Re: Practical IFR Question (for centre controllers)

David Megginson wrote:
> This weekend, I'm flying almost due south 340 nm from Ottawa to 
> Philadelphia, as I mentioned in a separate posting.  Inevitably, the 
> legs of my planned flight zigzag around a track of 180 deg M, some 
> slightly on the east side, and some slightly on the west.  Consider this 
> part of the trip, all on V29:
>
>   CORTA-CFB: 198 deg M, 31 nm
>   CFB-LVZ: 169 deg M, 57 nm
>   LVZ-ETX: 190 deg M, 42 nm
>   ETX-PTW: 174 deg M, 22 nm
>
> Assume I hit CORTA at 6000 ft.  Will Centre drop me to 5,000 ft at CFB, 
> then bring me back to 6,000 ft at LVZ, then drop me back to 5,000 ft at 
> ETX (actually, I'd probably be starting a descent by then anyway)?  Or 
> will they likely just leave me at 6,000?  It's not a big deal of course 
> -- mainly just a matter of curiosity.  Toronto Centre has never been too 
> concerned about my flying WAFDOF for turbulence or (risk of) icing, but 
> our airways are not all that busy below 10K ft outside of terminal 
> areas, especially in IMC.

I'm not a centre (or center ;-)) controller.

Predicting what center will do is just a game of chance.

My guess would be there are letters of agreement between Philly approach and the 
adjacent airspace owners that specify the altitude where they'll take incoming 
traffic, and that will be the determining factor, rather than the exact 
direction of flight at the moment of handoff. If you fly into a large airport 
like PHL a few times you'll begin to see a pattern.

Other than that, I don't know any way to learn what the LOAs say. I guess you 
could ask on frequency if they're not too busy, or phone up the TRACON. Maybe 
they'll tell you something useful, and maybe not. I don't think it's too useful 
trying to predict assigned altitudes. Ultimately you'll fly whatever they assign.

In general, when you have a planned flight that takes you back and forth between 
slighly east and slightly west, you will not be assigned different altitudes 
every time you change heading, in my experience.

Remove SHIRT to reply directly.
Dave