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filing vfr to ifr

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1. Say one is departing an untowered airport, having filed a flight plan in foreflight (on the ground, pre-departure) as z(vfr to ifr). Is there a way to specify at what fix, waypoint, or VOR to pick up the IFR clearance in Foreflight when filing the flight plan, or do you just contact departure upon reaching an appropriate altitude or area?

2. I'm seeing people who will start the flight plan at the fix at which they pick up the clearance. Do I file the flight plan including the departure airport and contact departure upon reaching an appropriate altitude/fix, or file it starting with the point I pick up the clearance?

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1 Answers



  1. John D Collins on Feb 25, 2021

    Filing a ZFR or YFR flight plan is not really supported in the US. However, ForeFlight does not block it. When you file a ZFR (not recommended) you need to specify the point at which it will become IFR. You do this by including the keyword “IFR” after the fix where the rules change is to occur. You can tap on the fix and chose Set Altitude/Speed from the drop down menu. You will then see at the bottom of the window, Flight Rules Change – no change, tap the no change and then IFR. You may also change the requested IFR altitude. When you proceed to file, make sure you select the flight rules of ZFR. When you file the flight plan, it will be sent to Leidos for processing. The flight plan will not be sent to ATC by Leidos until you activate the VFR flight plan. In the US, ATC has no guidance on how to handle a ZFR flight plan, so what happens is not known. I have recommended that ForeFlight block sending ZFR/YFR type flight plans do to the lack of information on how they are processed and the fact that ATC claims to not support them. Don’t forget to close your VFR flight plan when you arrive at your destination, ATC will not do this for you automatically.

    I would suggest a better method is to file the IFR flight plan with the departure point set as the point where you want to initiate IFR. You can depart VFR and when you near the IFR pickup point, call the local ATC and get your clearance. Only the center handling your IFR flight plan will have the clearance and when you are within 50 NM of a center boundary, centers make agreements with each other as to who will handle your flight plan. So if the center you call does not have your flight plan, it may be available in the adjacent center. To avoid this, I suggest picking an airport near where you want to pickup the clearance and file from that airport to your pickup point with the reset of the route after that. I would put in remarks that you plan to depart VFR and will pickup your clearance in the vicinity of the pickup fix. Then use the departure control frequency of the nearby airport to obtain your clearance.

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