Question about SFRA entry/exit

[jdoggchief]

Hello,

First of all I want to say that, as a low-time real-world pilot I'm having a great time on PE, and it's been a great help in keeping my "aviation brain" engaged when I can't afford to fly in the real world. I think this will be a great help in staying current on radio procedures and management of the "aviate/navigate/communicate" multitasking. A few nights ago I had a great experience while trying to take my V2 test; I encountered a low overcast and ended up picking up an enroute IFR clearance to climb through the clouds to my destination! This forfeited my V2, but it was a great learning experience, especially since I don't have an instrument rating IRL. My one big mistake was switching over to tower before being handed off by approach--I thought that "cleared for the visual approach" was an implicit handoff. Thanks to the tower controller for making me aware of the mistake!

I'm writing to ask about the SFRA, specifically in context of the V3 test. I'm aware that ATC contact is not required to enter the SFRA and that pilots are encouraged to transmit on a specific air-to-air freq while in the area. I also know that pilots must squawk 1201 while in the SFRA. My question has to do with entering and leaving the SFRA while under flight following. Say I'm flying north up the coast, underneath the Bravo, with flight following. I'm on frequency with Approach and I'm squawking, say, 3055. Now it's time to enter the SFRA. Will approach tell me when to change to the air-to-air frequency and when to squawk 1201, or am I responsible for requesting a frequency change before crossing the SFRA border? And when I exit the SFRA to the north, am I supposed to go back to the same controller and squawk code (3055) in order to resume flight following?

Thanks,
Jesse

[Keith Smith]

Jesse,

You'll want to be proactive in letting the controller know how you intend to transition the Bravo. There's no hard and fast rule about whether he'll cut you loose, or whether you request it. It's very similar to the process of getting flight following to a non-towered airport. Sometimes you'll have to tell the controller you want to check out and swap to the CTAF, other times, they'll cut you loose a reasonable distance from the field.

What really matters is that you have a plan as to when you want to be on the SFRA self-announce freq. If that time is approaching and the controller hasn't cut you loose, then request it.

If you plan to resume radar service on the other side, let the controller know and see what he says.

It isn't any more complicated than that, I'm afraid

[jdoggchief]

Thanks for the explanation, Keith. So just to be clear, canceling flight following before entering the SFRA, then getting in touch with a different controller (say, LAX tower in order to do the Mini Route) won't interfere with the tracking of my V3 completion progress? I'm just asking because for the previous two V-ratings, I was in constant radio contact with a chain of controllers from departure to landing, so there was no question that everyone knew I was flying a rating test.

Jesse

[Keith Smith]

Jesse,

If there's a discontinuity in the handling of your flight (ie, you're out of touch with ATC for a while, or you're not explicitly handed from one controller to another), it's not a bad idea to renew the controller that you're on the V3 check ride. It certainly never hurts.