Picking up IFR clearance after departing VFR

[twharrell]

I've been listening to the pilot workshops this whole week, and want to explore VFR departures a little more. They were briefly covered at the end of the IFR departures workshop but then never picked up again in the IFR enroute workshop. Perhaps VFR departures with IFR clearances enroute are just not necessary on Pilot Edge, I don't know, but I ran across an interesting article on these departures earlier today, and for some reason find them intriguing. Here's a link to the article:

http://bruceair.wordpress.com/2010/12/0 ... e-enroute/

I thought it was a good read and hope others gain something from the article as I did. I'm have my PPL- ASEL but hope to eventually work on my instrument rating in the near future, which is why this interested me. I hope we can practice these departures/IFR clearances on Pilot Edge, because I can see where these can be useful in the real world.

So, I thought it would be interesting to paint a possible scenario where this might be practiced on Pilot Edge. Let's say I want to fly from Perkins Airport (U08) in Overton, NV to John Wayne Airport (KSNA) in SoCal. Conditions are VMC, so I feel like departing VFR and then picking up my IFR clearance enroute. My filed route will be BLD V21 RAL. I decide that I will pick up my clearance at the Boulder City VOR, so I file BLD VOR as my origin, and KSNA as my destination. Cruising altitude will be 10,000 ft. My "departure" time is the time I expect to reach the Boulder City VOR. In the remarks, I mention I departed Perkins Airport. Flight plan filed, I depart Perkins, climb to 6500 ft, and intercept the V21 airway soon after. I contact Las Vegas Departure for flight following. Hopefully they will offer my IFR clearance early or I request my clearance well before reaching BLD VOR. Is this a plausible scenario?

I'd love to read comments from some real world instrument rated guys and gals (especially if you have flown similar scenarios), controllers, and anyone else who wants to chime in.

Todd

[rgrazian]

Hi Todd,

The PE workshops are awesome and helped a lot during my instrument training!

Just so you know, I got my private in May1995 and my Instrument in May this year (I took some time off from flying between 1995 and now).  However, I fly often and have used my new rating a lot in the past months.  I would say I've picked up IFR clearances in the air about 50% of the time.  This is VERY commonplace in real world. Unlike the example described in the article, my reason was because I was departing non-towered fields.  In the real world, this saves a phone call to clearance delivery or FSS.  It also often expedites departure. For example, if another pilot was flying an approach into the non-towered field, you would be held for departure. However, you can depart VFR. Clearly as the article points out, if the weather is questionable, I would pick it up on the ground. 

Additionally, I have done this on PE when flying in from outside the coverage area.  I'll file from a fix just inside the coverage area and call ATC about 10 mins out.

Lastly, you can also pickup a "pop-up" IFR clearance. This can come in handy in a pinch.

Rob

[twharrell]

Rob,

You sound a lot like me. I received my PPL in 1991 and haven't flown since 1992 (long story). I hope to get some refresher training soon. Afterward, I hope to begin working on my IR. My ultimate aviation goal is to get a Citation 500/501 type rating. I don't know why, but I just love those old Citations.

Todd

[Keith Smith]

If you're going to be picking up your clearance fairly quickly after departure, I would simply file the departure airport as the origin, rather than a nearby VOR and keep your life simple. You can technically file any waypoint as an origin, but having an airport there is likely to be more familiar to everyone involved in the process. On PE, it also means you flight will get tracked by peaware (it doesn't support non-airport origins).

I routinely depart VFR from non-towered airports in sleepy parts of the world and pickup in the air. It's not a good idea in very busy airspace, though. In those cases, you're better off picking up clearance on the ground via phone with the TRACON (or the national clearance delivery number), getting your route, then departing VFR and activating in the air. I heard a guy get chewed out by NY Approach for departing Lincoln Park and trying to pick up his clearance in the air (with the sector that handles Teterboro, Morristown, Caldwell, Lincoln Park and Newark rwy 11 arrivals).

Feel free to practice both forms (depart VFR call in the air, or pickup on the ground, depart VFR, activate in the air) on the network!