Steve, longtime CFII and professional pilot here. In the U.S. If a Flight Service Station is located on the field, which is sadly only in Alaska anymore, they provide ¨Airport Advisory Service¨ which is wind, weather, and reported traffic. The field however is ¨Non-Towered¨ or uncontrolled, so no clearances given. In fact if you wish to depart under an IFR clearance from such a field, the specialist will say the phrase "ATC Clears" after he phones up the local control in charge of the airspace, to differentiate that he is simply passing the instructions in the clearance on to you.
Hi Steve. Nice to see you back with another (cool) video, as usual. Riding along with you is always a pleasure, since the early days. Creating immersive content isn`t easy, so kudos for you for what you do and how you do it. Good winds & happy landings from Portugal.Oh and that RV is a must.👍
Great video! We have several "Radio" supported airports in Alaska. Very similar to Canada - they can open and close flight plans, provide status reports for traffic, update weather, etc, but they don't direct air or ground traffic. They provide great service in often remote places. Once communication is established with Radio, pilot position reports in the pattern, etc. are exactly the same as any un-controlled airfield.
I absolutely love your plane. I was initially thinking of getting an older SR22 but yours looks just as good. The only thing I would still want is the parachute, especially if flying single engine in IFR conditions.
Different services in different countries and their oddness. In the UK we have a couple of types of uncontrolled airfield, 1) no radio at all, pilots are advised to use the Safety Com Frequency 135.475 and 2) Air to Ground radio, which provides services such as radio checks, weather and runway and occasionally traffic information but does not provide any kind of control. We then have FISO services where in the air its much the same as a A-G radio service "land at your discretion". But on the ground they maintain control (request permission to taxy etc.) as you would find at a controlled airport. But once at the runway its "take off at your discretion". We then have towered airports...much the same the world over. Interesting to see how other countries do things. Great video as always Steve.
About forgetting your phone, amateur radio repeaters pre-2005ish commonly had Auto-patch. Its an expensive feature so most have stopped offering it. Auto-patch would let a user send a series of tones to the repeater ending with the tones for the phone call. Then the landline attached to the repeater would place the call. I used it once around 2004 to call 911 about a drunk driver who crossed over in front of me, went airborne, took out a telephone pole and drove away. Auto-patch could be used for personal calls but the downside was the call essentially became a radio conversation where everone could hear your business.
I’m glad I’m not the only person who can potentially become preoccupied with my dumb mistakes and missteps. I need a placard on my forehead that reads “fly the airplane” which is pretty much good advice for living. Great video! Great cause.
Radio is essentially a conversation as opposed to a command and control discussion. Most don’t even have radar. They are staffed by flight service specialists as opposed to controllers. There’s a lot of them in Alberta, mostly in airports where they are big enough for commercial aviation but too small to make the necessity of staffing and full controller team. They give IFR clearances, altimeter settings, traffic advisory, and other services. Can actually be really useful. I flew to Lethbridge, AB and they got one there. They get Encore Q400s everyday now so they are there to assist. Highly recommend going to one if you need to time build. I went to Lethbridge at night as a double whammy and am happy I have been through it and understand how it works.
Thanks for watching to the end 👍 - you’re not the only one making this comment - sorry about that. I considered this episode more about the enroute operations and that landing was so uneventful and took a while to play out after an already 25 minute video; but next time I will let it run to the end. I might post that to instagram or make an unlocked Patreon post for those that needed the closure 😂
@@FlightChops The ending was so sudden, I actually thought; "oh no, Steve had a problem with this render, and he posted it without catching it beforehand."
ok - I'm receiving this feedback loud and clear. I'm making some time shortly to edit the landing and I will upload it as an unlocked Patreon post and will link it via the endscreen card on this video - I'll also share the link in the comments for those who felt it was missing.
@FlightChops lol...dude, no need to make an extra effort. Just maybe for future reference. I'll always watch your content, for the quality of the videos and the lessons you provide. I also enjoy the flight sim stuff you do sometimes. Keep up the good work. You are appreciated!
@ I heard CT is the pizza 🍕 Capital of the World. I invite Chops down for a visit, fly into Tweed and we’ll take a crew car into New Haven to see if this is true.
Hey Steve, I'm a Canadian IFR controller out west. Regarding the when required; we give "altimeter xx.xx when required" when descending someone below FL180 so they can change it themselves as they cross out of the standard pressure region into the altimeter setting region. I imagine the controller you were talking to gave it out of muscle memory since most of the traffic he deals with is jet traffic descending out of high altitude. Just a guess, but I know I've done it before
That’s a great explanation, thanks for sharing the insight from a controller's perspective. And I'm glad I admitted at the time that I wasn't sure what he meant.
