A group of us are going to the USC-ALA game on Sat. We have hotel rooms and car in BHM so will fly into there Sat and leave Sun morn. A direct route takes us over the top of the ATL VOR. Should I file direct and just see what I get when I get there? Or is there a better plan? I have been sent over ATL going from CSG to PDK in the past (5000', I believe).

Wishful thinking, but "Go Gamecocks",
David Keller

Yes file direct but do expect vectors. Good luck on the game.

Doug

David,

Actually KATL is about fifteen miles south of a direct route from Florence to Birmingham.

You will not get direct over the VOR and through the Class B because of the east/west orientation of the runways at Atlanta.

If I were flying your route I would go at 12,500' VFR or 14,000' IFR. If I didn't want to fly that high I would fly under the Class B, on the north side, and VFR.

If you want/must file IFR, and don't want to fly high, just file direct and take what the ATC folks assign, OR file Direct LOGEN int, Direct BHM at 6,000'.

Max,

Don't have a chart with me, but I'm pretty familiar with the PDK area. Believe I''ll file direct Logen (Womac?) then direct BHM @ 6-8 thou. Will have 4 grown men aboard plus some luggage and fuel makes climbing in our N/A 520 rather slooow. I still may need to go or be vectored a little farther north of the class B, but at least we have all day to get there since it's a late game.

Thanks,
David

Just file direct. They're going to do what they want anyways. I don't think they ever read my flight plans. It's always "fly heading XXX".

Working around some of these class Bs are just a pain. I go north/south thru ATL quite a bit going to WI, and if it's IFR I'll either go to 14 or file AHN or some point 40 West.

They are not friendly letting you get even close if you're transiting. Probably a 40nm distance away. So, just plan on that from the beginning so you don't end up with sharp turns that are way inefficient. Best, do like Max says and go VFR, that's always my first choice.

Regarding VFR, quite often if you can get VFR into the class B area (under the rings) approach will often give you an IFR clearance through the area and on your way without a lot of vectoring. This works well in Chicago. Now don't ask for a clearance that will take you right into their arrival path......

Other hard to work areas include STL, ORD, CVG... but some are fairly friendly like DEN, TPA.