Flight Following

[n65z]

I am planning a flight following flight from KCRQ to KLPC @ 4500 ft (higher after clearing bravo). 2 questions:

1) My flight path takes me over the Santa Ana Class Charlie, and I will be briefly "nicking" the 5400ft shelf. I assume I can request a Class Charlie transition at current altitude? I would normally fly this route at 6500 and not worry about the Charlie, but I have to get down to 4500ft by SLI.....which brings me to my second and most important question...

2) I will be transitioning LAX B via the LASFR....do I need to contact the controller I am with and request the switch to 128.55 and squawk 1201, and then once clear, contact him back on freq with previously assigned squawk code?

[Ryan B]

Fly it at 10,500 and don't talk to anyone haha

Back to reality - could you use another transition where you're talking to ATC instead of the SFRA?

Also if you have flight following (bring provided radar service) you don't need to ask for a transition - you already have it for flying through class C and D airports

[Keith Smith]

If you'd normally fly it at 6500ft then fly it at 6500ft and simply request the Coastal Route through the Bravo.

Otherwise, if you really want to fly the SFRA, tell 'em that's what you want to do and that'd you'd like to know a good freq for flight following on the other side of the Bravo. They'll terminate your radar service, you'll squawk 1201 and they'll let you know what frequency to call on the other side.

Doing it at 6500 via the Coastal Route is considerably easier. The only reason to use the SFRA, near as I can tell, is if you specifically didn't want to talk to ATC for the transition. If you're already talking to ATC prior to the Bravo, then the Coastal Route is the way to go.

[n65z]

Keith, the costal route does make way more sense, thank you!

Ryan, I didn't realize that flight following did not require me to adhere to Charlie or Delta airspace shelves. That is good to know...learning something new everyday...thanks


I guess since I will do the costal route at 6500, I won't have to worry about the Charlie anyways...lol

[Keith Smith]

Ryan, I'm glad you brought that up. A few forum posts of late have referenced to calling approach and 'requesting a charlie transition'. The former negates the need for the latter

The Delta one is a lot more subtle and requires knowledge which is generally only available (afaik) through the FAA Order on ATC (7110.65), but once you have that info, it's very handy, no doubt.

[Ryan B]

Ryan, I'm glad you brought that up. A few forum posts of late have referenced to calling approach and 'requesting a charlie transition'. The former negates the need for the latter

The Delta one is a lot more subtle and requires knowledge which is generally only available (afaik) through the FAA Order on ATC (7110.65), but once you have that info, it's very handy, no doubt.

No prob.... totally agree with you about the Delta... there's a ton of pilots who are unaware of a tracon having jurisdiction over the D. I'd be a hypocrite if I said I knew that prior to becoming a controller though. Gosh, I wish I knew what I know now when I was going for my PPL ASEL! Back then I was just a dumb dumb pilot! (not that pilots are dumb, just that I was totally oblivious to soooo many things).

Anyway these kind of questions just fascinate me - there's so much info I learn about the pilot side of things (and yes a few from the controller side of things) on this forum, and network. I really hope more and more pilots realize the power of practicing on a sim with live ATC.

[bradthepilotguy]

(not that pilots are dumb, just that I was totally oblivious to soooo many things).

Just remember what Pilot stands for - Poor Intelligence, Lots Of Training

[bbuckley]

The Delta one is a lot more subtle and requires knowledge which is generally only available (afaik) through the FAA Order on ATC (7110.65), but once you have that info, it's very handy, no doubt.

No prob.... totally agree with you about the Delta... there's a ton of pilots who are unaware of a tracon having jurisdiction over the D.

I'm still trying to find out how to know what Deltas have delegated the upper airspace. I've downloaded and searched the FAA Order but can only find reference to the practice (but the document is huge...). Is this generally only where required to facilitate approaches? I know for example the KMLB Delta is wholly owned (and jealously protected) by the ATCT. It would be great to know where to find the info for areas you fly in regularly.

[Keith Smith]

you don't need to know if they have delegated it or not. if you have flight following, approach is going to coordinate your delta transitions.

[bbuckley]

But you can't assume you're cleared through an upcoming delta just because your talking to the TRACON. If they don't say you're cleared through you need to ask or stay clear. Am I wrong? It happened once...