I am in Cleveland, but I'm (from and) also certificated in Canada, and I fly there often. Your description of the Canadian "Radio" differences is dead on. As for flying up north...I flew out to Sydney NS and back this summer, and there were large, extended periods of time where if I lost my engine, I was either going swimming or eating trees. Lastly...I forgot my phone once too. I added "phone in plane" to the end of my preflight checklist as a result.
If I was planning to fly regularly in Sydney and that area, would you feel safe doing it in a regular plane or would you recommend a plane with a chute?
@@kevinklassen4328 That's really up to you and your own risk management. Clearly I felt safe doing it or else I wouldn't have flown there. That said, there are VERY few airports in that part of Canada. If you do have an engine issue, you are pretty much guaranteed of an off-airport landing in a single-engine aircraft. Do you choose to stay above highways to mitigate risk? Do you choose an airplane with a ballistic chute? Or perhaps you choose to go with a seaplane, which opens up your potential landing spots greatly? Or maybe a light twin engine airplane, to add redundancy? There are many options.
Yeah it's a great feature - I think it's a thing for most modern avionics, but I'm not sure which company invented it and when it was first available. Cory was so excited about the cloud surfing he talked over that call so I missed some of the details.
@@FlightChopsthx for the info. I'm just a simmer, but I use Vatsim to talk to real people, but my avionics wouldn't work with Vatsim. But for real life, awesome.
Enjoyable and will join the Sirius XM Weather Webinar tonight. Thanks for link. Would have been fun to include the landing in the video - video ended abruptly.
Thanks for watching to the end 👍 - you’re not the only one making this comment - sorry about that. I considered this episode more about the enroute operations and that landing was so uneventful and took a while to play out after an already 25 minute video; but next time I will let it run to the end. I might post that to instagram or make an unlocked Patreon post for those that needed the closure 😂
Hindsight being 20/20, my takeaway is that uploading destination information/directions to ForeFlight or a share drive could be a good part of XC planning. Can even make phone calls via Google Voice on an ipad if that is available to you. I realize this may not always be practical or possible in every scenario.
What Nav Canada call a Mandatory Frequency goes by other names in other parts of the world, Air/Ground in England, AFIS in many other countries, and so on. Outside of Alaska it's not a thing in the U.S. My home base (Kamloops CYKA) is such an airport. Kamloops Radio provides advisory information only. Everything is "at your discretion", whether they say it or not. You hear it in my own videos: I call for the advisory then use the information to decide how to approach and land. I'd love to do an instrument rating, but IFR in B.C.'s terrain is a challenge for a normally-aspirated light single.
Haha - fair point. I thought of this episode as being about the enroute operations… and it was a vanilla landing with super benign wind conditions at a very quiet, but kinda big airport. Maybe I’ll post it to Instagram with the explanation that it was cut from the TH-cam video and some people felt it was missing 😂 Thanks for watching to the end 👊
Yeah... it was running long and the landing was uneventful... so I kept it under 25 mins - I forgot the "keep your flight chops sharp VO - you're right. I put the end credits and TH-cam end screen cards up though... didn't I? Thanks for watching to the end!
Thanks yeah - it was June, so I really don't close that until proper winter ops. It is such a tightly cowled airplane that it does well with that open most of the time.
Mandatory frequency (MF) is the term. They are typically (all?) Class E. He needed the separation because he had to wait for the previous airplane to land before he could clear anyone else into the approach. At an uncontrolled class G airport, the pilot typically needs to call in and close before ATC can release anyone else into the airspace. That's why it's important to call as soon as you can (or cancel in the air if it's safe and legal to do so) - just a courtesy to the next person waiting to get in. Also, just a point about cancelling in the air..... in Canada, cancelling IFR and cancelling alerting services (SAR) are different things.
Right... but not all MFs have a radio operator... yeah? Like for instance, Windsor where I fly out of is a Class C control zone, but when the tower closes, the airport is still available to use... it just turns into Class E with an MF that you broadcast intentions on to traffic like you would at any uncontrolled airport, but there's no one answering unless there is other traffic that is also reporting. As for the separation; right - I forgot I can't be cleared into the airspace at all, until the other IFR aircraft cancels. So it's not about if ATC can or can't see us on radar - and it's not just that I couldn't be cleared to the approach, I couldn't have been cleared to enter the North Bay zone at all... right?
