How is Your Flight Service Lately?

[Bob Axsom]

We went to Taylor Texas over the weekend to fly in the Taylor 100 Saturday morning. After touring Austin (the "duck" tour of the city and lake is bad but the LBJ Museum & Library was outstanding) it was time to return home Monday morning.

I called Flight Service from the motel and maneuvered through the voice recognition system and listened to the anouncement that two previously closed FSS have been reopened before I could finally wait in the queue to talk to a briefer. I got a good briefing of IMC so the trip was on but said I would call back after we loaded the plane, completed turning the car in (off airport), and had a more accurate departure time. At the FBO I looked at the weather information called 1-800-wxbrief and filed an IFR flight plan. There is no tower at Taylor but I verified the Austin Approach frequency shown on the approach plate was the proper source to pick the clearance up from.

At the runway I called from the ground but was unable to reach Austin Approach. The overcast was around 2,000 ft so I took off remaining VFR and called for the clearance while airborn. The controller said there is no flight plan in the system. You will have to contact Flight Service and refile.

At this time I had flown to the CENTEX VOR and turned back northeast following my flight plan at low altitude. Since I was working with IFR charts digging out the appropriate FSS frequency was not easy so I called flight watch thinking they could help directly or give me the right frequency. There are a lot of radio towers in this part of Texas. The specialist at first said there was no flight plan in the system and the only thing he could do was to reenter the whole thing. I said lets do that. Then he said he found it and that there had been a typographical error. He said I should call the controller and the flight plan is now in the system.

After finding out which controller I should call I contacted Houston Center to pick up my clearance. The controller told me there was no flight plan in the system. I did not have the altitude hold engaged and during all of this activity the plane had settled down to 1,100 ft MSL (around 500 ft AGL) and the radio towers were a real presence. I told him that Flight Service assured me it was now in the system. He told me to remain VFR until he could check further. After some apparent searching he found it and cleared me as filed with an altitude limitation of 4,000 ft due to opposing traffic. No problem - I'm in the system.

He told me you are approaching an airport and you are going to have to call them to enter their airspace. I asked for a frequency and called them. They had jet traffic on final and were a little tense about my late call. After I cleared the airport they said to give them more notice in the future and handed me back to Houston Center. The controller seemed relieved and said something to the effect "you'll be glad to hear that you are cleared up to 7,000 ft. finally."

I was rerouted around Lufkin because of weather and eventually handed off to Ft. Worth Center. Life was good. As I continued to fly along it seemed like a long time since I had heard from Ft. Worth and I was up in the area north of Rich Mountain. I called Ft. Worth for a radio check and there was no response. I looked at the chart and determined that Memphis Center should now be my point of contact so I changed frequency and called them for a radio check. Memphis immediately had me contact Razorback Approach. No more problems were experienced. Once well north of Ft. Smith I was vectored down through the clouds for a visual approach to Drake Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Most of the problems with this flight would have been avoided if the FSS folks had placed my IFR Flight Plan in the system properly. When I read of AOPA's tracking the performance of the contractor FSS implementation I believe my experience is not an isolated one. Launching VFR from an uncontrolled airport to pick up the the IFR clearance in flight may be a little more risky than it once was.

Bob Axsom

[N395V]

My recent experiences have been similiar. The only reason I call FSS anymore is to get on record as having recieved the most current TFR info. Weather is from the internet and I file flight plans with family members.

I think the briefers do the best job they can and sincerely try to be professional. but they are now being forced to work in an alien environment where cost control is the paramount thing. As such they have probably not been adequately trained on the new equipment they are using and are probably severly understaffed. I would also guess they are under the thumb of a group of managers with little to no general aviation experience who manage by spreadsheet, graphs, and statistics.

We would be better off if Wal Mart took over management of the system.

Add to that the certainty of poor morale after being shafted by the governnment relative to retirement, pension, and pay and you have a recipe for poor performance and errors.

Maybe if we pay users fees and pay more for fuel it will get better.

[the_other_dougreeves]

Originally Posted by N395V

My recent experiences have been similiar. The only reason I call FSS anymore is to get on record as having recieved the most current TFR info. Weather is from the internet and I file flight plans with family members.

Yep - I only call to get CYA on TFRs.

Originally Posted by N395V

Maybe if we pay users fees and pay more for fuel it will get better.

Uh, yeah.

[N62XS]

Earlier today, I was on a long phone call with the Atlanta MIDO, trying to insure I was following the proper process. Not only was I put on hold 5 times, the person I talked with did not have the information that I already had in my possession, he kept telling me "how hard this process would be". He took my number and will call me back. When asked when to expect a call back, I was told, "Later".

This is typical in dealing with the Atlanta Offices specifically and with the FAA, in general. I do not have answers or recommendations, but I can say that the resumes I get from applicants for employment reflect this same attitude.