This is what Center expects from you when you contact them. This assumes that you are flying IFR, as almost all pilots do in Infinite Flight.
If you are departing and have a flight plan:
- Upon contact, “Check-In.” ATC will respond with “Radar Contact.” If you Check-In you do not need to request Flight Following.
- Center may or may not assign an altitude for you to climb to. Pay attention to the altitude because we assign them to help deconflict you from other surrounding aircraft.
- If Center assigns an altitude, you are allowed to request an altitude change to a higher or lower altitude. If you are told to maintain your current altitude, wait until the controller tells you to climb or until they tell you, “Altitude at your discretion.”
- If they never assign an altitude, then you are free to climb, altitude at your discretion. You can request an altitude change if you like.
- Do not request a frequency change if you are departing the airspace and you are within the airspace. You will be told to “stay on my frequency.” Center has to deconflict you from the other surrounding aircraft. If you need to step away from your device, you can. We can see if you are away. You shouldn’t leave your device until you are at cruise.
- Center will send a frequency change approved to you once you are leaving their airspace. Our airspace is confined to the FIR airspace you see on the map, and we can only see aircraft 405nms away from the airport we originate from.
- If you are far outside Center’s airspace, simply leave the frequency. You can view the airspace boundary on the map.
- Do not leave the frequency when you are within the airspace boundary.
- Do not request an approach to an airport outside the airspace. Center will not be able to service that airport.
When you are about to pass into another active Center airspace:
- You do not need to request a frequency change once you are near the FIR airspace boundary.
- Center will hand you off and give you a frequency change when you are near the airspace boundary. Most of the time this is a handoff to ourselves. One controller can open more than one FIR airspace at one time.
- If the controller somehow misses you, either due to connection or from misplacing you, then you can request a frequency change.
Upon contact with the next Center controller:
- Simply “Check-In.” That is it. You do not need to re-request every request you made to the previous controller. Everything carries over to the next airspace. All the altitude assignments, approach assignments, and ATC logs carry over.
- Again, do not request a frequency change if you are departing the new airspace; if you are far outside Center’s airspace, simply leave the frequency. Do not leave the frequency when you are within the airspace boundary. Do not request an approach to an airport outside the airspace.
When making first contact with Center when arriving at an airport:
- Simply “Check-In.” Same concept.
- ATC may or may not assign an altitude. If they don’t, altitude is at your discretion, but if you want to descend, you should request descent before descending.
- When on a STAR, request Descent via the STAR. Center will then approve the request, and they may or may not issue an altitude for you to descend to. I like to assign an altitude to help deconflict aircraft. Center can also deny the request. If they don’t assign an altitude, altitude is at your discretion. If they deny the request, do not begin descent; wait for the next altitude assignment.
- If Approach is active at your destination airport, you should not request an approach (ILS, GPS, or a Visual approach). Wait till we hand you off to Approach. Center is not supposed to assign an approach when Approach is active. If Approach is not active at your destination airport, then feel free to request an approach.
- If Approach is not active at your destination airport, feel free to request an approach. Depending on how busy Center is, they may or may not be able to service that airport.
- Do not request a frequency change when you are near Approach’s airspace. Center will hand you off to Approach when you are at an appropriate altitude and distance from your destination.
- If you are far within Approach’s airspace. For example, if you are within 30nms of your destination. Then you can request a frequency change. The controller misplaced you, or there was a connection issue.
Upon handoff from Center to Approach:
- If you have not been assigned an approach: Request an approach.
- If you have been assigned an approach by another controller: Simply “Check-In.” Everything carries over to the next controller.
For example, you are taking off at EGLL for KJFK.
- Request pushback with Ground
- Request taxi after pushing back
- Switch to Tower once you are in the departure queue.
- Request departure
- Takeoff
- Hand-off to Departure, Approach, or Center
- Check-In with Departure/Approach, if they are accepting departures. If they are not accepting departures you will be handed off to Center
- Check-In and when you are handed off from Departure/Approach to Center
- Climb to cruising altitude
- Frequency change approved
- Leave Center’s airspace
Upon arrival:
- Enter Center’s airspace, tune in
- Check-in, Radar Contact
- Request Descent via the STAR
- Descend
- Center will tell you to contact Approach, don’t request a frequency change
- Request an approach (ILS, GPS, Visual, or Radar Vectors) with Approach, not with Center
- Get vectored
- Cleared for the ILS
- Intercept localizer
- Approach will tell you to contact Tower
- Request inbound on the ILS, if you were cleared for an ILS approach
- Land
- Switch to Ground and request taxi to parking
- Park
Duplicate check-in, flight following, and radar vector request messages waste our time. You only need to check-in once. Unnecessary frequency change requests waste our time. Unnecessary approach requests for airports outside our airspace waste our time. Any extra commands sent add to Center’s workload and can make a quiet airspace seem more busy than it is.
