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Cutting You Loose

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The phrase "Proceed on course" is unofficial and ambiguous, often leading to pilot uncertainty about how to resume navigation; pilots should always request clarification if given this instruction.
  • For IFR flights, official methods to resume own navigation include "Proceed direct [fix]. Resume own navigation" or specific vectors to rejoin airways, SIDs, or STARs.
  • For VFR flights, "Resume own navigation" grants full lateral discretion, whereas "Proceed direct [fix]" requires a straight-line course to the specified point.
  • Lateral navigation clearances, such as "Resume own navigation," do not automatically cancel altitude restrictions; a separate instruction like "Altitude your discretion" is required to lift vertical constraints.
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Believe it or not, air traffic controllers don’t issue radar vectors for amusement. I know it might seem like it when you’re getting strung out for a sequence or for traffic, watching the time-equals-money clock ticking away, increasing the costs of your flight.

My goal as a controller is to get you on your own navigation as soon as possible— the less I vector you, the less work I have to do. The obstacle to turning you loose is that there might be traffic conflicts that require me to comply with internal traffic-flow procedures.

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