I occasionally use Skydemon to file a VFR flight plan. Sometimes ATC gets it, sometimes not. For example, I’ve taken off from Andreas, contacted Ronaldsway Radar and instead of asking “pass your message” they straight up give me a clearance through their CAS. Another time I filed, and the tower at Gloucestershire sounded a bit puzzled when I called up ready to taxi, and then after I took off asked where I was actually going since they had no details for me (since then I’ve resolved to ask on the phone if they’ve got my FP rather than just expect that they’ve received it).
The Q of why some VFR FPs go missing has been discussed many times.
One reason is the use of the DOF/ parameter. This is not implemented in the AFTN system, so unless the filing agency (e.g. EuroFPL) implements it and injects the FP into the AFTN on the specified date, the implementation has to be the classic “nail in the wall” whose contents is examined every morning and that day’s FPs are pulled off the nail. Not kidding!
Another has been found (I was told by one filing agency’s IT guy) to be the use of some text strings which exceed the max string length allowed in a particular FP handling software. I don’t know any more details but would speculate that if e.g. you put UPPERWARLINGHAM as a waypoint and the software (Copperchase?) limits the length to 14 chars, that FP may get dumped.
I’ve had loads of VFR FPs go missing. On this trip 3 out of 4 went missing. And I don’t think anything has changed since 2003. Well, today I would file VFR FPs with EuroFPL and they keep them in the database until the day of the flight, so DOF/ becomes irrelevant.
BTW SD uses EuroFPL for FP filing.
I completely agree with Peter about the AFPEX implimentation, but I use it whenever possible for VFR fpl’s.(The only kind that I file).
AFPEX plans do get delivered to the addresses specified and allow you to take the high ground when ATC quibble, as tends to happen in the middle of thew sea sometimes. Once, when a particular country claimed not to have my FPL (they let me in anyway) I reported it to AFPEX and they followed up, even phoning me back to advise to whom and when it had been delivered at the offending unit! AFPEX may be a mad implimentation, but their telephone hotline is second to none.
In the US, I file VFR FPLs on the phone with Flight Service 1-800-WX-Brief for all long distance trips, since there are plenty of remote areas. I often get useful feedback from the briefer during this process. The exception is if the flight is arriving at a heavily metropolitan area, when it is difficult to cancel on box2 before landing. I’ve discovered there are many potential distractions to closing an FPL on the ground after landing at some big place, so closing from the air is my method. I only break this rule if I’ve got flight following all the way, but it’s not uncommon to get ‘flight following terminated’ because of workload or radar coverage, and then you are on your own.
By the way, in the US, if you do forget to close they will escalate in stages, phoning the destination tower, calling the Sherriff to go and see if you are there, etc., before launching any helicopters. If Mr Fossett had filed a VFR FPL that day, they might have found him before the bear did. Or not. Strangely enough, the US system which makes the pilot solely responsible for closing his plan is easier to cope with than the mad, loony Euro system where towers close for you on landing, except when they don’t and you get the bill for SAR (allegedly 20,000 Euro in one case).
As a matter of interest, VFR FPL’s are mandatory for cross country flights in NZ, have to be paid for (about £2), and issue a squawk on acknowledgement. Despite this being an excellent system in a rugged country, apparently 10-20% of FPL’s are never closed! And they are mandatory in Ireland too, and are supposed to be filed at least 1Hr ahead of departure. Failure to remember this can leave you sitting in the terminal watching the sun go down or the destination preparing to close for the night.
ATC in The Netherlands does not close flightplans, even though they will tell you so when you land and ask them to close it. In other countries, like Germany, you have to make sure you close your flightplan if you land at a non-towered airport. Same for France. What I do is, I send an arrival message from my Apple Watch and in some cases (e.g. in France) I will even call the ARO office (Le Bourget in France) to confirm that the flightplan is closed.
AFPEX as well as e.g Eurocontrol will send their flightplan messages using the same AFTN network, so both VFR and IFR flightplans end up in the same system in most cases. However, in France, a lot of French pilots use Olivia and that system runs separate, so the controller or ARO office employee might not find you but mostly due to the fact that he is looking in Olivia and not in the same system in which all the IFR flights appear.
We have had issues with VFR flightplans not being delivered and we always investigated and in the end they found the flightplan in one or the other system. Therefore we always inform the pilot to which addresses the flightplan was (auto) addressed so that then ATC tells you they don’t have it, you can tell them it was send to xx address.
I send an arrival message from my Apple Watch
Now THAT is cool !
AFPEX as well as e.g Eurocontrol will send their flightplan messages using the same AFTN network, so both VFR and IFR flightplans end up in the same system in most cases.
They may be transmitted via the same network but the IFR ones get stored in the Eurocontrol database, while VFR ones don’t get stored in any database. Well, none that anyone outside ATC can get access to, and there is no “management” of VFR FPs so e.g. you can file multiple ones which overlap in time.
Does Olivia offer a database like e.g. EuroFPL? I have never used Olivia, because it isn’t supposed to work unless at least one end of the flight is in France.
I wrote up some notes here a while ago. I think they are still current for VFR stuff; the IFR stuff has changed a bit with the EuroGA autorouter. That writeup discusses the issues with filing a FP using one service (with its own database) and obviously not being able to manipulate it using another service.
I send an arrival message from my Apple Watch
I am amazed the smart watch batteries last long enough 
Apparently they need charging every night.
Yes Peter, the Apple Watch needs to be charged every night. But I also get my flightplan messages (from Eurocontrol) directly on my Apple Watch including any SAM messages, etc. True, Eurocontrol manages the AFTN messages on their side and there is a good system behind it. That is why I prefer to file IFR over VFR. However, I have been flying through all of Africa and the Middle East and have been filing mostly VFR flightplans (with the route being the IFR route and altitude VFR) and I have send them digitally (not on paper) and they appeared everywhere in the system ok. In one instance (Angola) they wanted me to copy it to paper as well, so I send them the generated flightplan PDF and it was fine. In one other country (South-Sudan) they could not manage the digitual delivery yet very well as they were still on the air traffic side of things depending on Sudan/khartoum, so I filed by filling in a paper. So, even though the VFR flightplans are not managed in a way like the IFR flightplans in the Eurocontrol area, it still works. Of course, we made sure that the VFR addressing was correct in all these countries. All I can say is that if the VFR addressing is done correct, you should not have problems. I at least did not have any problems.
AeroPlus wrote:
so that then ATC tells you they don’t have it, you can tell them it was send to xx address.
Does that really help?
In Switzerland ACC does not have any clue what their AFTN addresses are. At least that’s the impression I got last time I investigated an allegedly lost flight plan.
JnsV wrote:
Obviously the possible number of turning points is much higher in case of VFR flights
I’m not sure about that. This is my usual route VFR for 672 Nm from my home to Annemasse:
GLE4 NJBRI DVR CTL GGE LFLI
Is there really an IFR route with fewer waypoints or less than this 2% overhead?
