PEaware for VFR flights

[arb65912]

I asked that question in some post but it must have been lost in the translation.

I remember from the previous discussions that Keith mentioned ability to file VFR flight on PE
Many times, I flew on PE and if ATC did not issue a strip for me from the beginning ( flight following ), my flights of course were not recorded on PEaware.

I am not trying to rake hours flying on PE but I would like to see the history of my flights which is not possible since they are 90% VFR flights.

I am not pushing anything, just wonder if there are still plans to utilize that feature.

Cheers, AJ

[Keith Smith]

yes, there are plans to add VFR flight plan filing to the X-Plane client specifically for this purpose. In the mean time, your best bet is to coordinate flight following on the ground (if you're leaving from a towered airport). ATC will create a strip for you with your departure and destination airports, which will allow the flight to be tracked by PEaware.

[arb65912]

Thank you, Keith. Cheers, AJ

[Colin Payette]

Keith, if you pick up flight following en-route, can you still receive a strip? I've been doing it this way and a couple had no strip, and one had a strip starting along the middle of my path (but well after I picked up flight following). I haven't been filing plans through the PE client because I thought I saw something on here discouraging that for VFR.

[Keith Smith]

The issue we were facing was that pilots were filing VFR flight plans and then calling for "VFR as filed," or calling ATC and assuming that we were aware of the pilot's intentions as a result of them filing a VFR flight plan. We weren't discouraging pilots from filing VFR....we were simply asking them to not assume that ATC knew their intentions (even though we really did, because we COULD see the flight plans, unlike what happens in real life).

As of this morning, the server has been reconfigured such that ATC does NOT see pilot-filed VFR flight plans. As a result, I'll be updating the X-Plane client to allow VFR flight plan filing (for PEaware-tracking purposes). Look for an announcement of that update soon.

[Colin Payette]

Ah yes, that makes sense. Thanks! As I understand it, only FSS knows of your flight plan.