith]

It's definitely a first for someone to have ZLA+WUS but not want to use the WUS subscription because they don't want to deal with enroute ATC I can understand where you're coming from, though. It sounds like you want to fly the departure, let the AP fly the enroute, then show up a little bit before top of descent and re-engage with the simulation.

You're welcome to connect right around the ZLA border, then, and just call LA Center with your request. If you were a ZLA-only customer then you'd need to make sure you were within the ZLA border, however, since you have a WUS sub, there's a bit more wiggle room...the system isn't going to prevent you from connecting within the edge of ZDV, for example, at which point you'd just call LA.

[David Yu]

It's definitely a first for someone to have ZLA+WUS but not want to use the WUS subscription because they don't want to deal with enroute ATC I can understand where you're coming from, though. It sounds like you want to fly the departure, let the AP fly the enroute, then show up a little bit before top of descent and re-engage with the simulation.

You're welcome to connect right around the ZLA border, then, and just call LA Center with your request. If you were a ZLA-only customer then you'd need to make sure you were within the ZLA border, however, since you have a WUS sub, there's a bit more wiggle room...the system isn't going to prevent you from connecting within the edge of ZDV, for example, at which point you'd just call LA.

Don't get me wrong....I LOVE the service! If I'm flying westbound cross country though, I try to get work done during cruise so I'm more efficient with my time.

I just wanted to clarify because I did that once about two weeks ago (KRDU-KSJC), where I connected and checked-in inside ZLC prior to TOD. The controller told me that next time, I have to check-in prior to the WUS boundary (ZDV).

[Keith Smith]

If it's a choice between establishing comms before entering PE airspace or after....the former would be preferable, as the controller eluded to. However, if you're talking about doing this prior to the ZLA border then it's more complex because you're in ZDV airspace, which is controlled on PE. So, there is no 'nice' way to handle the pop-up in that case....you're popping up into SOMEONE's airspace no matter what.

[David Yu]

If it's a choice between establishing comms before entering PE airspace or after....the former would be preferable, as the controller eluded to. However, if you're talking about doing this prior to the ZLA border then it's more complex because you're in ZDV airspace, which is controlled on PE. So, there is no 'nice' way to handle the pop-up in that case....you're popping up into SOMEONE's airspace no matter what.

I agree, there's no "nice" way to do this.

So what's the official ruling on this?

[Keith Smith]

I'd wait until I was just inside the ZLA border, check the online map to make sure I'm not about to pop up on top of anyone else within a reasonable distance, then connect and let LA know that you're there. This way, you're only making it one controller's problem (ZLA) rather than popping up in ZDV airspace and calling ZLA (making it two controllers would be affected).

Ideally, if you can connect prior to entering PE airspace at all, that's even better, as discussed earlier, but what I describe above is generally not the end of the world.

I guess I'm shrugging slightly and wondering what the point is, but that's really up to each simmer to decide I would be more likely to begin and end a flight entirely within the coverage area (we added WUS specifically to 'fit' multi-hour jet flights), but I understand that different people are looking to simulate different things.

[David Yu]

I'd wait until I was just inside the ZLA border, check the online map to make sure I'm not about to pop up on top of anyone else within a reasonable distance, then connect and let LA know that you're there. This way, you're only making it one controller's problem (ZLA) rather than popping up in ZDV airspace and calling ZLA (making it two controllers would be affected).

Ideally, if you can connect prior to entering PE airspace at all, that's even better, as discussed earlier, but what I describe above is generally not the end of the world.

I guess I'm shrugging slightly and wondering what the point is, but that's really up to each simmer to decide I would be more likely to begin and end a flight entirely within the coverage area (we added WUS specifically to 'fit' multi-hour jet flights), but I understand that different people are looking to simulate different things.

Great, thanks for the clarification!