TEC Routes

2

250blue

New Member
I have a question about Tower Enroute Control for you guys that fly where they are actually established. Do you file a flight plan with FSS with the route or can you call clearance delivery and request one when in the aircraft (without filing to FSS)? Also, in the clearance will they give you the full route they want you to fly or just the name thus leaving you to navigate the route per what is listed in the AFD? Thanks.
 
Really, you file your flight plan and recieve your clearance just as you would any other flight plan and/or route. The only difference is that you file the exact route that's listed in the AFD, and you put TEC in the remarks section. You can even file on DUAT and put TEC in the route.

You can pick up your clearance through Clearance Delivery, FSS, or any other method!
 
I worked the flight data position at LA approach control in the mid-80's. This is how TEC worked. You did not need to deal with flight service. You would request a TEC clearance with ground control. The guy working ground would call me on the interphone and give me the aircraft type and N number. I'd type the info into the FDEP (flight data and entry processing) and it would spit out a beacon code. I'd give the beacon code to ground control and they would read the TEC clearance to the pilot.

I'm sure it still works this way. You could file with FSS if you wanted to but it wasn't necessary and didn't really save you any time.
 
Yeah, last time I flew a TEC route it was just like that. Called clearance delivery and just requested a TEC routing, and they read back the full clearance. No talking to FSS or any of that. Very convenient.
 
As you can see from the responses, it's been done both ways. When I did my instrument training in the Northeast, the TEC routes were treated as preferred routings that you would put into the flight plan knowing that you'd get it. But there are parts of the country where you can just call CD and say you want to go.

When in doubt, there's certainly no harm in filing the routing. It's better than not filing, calling CD receiving a "who the heck are you?"
 
The request from CD seems to be the way that guys from my school have been doing it to shoot practice approaches. They tell CD where they want to shoot the approaches and get a TEC route to the airport then get clearance to the next place while going missed (or TnG),
 
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