Quick Question

[samuellukekelly]

Before I fly I filed an IFR flight plan, I then called clearance delivery and requested clearance. However, the controller said I hadn't filed a flight plan?

Any help would be appreciated, I am pretty new to ATC.

Regards,
Sam.

[Nelson L.]

Could be for several reasons. If you filed, disconnected, and then reconnected, always refile the flight plan for safety. If you had disconnected and reconnected under different callsigns, the old flight plan would have been rendered invalid, as they are based on callsigns and not accounts. Another possibility would be that you hit the wrong button (ie VFR or Cancel) instead of the "File IFR" button. Just a quick note, I'm not sure if controllers are affected but the PE Homepage and PEAware take a bit before the server updates with the new flight plan, so that could be the culprit? Either way, these "no flight plan" issues are quite common and don't mean much - just refile and you'll be on your merry way

[samuellukekelly]

Thanks As well as the flight plan via the plugin, should I load a flight plan within my aircraft?

[Nelson L.]

I'm afraid I don't understand what you're asking. If you're referring to programming you're filed route into a navigational aid of some sort (be it GPS or VOR receivers), then no - I would wait until you get the clearance to ensure you don't set up all your radios (or GPS waypoints) only to have a full route clearance. If you're referring to filing the flight plan on the webpage, then no, it isn't necessary to refile once in the aircraft presuming the callsign used on the website corresponds accordingly with the callsign you're logged in with. Usually, its ideal to only file once, seeing as every time you file any edits the controller made to your FP are reset (which presumably doesn't make too many controllers happy...) If you're not referring to either of those, I'm afraid you'll have to elaborate a bit more.

[samuellukekelly]

sorry i am really new to this, got it figured out but they keep asking what equipment I'm using?? :/

[ridikamus]

They're looking for your navigation equipment suffix. The most common are /A (slant alpha) which indicates you have VOR and DME capability with an altitude encoding transponder, and /G (slant golf) which indicates you have GPS and an altitude encoding transponder. Here's a cheat sheet:

http://flightaware.com/about/faq_aircra ... suffix.rvt

[Vincent Meier]

sorry i am really new to this, got it figured out but they keep asking what equipment I'm using?? :/

A quick search for Aviation equipment suffixes on Google brought up this. Might be some help...read the top sentence above the chart to answer your question about what controllers are asking you for.
Google is your friend.
http://flightaware.com/about/faq_aircra ... suffix.rvt

EDIT:
Darn DavidC beat me to it...but at least we have the same link!!

[samuellukekelly]

Thankyou both, Regards,
Sam

[Nelson L.]

The flight plan filer on the PE homepage also has a few "dumbed down" versions of the FAA regulations which helped my meat headed comprehension quite a bit when I first started. Why does the FAA always have to reference all the complicated stuff?

[ridikamus]

Why does the FAA always have to reference all the complicated stuff?

Tell me about it! When I looked over the choices on the FAA's site, I couldn't figure out what "GNSS" was. Turns out that's just a term for a satellite navigation system that may or may not be GPS.

Also, you don't have to use /G just because the aircraft has one installed. If you want to hone your radio navigation skills with VOR/DME, file /A.