VFR flight following¶
Available now.
What it does¶
A VFR flight to a different airport (not pattern work) leaves the Tower's frequency on its own: climbing through 1,000 ft AGL after takeoff, Tower says "frequency change approved" and hands you nothing further -- from there, radar services are entirely your call to ask for.
Requesting it¶
Ask Departure, Approach, or Center -- whichever's already working you -- for "flight following to Portland" or "VFR advisories to Portland." You get a discrete squawk code right away: "squawk four five two one." Asking while still on the ground, or as an IFR flight, gets "say again."
Radar contact follows once your transponder actually shows that code, on or in ALT (not standby) -- "radar contact, five miles south of Seattle-Tacoma International, altimeter two niner niner two." Until then, nothing else changes.
Handoffs¶
Once you're being worked, flight following hands you off exactly the way an IFR flight is handed off -- Departure (or Approach) to Center, then Center to the destination's Approach as you get close -- including the same "are you with me?" reminder if you don't check in on a new frequency. Each handoff just gets a plain "roger," except the final one to destination Approach, which adds the altimeter: "roger, altimeter two niner niner two."
Conformance while following¶
With no IFR clearance, there's nothing to judge an altitude, heading or speed deviation against -- so none of the airborne conformance rules apply to a VFR flight at all, until flight following actually has radar contact established. From that point on, straying off your assigned squawk (or any of the other rules) gets called out exactly like an IFR flight's would, by whichever controller currently has you. Terminating service turns it all back off.
Terminating service¶
Within 10 nm of your destination, service ends on its own: "radar service terminated, squawk VFR, frequency change approved." Your squawk assignment is cleared -- there's nothing further to check in for.
Nearing a Class B, C or D destination¶
If your route takes you into Class B, C or D airspace, those entry rules apply independently of flight following -- a Class B destination still needs its own "request Bravo clearance" call, and Class C/D still just needs two-way contact.
Out of scope¶
- Sequencing against other traffic. Traffic advisories call out nearby aircraft, but flight following doesn't sequence you behind another one ("number two, follow the...") the way approach/pattern traffic does -- see the roadmap's M7-3.