Who ya gonna call?...

[jiva602]

So, yesterday, I had time for one more VFR flight and wanted to do an FSE run. However, being the total noob that I am, I chickened out on the flight I wanted to do because of the airspace involved along the way.

I have watched the workshops and will watch them again but am still intimidated with how exactly to make the transitions, especially when my flight route takes me through 2-3 Delta's and/or Charlie's on the way to a Charlie. I understood (perhaps incorrectly) that with advisories obtained before departure, as long as I am talking to Departure and Approach when advised to do so, and with the destination tower when told to do so by Approach, I am ok to transition different airspace along the way. Yesterday it just looked as if i would need to contact several and I decided to wait.

Jiva

[Matt32689]

Always know that you can fly around, under and/or above the airspaces and not have to contact anybody. Transitioning through an airspace is fairly simple though and shouldn't be something worth getting stressed about. If you are on VFR flight following they ATC will clear you through or vector you around it. If you are VFR without flight following and wanting to transition, just contact the main airport of the airspace and tell them your position, altitude, and direction of the transition and they will give you a squawk code and hopefully clear you through the airspace if it is not too busy then drop you once you are through it and tell you to squawk back to VFR.

Hope this helps!

[Kyle.Sanders]

Yup- getting advisories is the easiest way to do transitions. Just remember if you have a class B airspace to transition, you must hear cleared through or cleared into that airspace

[Kyle.Sanders]

Matt- depending on the airspace, you don't always hear "cleared". Researching the Pilot Requirements to enter the airspace will make this more clear. Also- a squawk code isn't always needed either.

[Matt32689]

Matt- depending on the airspace, you don't always hear "cleared". Researching the Pilot Requirements to enter the airspace will make this more clear. Also- a squawk code isn't always needed either.

Thanks for the info, Thats good to know!

[jiva602]

Thanks for the reminder; I remembered those points from Keith's workshop but still balked at the flight in question because of nerves. And to be clear, at this point I am only thinking about VFR in my Skylane

For example (yesterday):

KREI -> KSNA

As far as airspace, potentially: (KREI) -> KSBD -> KRAL -> KCNO -> KONT -> KSNA

**After analyzing this thoroughly, I believed that I could possibly "thread the needle" or fly over much of this space, but want to know what to do if I cannot or do not want to simply fly over or go around.**

Last leg is clear to me but in between is fuzzy. I don't mind having to call, but just making sure I have to contact them all.

1) Do I call tower for each?

2) If I contact SoCal APP (134.0 because it's closest to me starting my flight?), will they contact controllers "for me" and sort of "open doors" along the way?

I have heard that C trumps D, but I have seen many videos of the V2 test where pilots are told to "stay clear of Chino Delta" so that is why I included

Keith says in one of the workshops something like, once you understand airspace, you can go anywhere confidently; I would like to get there, sorry for the possibly stupid questions.

Jiva

[Keith Smith]

KREI to KSNA? I'd fly towards March ARB (clear of the SBD Delta), call March or Socal App for advisories, they'll hand you off to the Socal Approach sector for SNA, then you'll get handed to SNA tower. Don't feel as though you have to go in a straight line, ploughing through every conceivable piece of airspace in the process.

Flight planning is part of the fun of the flight. Be creative, enjoy it and don't be afraid to turn a few degrees to make life simpler. FWIW, the plan above took me approximately 4 seconds to derive after spending 5 seconds looking at the complexity of the direct route. Once you have some practice, it'll feel obvious to you.

Could you make direct work? Sure, but it's going to be quite a few more radio calls and you can make things simpler without an appreciable increase in the flight time by turning to the south and transitioning through RIV instead.

Also keep in mind being OVER an airport is the safest place you can possibly be. Being 5-10nm away, passing through the runway centerline at 3-4k is one of the worst places you can be in terms of avoidance.

[Kyle.Sanders]

.... I would like to get there, sorry for the possibly stupid questions. ....

Jiva

Far from stupid questions.

[Keith Smith]

Also, it is true that if you're in contact with the approach controller, they are obliged to coordinate transitions of any Delta airspace that you might pass through. As long as you have established services with approach a reasonable distance prior to heading through your first Delta, you should be ok. That can also make your life a bit simpler.

That said, if the controller is too busy to coordinate on your behalf, they might ask you to remain clear of the Delta airspace, so it's not a silver bullet.

[jiva602]

FWIW, the plan above took me approximately 4 seconds to derive after spending 5 seconds looking at the complexity of the direct route. Once you have some practice, it'll feel obvious to you.

This part was simultaneously inspiring and demoralizing lol. This route is now of course obvious to me and is maybe why I suspected that I was, as we say, "making a storm in a glass of water"

Thank you (I promise I did try to pay close attention during the workshops! lol)