Eurocontrol gets all “ZYI” flight plans and distributes them but the UK FP system throws them away except for the two ends.
I was planning to file a Y plan from UK until the France border then switch to VFR from there to avoid slots.
The reason is i like the airways departure in the UK so i can climb and cross the channel higher.
But does the above mean that a Y flight plan will not let me enter CAS as london control will not see it and i’ll be refused the join?
thanks!
It will work fine but make sure the UK portion of it looks “serious enough” i.e. not FL080.
UK CAS base is FL075 so you will be in CAS all the way to France but London Control will prob90 sniff at this and chuck it in the bin. Go for FL090+.
In France you can go VFR up to FL115 (in general – see threads on “Paris area” and VFR).
I’ve never done a Y this way because it is very handy to do a Z – VFR DCT EGKA-BILGO and then maybe continue VFR until past the French strike region, like here. But if you live further north then Y is a good idea.
In some of the UK one cannot get a clearance into Class A for many miles (a recurring problem; if I am going north I might not get it until past CPT) but it sounds like you have got that bit sussed.
cool. Yes was planning FL100/110
Do you know what happen if i file higher at say FL140, climb in the UK airways and get to france, will they ask me to descent to be VFR? or will they keep me VFR higher?
IME they will not allow you to file VFR in that region. Eurocontrol will not allow it.
What would happen if you arrive at the FIR boundary at FL140 and then try to cancel IFR, no idea, never tried it, and they should refuse.
But remember CTOTs are irrelevant (generally) once you are airborne, so you can just stay IFR. I mean, IN EUROPE, nobody ever cancels IFR!! As soon as you are VFR ATC is entitled to send you to VRPs, which is a fate worse than death 
And since you avoided a CTOT altogether (by filing a VFR section) they are IME not going to enforce the VFR. Never got such a thing.
Anyway, there was just one report of ATC enforcing a case of a CTOT not having been obeyed and I reckon the pilot p1ssed somebody off.
ok, I will file IFR first, but if slot, I will switch to YFR and see if they let me stay IFR after the border..
Thanks a lot as usual for the insight.
I am sure it will work. I do the opposite and it always works. Sometimes the VFR → IFR takes some tens of nm to get done, but in your case you are asking them to do nothing. IME, works every time, no argument.
You can file and fly V/Y/Z in France up to FL195 and I do it regularly without any problems. Just last week I flew Olbia to Cannes VFR at FL165 but that would never be accepted around and north of the Paris TMA.
Parts of France.
Quick debrief on what happened.
I got a 15min slot (not too bad), but I wanted to try the trick with VFR, so I did, but the flight plan got rejected because it said can’t use VFR tag in an IFR flight plan.
I use Foreflight and it didn’t let me change the type, so I would have to cancel and refile. I chickened out worried it would just potentially get me a much later slot as a late filer and waited the 15min, which was fine.
As this was a two legs flight (stopover at LFLX before LFMD), I got quite surprised for the second leg though I got not slot! I asked the controller a few times to verify as I couldn’t believe it. So quick turn over.
Interestingly here I got not slot, while it was holiday weekend, NOP was forecasting delays and weather was marginal… but on arrival they made me do two circuits in a hold before the LFMD approach. So no slot but crowded skies, while usually I get slots and no one around…
because it said can’t use VFR tag in an IFR flight plan.
Yes I found this too. I never found a way to change an “I” flight plan to a “Z” in AR. One can edit the route but the “types of the ends” cannot be changed. You first have to establish the type of flight by routing a specific type of departure and arrival.
FF, I don’t know.
EuroFPL allows you to directly enter/edit anything, any way you want. You can also edit the EET, within broad margins of the Eurocontrol perf model. I have used EuroFPL many times for filing stuff which was autorouted by AR.
