Calling TRACON for flight planning

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brooklyn26point2

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brooklyn26point2
Rookie question here. Is it ever possible to call TRACON in advance of a flight to plan for the route likely to make the most sense? For example, getting to either KHPN or the Hudson from Philly requires either going around Staten Island or getting a bravo clearance to get across/over EWR. I'd like to have a sense in advance; think there's a way to reach them?
 
You could try going on fltplan.com and see what routes folks have been cleared for in the past. That will give you an idea of preferred routing.
 
ForeFlight also can tell you what routes ATC has issued to others between the two airports of interest. But before I had ForeFlight, I would indeed call ATC on the phone to ask what is likely to work, and they were always happy to help. Further, if you're looking at VFR routing through a B-space, you won't find that on fltplan.com or ForeFlight, and only a phone call will get you the information you want.
 
Thanks guys. Am indeed looking to cut through bravo vfr. Tried calling them this afternoon to no avail; got the number through a third party site, so don't even know if it was right. Surprised it's not more readily available.
 
brooklyn26point2 said:
Thanks guys. Am indeed looking to cut through bravo vfr. Tried calling them this afternoon to no avail; got the number through a third party site, so don't even know if it was right. Surprised it's not more readily available.
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I've always wondered about that. How does one go about finding the phone number for the various control facilities? Towers, ARTCCs, TRACONs?
 
jpower said:
I've always wondered about that. How does one go about finding the phone number for the various control facilities? Towers, ARTCCs, TRACONs?
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Violate FARs a lot and add them to your contacts list? :)

Seriously though, I think this is a good idea. Have done something similar going in or out of major airports that I am unfamiliar with. ATC folks always seem quite happy to provide insight to their side of the world.
 
There's this newfangled contraption called a "phone book." You can often find it propping open doors.

Or the little green book you're supposed to have.

And of course Google and faa.gov .
 
Check the A/FD or AOPA. Each have phone numbers to call the facility. Sometimes however those numbers are to the front office. 95-100% of the time the person answering the phone doesn't wear a headset, so he/she won't be able to give you an immediate answer. If you call during business hours, the secretary answering can help you along.


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35 AoA said:
Violate FARs a lot and add them to your contacts list? :)

Seriously though, I think this is a good idea. Have done something similar going in or out of major airports that I am unfamiliar with. ATC folks always seem quite happy to provide insight to their side of the world.
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Ok, that's funny right there! :rofl::thumbsup:
 
I have in my flight bag a small telephone directory called "The Cellular Pilot." I have had it for a few years, so I am sure it is not totally up to date (and I can't remember where I got it). But, when my radio crapped out on the ground at a Class D one time, I called the tower on my cell phone and got a departure clearance and "cleared for takeoff." This little book is really handy. Towers, TRACON''s etc. are listed. If you can find one, pick it up.
 
You used to be able to call FSS for the number, not sure if you still can. IIRC the last time I did that was before LM.
 
Did it today to help plan a flight around Philly. The flight school happened to have the phone number for philly tracon; this sounded like an exceedingly rare phone call for them, but it worked out well. Followed the schyulkill from wings down to the art museum and center city and headed back to PNE. They knew exactly what I wanted when I called up after departure, and I had my instructions before I ever talked to them. Will definitely do this again.
 
MAKG1 said:
There's this newfangled contraption called a "phone book." You can often find it propping open doors.

Or the little green book you're supposed to have.

And of course Google and faa.gov .
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Google and faa.gov have so far proven useless. Admittedly, I don't have either the green book or a phone book, but I don't see that changing today or tomorrow.
 
brooklyn26point2 said:
Admittedly, I don't have either the green book or a phone book, but I don't see that changing today or tomorrow.
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It can change if you want it to.

Go here: http://aeronav.faa.gov/index.asp?xml=aeronav/applications/d_afd and then click the link to the current A/FD information. From that page, select the volume you're interested in and click "Search." You will get a page that includes a column titled "VOL / Back Pages." Click on any of them and you will get a PDF. Towards the front of the PDF are phone numbers for ARTCCs, TRACONs, and towers. These include duty officer phones, not just front-office phones.

For A/FD airport information the free app from fltpln.com is handy. You can download A/FD info by state or region and search by airport code. I don't see any way to access the back pages info though. The app is a sort of tool kit that includes several other nifty gadgets.
 
FOREFLIGHT SOLUTION: Just checked and the FF documents feature allows you to download the A/FD supplemental information. I did a search in that document for "TRACON" and found the phone numbers for "RGNL Air Traffic divisions", ARTCCs, and TRACONs on page 390-392 of the South Central version.
 
jpower said:
I've always wondered about that. How does one go about finding the phone number for the various control facilities? Towers, ARTCCs, TRACONs?
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Used to be a great publication called "The Cellular Pilot," but that went out of print. Some you can get by googling, some you can get by asking the FBO at your local airport (or the destination airport -- see AirNav for FBO numbers), some you really have to work to find. Personally, I've been collecting them for years in my cell phone.
 
AggieMike88 said:
FOREFLIGHT SOLUTION: Just checked and the FF documents feature allows you to download the A/FD supplemental information. I did a search in that document for "TRACON" and found the phone numbers for "RGNL Air Traffic divisions", ARTCCs, and TRACONs on page 390-392 of the South Central version.
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Many of those are the front office admin numbers, not the control room you need, but if you call those A/FD numbers during business hours, you can get the number you need and then store that in your cell phone.
 
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