BruceAir’s Guide to ATC Services for VFR Pilots

Many pilots seem confused and/or intimidated by "flight following," the common name for the radar-based services that ATC offers to VFR pilots. Unfortunately, the information about how to take best advantage of these services is scattered among various sources, including the FARs, AIM, ACs, and FAA handbooks.

http://bruceair.files.wordpress.com/...ng?w=321&h=451

To help address this issue, with help of several air traffic controllers, I created BruceAir’s Guide to ATC Services for VFR Pilots (PDF), which you can download from the preceding link to the description at my blog.

As I note at my blog:

Quote:

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This document is intended to help pilots use the VFR services offered by ATC. Flight instructors may find it helpful when teaching students and customers about these services. Although I’ve tried to provide accurate, complete, and practical information, this guide is the work of one flight instructor and pilot (with help and advice from several air traffic controllers at facilities around the U.S.). It is not guidance from FAA or a substitute for information from official sources. Obviously, current regulations, FAA policies, and recommendations in the AIM and related resources are, so to speak, “controlling.” If you have specific questions about ATC services for VFR aircraft, consult the references included in this document, your flight instructor, and the FAA—including the ATC facilities in the areas where you fly.

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Thanks Bruce. I use Flight Following a lot on trips over an hour or so and your work here is very helpful.
Thanks again!

Thanks for your efforts. Very well done. I have downloaded it and plan to use it in future ground school courses. Will help eliminate all the 'mystery' and fear of talking to ATC.

The download link does not seem to work for me. Mark

I just checked the links, and they're working fine. Visit the article at my blog.

Good job Bruce! Another great advantage about flight following is it puts your flight track on flightaware.com and your friends and loved ones can check on your progress, even when you're flying a 75 yr old airplane that isn't equipped to fly in actual instrument conditions. I am a 5000 hour ASMEL Inst pilot and I use flight following all the time and would recommend it to everyone.

Nice product, Bruce. Thanks for the free share!