My rule of thumb is never to fly through a cumulus cloud that I haven't examined visually. Sometimes the smart thing to do is to fly VMC under the clouds, even IFR. See 5:22 in your video.
Well... what you're seeing there is my initial departure from the Toronto area before I was cleared to my cruising altitude... That said, I really couldn't have planned to be IFR and be under the clouds for that whole flight; The ceiling got lower further north, and the MEA dictates what altitudes you can fly IFR at... but regardless, I would not have done a trip up there over such rugged terrain at a low altitude - In the event of engine issues I wanted glide time to have more options. There wasn't much convective activity that day, so that's why I decided to go.
Thanks for watching to the end 👍 - you’re not the only one making this comment - sorry about that. I considered this episode more about the enroute operations and that landing was so uneventful and took a while to play out after an already 25 minute video; but next time I will let it run to the end. I might post that to instagram or make an unlocked Patreon post for those that needed the closure 😂
Steve, longtime CFII and professional pilot here. In the U.S. If a Flight Service Station is located on the field, which is sadly only in Alaska anymore, they provide ¨Airport Advisory Service¨ which is wind, weather, and reported traffic. The field however is ¨Non-Towered¨ or uncontrolled, so no clearances given. In fact if you wish to depart under an IFR clearance from such a field, the specialist will say the phrase "ATC Clears" after he phones up the local control in charge of the airspace, to differentiate that he is simply passing the instructions in the clearance on to you.
Hi Steve. Nice to see you back with another (cool) video, as usual. Riding along with you is always a pleasure, since the early days. Creating immersive content isn`t easy, so kudos for you for what you do and how you do it. Good winds & happy landings from Portugal.Oh and that RV is a must.👍
This is why we do this and sharing it is even better!🤘🏼 How often have I heard “70 miles inbound Northbay contact me on ….” 😂
Great video! We have several "Radio" supported airports in Alaska. Very similar to Canada - they can open and close flight plans, provide status reports for traffic, update weather, etc, but they don't direct air or ground traffic. They provide great service in often remote places. Once communication is established with Radio, pilot position reports in the pattern, etc. are exactly the same as any un-controlled airfield.
Thanks for sharing this insight. I had heard that this is how it works in Alaska, but hadn't seen a direct example.
@@FlightChops Sounds like it's time to plan a trip to Alaska! :)
I absolutely love your plane. I was initially thinking of getting an older SR22 but yours looks just as good. The only thing I would still want is the parachute, especially if flying single engine in IFR conditions.
Different services in different countries and their oddness. In the UK we have a couple of types of uncontrolled airfield, 1) no radio at all, pilots are advised to use the Safety Com Frequency 135.475 and 2) Air to Ground radio, which provides services such as radio checks, weather and runway and occasionally traffic information but does not provide any kind of control. We then have FISO services where in the air its much the same as a A-G radio service "land at your discretion". But on the ground they maintain control (request permission to taxy etc.) as you would find at a controlled airport. But once at the runway its "take off at your discretion". We then have towered airports...much the same the world over.
Interesting to see how other countries do things.
Great video as always Steve.
Thanks for the ride! Some beautiful footage there.
Man your videos are always great. Cloud surfing looks fun.
Yeah, the weather that day was perfect for it.
I haven’t watched this channel for a while, but I did enjoy this trip to North Bay with you. Thanks!
Welcome back! There’s a lot to catch up on 👍
About forgetting your phone, amateur radio repeaters pre-2005ish commonly had Auto-patch. Its an expensive feature so most have stopped offering it. Auto-patch would let a user send a series of tones to the repeater ending with the tones for the phone call. Then the landline attached to the repeater would place the call. I used it once around 2004 to call 911 about a drunk driver who crossed over in front of me, went airborne, took out a telephone pole and drove away.
Auto-patch could be used for personal calls but the downside was the call essentially became a radio conversation where everone could hear your business.
"Stinger".... I like it.
I’m glad I’m not the only person who can potentially become preoccupied with my dumb mistakes and missteps.
I need a placard on my forehead that reads “fly the airplane” which is pretty much good advice for living.
Great video! Great cause.
