First of all, I live in the US, and specifically I live in Melbourne Beach, FL. Your experience somewhere else may be completely different. This has been mine.
If you look at AirMap (or any other airspace map, you’ll notice that nearly the entire coast is covered by that magic five mile bubble where you’re technically supposed to call said ATC and alert them that you’re flying in the area. I’ll confess to being a little overwhelmed by that, and honestly I was a little nervous about calling in. For my first flights, I went “rogue” and just kept it LOS and under 100’. Again, just from my own experience, that was absolute nonsense.
I finally got up the nerve to call the tower, and it was beyond simple. All three of the airports and helipads I’ve called have been beyond nice. Its been so simple that its made me wonder why I was so spooked in the first place. They just want to know where you are.
I’m sure a lot of the experienced pilots on here will roll their eyes about this “revelation” but I’m not experienced yet. I’ll get there. But I wished I had seen or heard someone say that its dead simple to just call the tower and let em know. AirMap is a great app imo because it gives you the number of the ATC youre near which makes contacting them as easy as tapping your screen.
Anyway, YMMV
If you look at AirMap (or any other airspace map, you’ll notice that nearly the entire coast is covered by that magic five mile bubble where you’re technically supposed to call said ATC and alert them that you’re flying in the area. I’ll confess to being a little overwhelmed by that, and honestly I was a little nervous about calling in. For my first flights, I went “rogue” and just kept it LOS and under 100’. Again, just from my own experience, that was absolute nonsense.
I finally got up the nerve to call the tower, and it was beyond simple. All three of the airports and helipads I’ve called have been beyond nice. Its been so simple that its made me wonder why I was so spooked in the first place. They just want to know where you are.
I’m sure a lot of the experienced pilots on here will roll their eyes about this “revelation” but I’m not experienced yet. I’ll get there. But I wished I had seen or heard someone say that its dead simple to just call the tower and let em know. AirMap is a great app imo because it gives you the number of the ATC youre near which makes contacting them as easy as tapping your screen.
Anyway, YMMV
