I agree with you, Troy. Unless you've got a dedicated team of aviation-savvy family and friends monitoring your Spot and your schedule, it's not quite the same level of service. The difficult part of dealing with Flight Service is actually how attentive they are. I've escalated my flight plan a few times just by lagging or not cruising as fast as my stated speed. They do a good job of responding when you're not right on time, and that is also the problem.

Pilots these days want to be free to follow whimsy, and only garner response when it's needed. That's why our PLB's and Spots are so popular. But, they require pilot-activation and batteries to do any good. The flight plan responds by default.

That said, I never file VFR anymore. I get flight following often, but never file.

I don't use them. Post here. SPOT and a 406 PLB. Told the wife if I can't push the 406PLB button it is a non emergency. Probably a body recovery.

G'Day

The likelihood of a successful SAR (as opposed to recovery) is an interesting and valid discussion. I've had the same thoughts before. At present, that's why I haven't made it a priority to afford an updated 406ELT, which costs money and time. The flight plan is free, so I haven't had any compunction about making use of it.

It can be complicated dealing with FSS when you want to do something non-standard though. When heading out to land on frozen lakes in the middle of nowhere for a winter hunting camping trip, I finally started filing a multi-day flight plan based on my return to base, which they seem to be able to handle. That way I don't have to figure out how to close out my flight plan at the end of the first trip, when I have no easy comm options. My family will check on me then for sure anyway on the spot page.

I've spoken to Lockheed Martin in the lower 48 about allowing us to add SPOT URLs to our "master flight plans". You DO realize you can put a master flight plan on file with L/M??

Flight Service in Alaska is still an FAA function. In the lower 48 FSS is contracted out to L/M and L/M specialists are only permitted to access direct weather information from their restricted computers....in other words, they're not permitted to surf the web--the AFSS computers do not have internet access. So, the problem is, even if they had the SPOT URL, they wouldn't be able to use it.

Last I heard, the Alaska FSS folks were given access to the internet, largely so they could access the GREAT weather camera web site. Don't know if that has now been integrated into their briefing program or not.

BUT, in the event of an overdue airplane, ANY FSS specialist SHOULD be able to take a URL that is given on the master flight plan to a supervisor, or a secretary in the office, and ask them to look at the SPOT site.

As I said, I've been working on that with L/M. We'll see.

If you are "flight planning" with family members, PLEASE give them ALL the information they would need in a real emergency. Do they know who to call to initiate a SAR? How about who to call to initiate a SAR in another state, or country? Do they have a list of phone numbers for that? Do they know SPECIFICALLY WHEN to push that button, and initiate a SAR? Most pilots I know who use the SPOT just tell their spouses to look for a "I'm Okay" signal at the end of the day, but don't offer much more information. PLEASE don't do that to your loved ones.

A number of years ago in Fairbanks, three gents went moose hunting late in the season. They listed one of the interior's big rivers (with literally thousands of gravel bars and perhaps 200 river miles) as their destination, and that they'd be back "in three or four days". Three or four days went by, and the weather was kinda crappy, but spouses didn't push the panic button till day five or six, because they didn't know EXACTLY when to push that button. When the three spouses decided it was time, they didn't know who to call....taking more time and causing more anxiety on their part. They finally found out they were supposed to call the State Troopers, and they did. Didn't know the tail number of the airplane or even a decent description of it.

Eventually, a massive search effort was initiated. I forget how many hundred thousand square miles were encompassed by the search area, a triangle eminating from FAI and thence to the two ends of the river they planned to go to. The search went on with a couple dozen airplanes and crews searching, sometimes in pretty bad weather.

Finally, an air traffic controller who had been on vacation came back to work at the tower and learned of the missing aircraft, and he thought he'd handled that tail number the day before he went on vacation. Went back and checked the records, and radar tapes, and they found the wreckage three or four miles from FAI. THey almost made it home. The controller went off shift just after the pilot called inbound from 20 or so out, and the next controller didn't pick up the dissappearance of the airplane.

I may have gotten one or two details of that incident wrong--it's been a lot of years. But, the point is, PLEASE don't do that you YOUR loved ones. If you give them the responsibility to provide YOUR flight planning, then be absolutely certain that they have ALL the tools and ALL the resources necessary to do that job. AND, let them know EXACTLY where the panic button is, and EXACTLY when to push it.

MTV

MTV...really good points. At work (national park service) we got a lot of accidental messages from the original version of the spot. Usually, it was purchased to make the spouse in the lower 48 feel better about the trip, but there was no discussion, just gave them the URL and then went off for the guided wilderness adventure. The spot sat in a bag, and at some point the help button got pushed. Then the spouse would call us to try to ascertain what she should do. We try to help, but the help button is a really potentially confusing signal if you haven't had a good sit-down briefing.

I program my help button with a message that puts it into exact context. Help followed by one OK means I need somebody to fly out and help my plane won't start. Followed by two OKs means I shot something too big and need help packing.

Anything where any SAR is needed at all is the SOS button. My wife and I have had this discussion. She also knows how to call Kenai FSS to get updates on my flight plans.

I live alone & so leaving a "flight plan" with someone at home isn't feasible. I have often thought that it would be a good idea to leave a note with my planned route(s), destination(s), and expected time of return on the dashboard of my rig (parked outside my hangar), but since I often just go "up and about" that wouldn't always work so good either. It would work for the usual weekend getaway sort of trip, though, so maybe I'll do it the next time I take a trip (if my CRS doesn't kick in, that is).

I don't think VFR Flight Plans help your safety much. I once knew a guy that flew for CAP. They regularly went out looking for downed planes and it went something like this:

false alarm, false alarm, false alarm, dead
false alarm, false alarm, false alarm, dead

To my knowledge, in all his years, he NEVER found anyone that needed rescuing.

VFR flight plans are for loved ones that are sitting on the ground. And, I don't file them.

I always file when I get a briefing because it takes an extra few seconds--aircraft color, hours of fuel, souls on board, phone number in addition to what you already gave them. I rarely activate it because I nearly always get flight following, but if they're busy or I'm flying an area of patchy radar, I'll open it en-route. That's the easy part, remembering to close it is the hard part.