Sport Pilot Talk

Thanks for the info.
Am I correctly inferring that this concerns international to/from flights only?

Nope, any flight plans , domestic or otherwise.

Truth be told , unless I am about to fly over mountains or someplace truly remote I would never bother with a flight plan and as far as I can tell hardly anybody does ( at least for recreational type of flying ) ....

chicagorandy wrote: Am I correctly inferring that this concerns international to/from flights only?

That is correct today. Effective next Tuesday, it becomes required for all flight plans.

drseti wrote:Since you appear to have a completely Garmin panel, I suggest you check their website. They have a matrix showing ICAO codes for each of their different models.

Will do drseti.

Sounds to this uninformed geezer like the FAA's motto at work on a global scale - "We're not happy until YOU'RE not happy"?

I haven't filed a VFR flight plan in 40+ years. I always filed IFR until I quit flying IFR. That's if I was going anywhere other than local. I use Flight Following now if I'm other than local.

ADSB and apps like Garmin Pilot, Foreflight and others with real time updates will make flight following pretty much obsolete.

Not unless the FAA stops providing the service.

Warmi wrote:ADSB and apps like Garmin Pilot, Foreflight and others with real time updates will make flight following pretty much obsolete.

Could be . . . but what is the purpose of flight following?
The real question is . . . will the above actually replace the intent of flight following?
I think that remains to be seen.

Well, ADSB and related technologies won’t replace Flight Following services like being automatically cleared to proceed thru some or other airspace etc but as far as traffic advisory and general advisory , you can get pretty much all of that right now out of your devices.
Frankly in my case, these few times I used FF ( flying lake short Chicago for instance ) , pretty much every traffic advisory I got , I was already aware of thanks to my Garmin 796.

I use flight following in case I have a problem, I'm already talking with someone who knows where I am. Flight following does not provide guaranteed traffic separation. With flight following, I don't feel the need to file a VFR flight plan.

TimTaylor wrote:I use flight following in case I have a problem, I'm already talking with someone who knows where I am. Flight following does not provide guaranteed traffic separation. With flight following, I don't feel the need to file a VFR flight plan.

Problem is here in the NE you sometimes cannot get flight following because they are too busy. I've been dropped twice. Not too mention last week it took me a good 5 minutes to get their attention all the while doing circles to avoid the class C.

Warmi wrote:Well, ADSB and related technologies won’t replace Flight Following services like being automatically cleared to proceed thru some or other airspace

Just to be clear for those who don't know: Flight Following is great, but it provides advisory services only, on a workload-permitting basis. It does not automatically clear you through airspace - you still have to request clearance into or through a B or C. And they won't necessarily be able to vector you through (or even warn you about) TFRs, Restricted, or Prohibited areas. That's all on you, the PIC, per FAR 91.3(a).

plus “B2” (for 1090 MHz ADS-B “out” capability)

B2 is actually ADS-B "in and out" capability. I've been specifying B1 - ADS-B "out" - for the ICAO form. But that raises a question: I do have ADS-B "in" using a Garmin GDL-39 and an iPad with Garmin Pilot, but as those are portable devices I assume I can't actually report having ADS-B "in" capability - is that correct?

drseti wrote:

Warmi wrote:Well, ADSB and related technologies won’t replace Flight Following services like being automatically cleared to proceed thru some or other airspace

.... It does not automatically clear you through airspace - you still have to request clearance into or through a B or C. ...

Yes, it does not happen automatically but they will sometimes coordinate for you and let you know that you are cleared thru space D or whatever ... I have seen it happen.