Radio is essentially a conversation as opposed to a command and control discussion. Most don’t even have radar. They are staffed by flight service specialists as opposed to controllers. There’s a lot of them in Alberta, mostly in airports where they are big enough for commercial aviation but too small to make the necessity of staffing and full controller team. They give IFR clearances, altimeter settings, traffic advisory, and other services. Can actually be really useful. I flew to Lethbridge, AB and they got one there. They get Encore Q400s everyday now so they are there to assist. Highly recommend going to one if you need to time build. I went to Lethbridge at night as a double whammy and am happy I have been through it and understand how it works.
Great footage as always Steve. But why no final landing footage? Man, I was a little bit bummed. Cheers!
Thanks for watching to the end 👍
- you’re not the only one making this comment - sorry about that. I considered this episode more about the enroute operations and that landing was so uneventful and took a while to play out after an already 25 minute video; but next time I will let it run to the end. I might post that to instagram or make an unlocked Patreon post for those that needed the closure 😂
@@FlightChops The ending was so sudden, I actually thought; "oh no, Steve had a problem with this render, and he posted it without catching it beforehand."
@@FlightChops Sure I understood the reason for the video, but everyone likes a happy ending.😉👍
ok - I'm receiving this feedback loud and clear. I'm making some time shortly to edit the landing and I will upload it as an unlocked Patreon post and will link it via the endscreen card on this video - I'll also share the link in the comments for those who felt it was missing.
@FlightChops lol...dude, no need to make an extra effort. Just maybe for future reference. I'll always watch your content, for the quality of the videos and the lessons you provide. I also enjoy the flight sim stuff you do sometimes. Keep up the good work. You are appreciated!
A Canadian in a rush shirt. Love it
I was going to stay VFR forever, but after experiencing IMC actual last month going into Caldwell, NJ with NY approach, I need my IFR fix 😂
Is this my Connecticut friend ?
@ I heard CT is the pizza 🍕 Capital of the World. I invite Chops down for a visit, fly into Tweed and we’ll take a crew car into New Haven to see if this is true.
@AlphaKilo.Warrior expensive pizza with fuel costs from Canada...but I guess if ya got it spend it. 😆
Thumbs up 👍 everyone has a stressful time. Good use of the channel for your situation.
👍
That radio replay feature on the garmin is sick!
Hey Steve, I'm a Canadian IFR controller out west. Regarding the when required; we give "altimeter xx.xx when required" when descending someone below FL180 so they can change it themselves as they cross out of the standard pressure region into the altimeter setting region. I imagine the controller you were talking to gave it out of muscle memory since most of the traffic he deals with is jet traffic descending out of high altitude. Just a guess, but I know I've done it before
That’s a great explanation, thanks for sharing the insight from a controller's perspective. And I'm glad I admitted at the time that I wasn't sure what he meant.
I am in Cleveland, but I'm (from and) also certificated in Canada, and I fly there often. Your description of the Canadian "Radio" differences is dead on.
As for flying up north...I flew out to Sydney NS and back this summer, and there were large, extended periods of time where if I lost my engine, I was either going swimming or eating trees.
Lastly...I forgot my phone once too. I added "phone in plane" to the end of my preflight checklist as a result.
If I was planning to fly regularly in Sydney and that area, would you feel safe doing it in a regular plane or would you recommend a plane with a chute?
@@kevinklassen4328 That's really up to you and your own risk management. Clearly I felt safe doing it or else I wouldn't have flown there. That said, there are VERY few airports in that part of Canada. If you do have an engine issue, you are pretty much guaranteed of an off-airport landing in a single-engine aircraft. Do you choose to stay above highways to mitigate risk? Do you choose an airplane with a ballistic chute? Or perhaps you choose to go with a seaplane, which opens up your potential landing spots greatly? Or maybe a light twin engine airplane, to add redundancy? There are many options.
Holy crap, first time I've seen a rewind/review control! Is that fairly new? So helpful and adds a lot of safety! A1 cool.😎
Yeah it's a great feature - I think it's a thing for most modern avionics, but I'm not sure which company invented it and when it was first available. Cory was so excited about the cloud surfing he talked over that call so I missed some of the details.
@@FlightChopsthx for the info. I'm just a simmer, but I use Vatsim to talk to real people, but my avionics wouldn't work with Vatsim. But for real life, awesome.
Would like to see a camera pointed behind you while cloud surfing. The wake would be cool.
That’s a great idea for a future video!
Enjoyable and will join the Sirius XM Weather Webinar tonight. Thanks for link. Would have been fun to include the landing in the video - video ended abruptly.
