Question about approach duties?

[RyderK]

Gday,

I’m just wondering what departure duties I have while I’m operating approach and vise versa.

Lots of people join my approach frequency as soon as they take off and ask for a flight following or request an altitude. Is that standard for IF approach/departure? Or is it proper to not tune in at all if there is no departure available. It clutters up the frequency a bit if I’m operating at a busy airport and have to take care of departing and approaching aircraft so I’m just wondering if I should reply with the instructions they’re requesting or just give them a frequency change straight away.

Thanks.

[TaipeiGuru]

In IFATC, approach will inform tower whether or not they’re accepting departures. It’s not necessary to tune into approach when departing, but sometimes that is the case.

If someone is departing and they request flight following to a destination, just approve it. It’s not worth arguing with them, especially on TS. Basically, if I were you, just acknowledge their request, keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t get close to other traffic, and then send them a frequency change by the time they’re out of your airspace.

[RyderK]

Yeah that’s what I’ve been doing but sometimes they keep asking for different altitudes and it gets annoying. But you’re right it’s a lot easier than arguing. Thanks for the reply.

[TaipeiGuru]

That’s just the nature of pilots on the training server. Of course, if you’d like a realistic controlling experience, you can always join IFATC. :)

Best of luck, and have a nice day!

[Bravo59]

Oh so if I contact departure, all I really have to do is check in, and then wait until

1. They vector me
   Or
2. I’m safely out of airspace

And not request a “flight following”?

I’m asking this because I usually request a flight following to a destination, and IFATC has never really had a problem with it. but now that I’m hearing from you, does it make it harder?

[DiamondGaming4]

Understanding Departure

Most pilots are aware of the general principles of flying under the control of Approach, but what about the other end of RADAR facilities at an airport: Departure? Contrary to popular belief, Departure is not just a frequency opened to bug you for the first 30 seconds of your flight. It actually works hand-in-hand with Approach to manage the same airspace as the latter. The primary purpose of Departure as I see it is to ensure that departing planes exit the field’s (RADAR) airspace, which exte…

Check out this topic for anything departure related :)

[Bravo59]

Thanks @DiamondGaming4!
I try to make it as easy as possible for IFATC when flying because I know it’s a hard job, so this is helpful :)