Reminders to close your flightplan

FL410

New Member
Can anyone think of some? Nearly had a heart attack when I realized that I had forgotten to close it after my XC today, quickly called FSS and they told me tower had closed it. Whew!
 
Wear your watch on the 'wrong' hand any time you have an open flight plan.

You can also tie a string around your finger but that might look bad for the passengers
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File IFR.
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Er...ok ok, you still have to remember to close those on occasion too...but at least ATC reminds you before they hand you off!
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I put brightly colored post-it notes on my checklist and the Hobbs/Tach record sheet. So I see it when checking the meter and if not the person to whom I return the paper work will find it and remind me.

Happy Flying!
 
Since everybody carries a cell phone, just send yourself a Voicemail. Seems that the first thing a pilot does when he/she lands is check his voicemail.
 
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Can anyone think of some? Nearly had a heart attack when I realized that I had forgotten to close it after my XC today, quickly called FSS and they told me tower had closed it. Whew!

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LOL...Yeah, the same thing happened to me last week. I was finished a 100nm leg back to my home airport on time and I met these corperate pilots who were flying a Falcon 20. I started talking to them, when all of a sudden I realized what I hadn't done yet
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--I don't think I have ever ran for the phone that fast in my life!
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When I finally got a briefer, I asked him to close and he told me that they had already called the tower and took care of it.

--I felt really bad after that
 
Alot of us have been there. One day I flew a plane on a VERY short hop to another airport (uncontrolled) to get an inspection done (10 miles at the most). The weather was pretty crappy (read low IFR), and I just filed and made the trip without thinking much about it. Well, as soon as I landed, my friend was there picking me up so that we could go to class. He had some pretty cool news to tell me about the night before, or some silly crap like that, and we jumped in the car and headed to school. Drove 15 minutes, go to a parking spot, walked 15 minuets to class, and then I heard a plane that seemed to be flying in circles overhead (HOLDING PATTERN!!!!). And that's when it hit me.....I hadn't cancelled!!!!! Flight service had a time with me that morning.....
 
Since I fly out of one of the DC Three, if I don't close my flight plan, I am in a world of hurt.

I don't know how much longer I will be flying out of there, though. I'm getting tired of some of the crap that's happening at the FBO.
 
Hey Tony, which airport do you fly out of up there? I made a trip up there last month, and had a REALLY bad experiece @ KGAI....screw those guys...lol. And I did notice that the controllers there have...ummm...well, some personality problems...
 
Isnt the IFR flightplan automatically closed once you touch down??

or is it just in Class B or C??
correct me if i am wrong
 
I fly out of VKX (Potomac). It's a nice little airport, but the FBO is having some real problems with keeping the planes functional. And seeing how I signed up for a program where you pay $350 for all the flying you can do in a month, and I have logged a whole five hours this month with no airplanes available right now, you can understand why I'm looking to leave.

It's funny you mentioned GAI. That's probably where I will be going!
 
I think the best reminder is to forget once, it will be a learning experience that will change your behavior. Its a matter of paying attention to detail.

An interesting side story: I departed an Air Force base in a flying club airplane flying from Nebraska to Pennsylvania, after airborne I decided to change my planned fule stop ... and figured since I didn't activate my VFR flight plan I didn't need to inform anyone ... WRONG!! A little difference when operating out of an Air Force base = Flight operations activates VFR flight plans (automatically) for you. I had an ALNOT issued on my behalf and had a few anxious people "looking" for me. Its good to see the system working
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Filing a VFR flight plan and activating ... then staying on the filed route or informing FSS of any changes is probably the one of two biggest safey nets you can do for yourself should something go wrong and you need someone to come looking for you. It is also highly advisable to learn to use ATC for flight following, it is an immediate resource available when things go from bad to worse.

Question: Working with ATC and you have an in flight emergency are you going to change freqs. to 121.5 or change transponder codes?
 
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Question: Working with ATC and you have an in flight emergency are you going to change freqs. to 121.5 or change transponder codes?


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Not sure if there is a rule, but I would inform the current center that I have an emergency and would not change the squawk code unless they said to. Or should you change the code anyway?
 
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Question: Working with ATC and you have an in flight emergency are you going to change freqs. to 121.5 or change transponder codes?

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Personally, if I was in contact with ATC, I would declare on the freq. and keep my transponder code.

If I was cruising around the practice area or something, then I would probably go 121.5 and 7700.
 
I forgot once...but so did my instructor--I was on my second XC with him. As we were getting close to home he decided to have me do some maneuvers, so when we landed it just seemed like we had finished a normal lesson and not like I'd just gone on a XC, so I was not thinking about closing the flight plan. Apparently neither was he. I remembered 5 minutes after I got in my car to drive back to work, but my cell was dead and I was horrified. I decided to drive home at about 70 mph in a 45 but still didn't make it in time to call... FSS ended up calling the FBO to see if the plane was on the field and closed the plan...that's what the briefer told me when I called. I expected to be ripped a new one, but he was nice as could be. It provided much entertainment for the folks down at the FBO and I heard about it for a month.

Turned out to be a good lesson, without major costs...because I'm really careful now to get on the phone before I get out of the plane.
 
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If I was cruising around the practice area or something, then I would probably go 121.5 and 7700.

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Or the nearest ATC facility might be a better choice, if applicable. Oddly enough, there are several ATC towers that aren't 121.5 capable in the sense that they don't constantly monitor it. In the PHX area, I think GYR and FFZ fall under that.
 
You know, now that you say that...I do remember noticing in the A/FD that it tells which ones don't monitor 121.50. I believe BKL up here in Cleveland is one of them. Good point, thanks!
 
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