VFR Flight Following

But, if you are going VFR, deciding if you want flight following should definitely be on your list. If youre going to pass through Class Bravo airspace you might as well; its virtually a requirement. Otherwise, if the weather is clear and a million, youre not going through any airspace requiring you to talk to ATC, and youve decided to go VFR, should you consider flight following? Long story short, and after all factors are considered, the answer is Yes.

Elim Hawkins

Saturday, October 20, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

VFR flight following is highly recommended for enhancing flight safety by providing pilots with traffic and obstacle advisories from ATC, acting as an additional set of "eyes."
It serves as a critical resource during emergencies, allowing immediate communication with ATC, and for alerting pilots to dynamic hazards like pop-up TFRs or rapidly changing weather.
Generally easy to obtain from radar facilities (workload permitting), flight following is a versatile service applicable to cross-country flights, practice approaches, and after canceling IFR.

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When you start your flight planning, one of the first things you may think of is the mission, how far you are going, and the minimums. Within those parameters, you determine if you need to go IFR or if VFR is sufficient. Obviously, if conditions or your own preferences lead you to an IFR flight, VFR flight following isn’t your concern.

But, if you are going VFR, deciding if you want flight following should definitely be on your list. If you’re going to pass through Class Bravo airspace you might as well; it’s virtually a requirement. Otherwise, if the weather is “clear and a million,” you’re not going through any airspace requiring you to talk to ATC, and you’ve decided to go VFR, should you consider flight following? Long story short, and after all factors are considered, the answer is “Yes.”