Sport Pilot Talk

Hi,

I've heard that there are some places where 'gentlemen's agreements' still exist based on various altitudes and headings for transitioning that make people's lives easier...

I know I'm going to be flying through Charlotte's (KCLT) airspace on Friday, and I'd rather flight straight through as opposed to around, as the airspace goes to 10k and I can't legally go over it.

Where would I find out about such routes, or what VOR radial to track for inbound/outbound egress? I thought about simply calling Tracon and asking, but I've never done that before and I'm not sure if it's even an appropriate question until I'm in the air.

Any thoughts from you guys would be greatly appreciated!

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I do have the endorsement, just wasn't sure if there was an altitude that wasn't published that they would "normally" give when flying east/west or something like that. My route of flight would actuallytakeme directly over the VOR, (withing about 2NM).

Thanks!

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FlyingForFun wrote:When flying VFR through the Atlanta class B, they usually take you directly over Hartsville airport/VOR. I don't know how Charlotte might do it. Of course, if they are busy they might tell you to stay out of class B.

I took a tour of Atlanta TRACON a few months ago. They do have a preferred altitude for traversing the Bravo. For the Hartsfield transition from the north it's 4,500' MSL directly over the top of the field. Pay attention to the radio - they have little tolerance for missed calls in the Bravo!

PS - Post your findings. I regularly fly to Charlotte and would like to know what they prefer...

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I'm thinking about calling flight services and asking if they know any local information...

theskunk wrote:I'm thinking about calling flight services and asking if they know any local information...

Remember that Flight Service isn't local like it used to be. You may get a specialist sitting 500 miles away with no local knowledge whatsoever. Call an FBO on the field (or one nearby) or maybe the tower itself (during a slow period) and just ask what altitude and routes are more likely to get you a clearance to transition. Also what time of day might get you through more easily. Then plan accordingly, and as already mentioned, call approach well in advance, using your most professional airline captain voice.

Skunk, you're on the right track. Call Charlotte TraCon (not Flight Service) directly, sometime before your day of departure. Explain where you're coming from, where you're headed and ask them how they would prefer to handle you. Easy peasy. The first google entry gave me a CLT TraCon # of 704-359-1000 . Have a great flight.

Skunk -- what altitude are planning and what is you're specific flight path?

If you're planning somewhere around 3500', then I'd simply fly under the floor of the middle ring picking a couple waypoints to ensure I stayed out of the center ring. If you plot your course with this in mind you will most likely have very little delta in time and distance. This also keeps you in control of the route.

Even with local knowledge of preferred VFR routes, you will be transiting the Class B at the convenience of Approach. They may be very busy when you contact them so you have to divert to avoid the Class B until they have time to clear you. Then they may decide to route you onto the edges so they don't have to worry about separation. Or they may just clear you on a direct path. My guess would be the higher you fly, the higher the odds of a good route.

My current plan is to fly KRDU -> KGSP VFR Direct... that being said, my preferred cruise altitude is normally 7500/8500 when I can get it.