Thanks for watching to the end 👍
- you’re not the only one making this comment - sorry about that. I considered this episode more about the enroute operations and that landing was so uneventful and took a while to play out after an already 25 minute video; but next time I will let it run to the end. I might post that to instagram or make an unlocked Patreon post for those that needed the closure 😂
😂
Hindsight being 20/20, my takeaway is that uploading destination information/directions to ForeFlight or a share drive could be a good part of XC planning. Can even make phone calls via Google Voice on an ipad if that is available to you. I realize this may not always be practical or possible in every scenario.
What Nav Canada call a Mandatory Frequency goes by other names in other parts of the world, Air/Ground in England, AFIS in many other countries, and so on. Outside of Alaska it's not a thing in the U.S. My home base (Kamloops CYKA) is such an airport. Kamloops Radio provides advisory information only. Everything is "at your discretion", whether they say it or not. You hear it in my own videos: I call for the advisory then use the information to decide how to approach and land.
I'd love to do an instrument rating, but IFR in B.C.'s terrain is a challenge for a normally-aspirated light single.
No Landing? I feel like the last chapter of the book is missing.
Haha - fair point. I thought of this episode as being about the enroute operations… and it was a vanilla landing with super benign wind conditions at a very quiet, but kinda big airport.
Maybe I’ll post it to Instagram with the explanation that it was cut from the TH-cam video and some people felt it was missing 😂
Thanks for watching to the end 👊
Stinger fits! I like it!
Did you mean to cut before the landing? I'm used to you having closing cards and "Keep your Flight Chops Sharp!"
Yeah... it was running long and the landing was uneventful... so I kept it under 25 mins - I forgot the "keep your flight chops sharp VO - you're right. I put the end credits and TH-cam end screen cards up though... didn't I? Thanks for watching to the end!
The call sign "RADIO" is used in Europe for uncontrolled airfields
Great to watch you handle the flight Steve. You had the cowl flap open throughout, was that a decision?
Thanks yeah - it was June, so I really don't close that until proper winter ops. It is such a tightly cowled airplane that it does well with that open most of the time.
UNICOM could have a person on frequency at a ground station, I think I've heard them adressed as "radio"
UNICOM is not the same as "radio." In the US, if you call up "radio" you are talking to FSS.
Mandatory frequency (MF) is the term. They are typically (all?) Class E.
He needed the separation because he had to wait for the previous airplane to land before he could clear anyone else into the approach. At an uncontrolled class G airport, the pilot typically needs to call in and close before ATC can release anyone else into the airspace. That's why it's important to call as soon as you can (or cancel in the air if it's safe and legal to do so) - just a courtesy to the next person waiting to get in. Also, just a point about cancelling in the air..... in Canada, cancelling IFR and cancelling alerting services (SAR) are different things.
Right... but not all MFs have a radio operator... yeah? Like for instance, Windsor where I fly out of is a Class C control zone, but when the tower closes, the airport is still available to use... it just turns into Class E with an MF that you broadcast intentions on to traffic like you would at any uncontrolled airport, but there's no one answering unless there is other traffic that is also reporting.
As for the separation; right - I forgot I can't be cleared into the airspace at all, until the other IFR aircraft cancels. So it's not about if ATC can or can't see us on radar - and it's not just that I couldn't be cleared to the approach, I couldn't have been cleared to enter the North Bay zone at all... right?
It’s a flight service station. They have MFs but not all MFs have flight service specialists.
Like that I was not the only one with a brain fog moment and asked for a frequency again...!
My rule of thumb is never to fly through a cumulus cloud that I haven't examined visually. Sometimes the smart thing to do is to fly VMC under the clouds, even IFR. See 5:22 in your video.
Well... what you're seeing there is my initial departure from the Toronto area before I was cleared to my cruising altitude... That said, I really couldn't have planned to be IFR and be under the clouds for that whole flight; The ceiling got lower further north, and the MEA dictates what altitudes you can fly IFR at... but regardless, I would not have done a trip up there over such rugged terrain at a low altitude - In the event of engine issues I wanted glide time to have more options. There wasn't much convective activity that day, so that's why I decided to go.
All that drama and we dont get to see you stick the landing at the end!? We need closure!
Thanks for watching to the end 👍
- you’re not the only one making this comment - sorry about that. I considered this episode more about the enroute operations and that landing was so uneventful and took a while to play out after an already 25 minute video; but next time I will let it run to the end. I might post that to instagram or make an unlocked Patreon post for those that needed the closure 😂
LOL have I got a story about a lost phone and flying for you. but you have to ask LOL!
Now I have to ask. 😂
Your videos don’t flow right bruv