I know it sounds silly as a title, but when flying from SC to CT my home airport is IJD in eastern CT. It is technically in Bradley Approach airspace but the approaches are in PVD airspace - except for the GPS 09.
My Viking is /G so I used to file CHS ISO ATR V1 JFK V229 HFD which is almost a great circle route from 73J - only 6 miles further than great circile. I ROUTINELY could get a ‘cleared a filed’ clearance at 11 or 15k depending on the winds and Beaufort approach would always cleared as filed when I got the clearance and as I flew North either McGuire or Atl Cty approach would give me the NYC shuffle: descend to 5000, after JFK V229 PUGGS Madison, Groton Norwich direct. Turning a straight line into the right angles of a triangle - often dropping my speed from 180-200kts of ground speed into 140 or so - often necessitating a fuel stop.
When possible, I’d run the trip at FL190 - which gets me into Center airspace [NY approach appears to own the airspace up to FL180 instead of the usual 10000]. But if I was low on O2 for 3 people for the whole trip and fuel was an issue, then I’d hope for VFR up north since then I could cancel - NY approach does NOT allow VFR on top.
The altitude ‘game’ does not help the issue of NY wanting me to fly the sides of the triangle instead of the hypotenuse - this led to another ‘game’ I play. NY approach’s usual routing adds 50 miles to my trip with only 96 miles to go as I go over JFK - fuel is always an issue at this point and if I tell them that the requested routing causes me to call minimum fuel = they just tell me to land for gas. So, I dispatch to BDL instead of my destination, using my real destination as the alternate, and their informal, unpublished TEC routing for single engine [even about 15000!!!] from JFK to BDL is my orignally requested routing of JFK V229 HFD or JFK MAD then the STAR. BDL could care less once I’m in their airspace and I went to talk to the supervisors one day so they’ll understand why I am doing what I am doing.
Now, a single engine at 14-17k is NOT in anybodys way - the jets are either above or below around and NE of JFK on the airway and the King Airs are in the low 20’s - this airspace is completely empty most of time yet they refuse to work it.
I have called NY approach and tried to figure out what altitude I should file to avoid the reroute or to avoid the descent to 5000 and no one will tell me what the letter agreements between center and approach say, and NY being NY no one is especially helpful and really do not want to help when I call to ask questions. They want me to fit into their system and my airplane is not the ‘normal’ single engine since I’m turbocharged and routinely go to FL200 [my personal max]. I have put “FL220 capable - turbocharged” in the remarks section and all it does is generate questions from controllers. I tell the NY controllers why it is there and they go - oh yeah, we don’t need you to come down then, after they started me down. It is very frustrating.
The only other alternative is the routing 40 miles off the coast and I will fly that if I’m REALLY high, and it is summer or early fall and the water is warm and I can glide to within a mile or two of shore in a total emergency.
I guess my ultimate point is that if you have a long trip you need to study the TEC and preferred routes for your type aircraft and understand that while your dispatching approach control may tell you ‘cleared as filed,’ you may not get it when you get to your destination if you are going over a busy Bravo airspace enroute to your destination and they have a TEC or preferred routing - it can be a surprise and a challenge finding the routing in the cockpit during a descent - esp. at night. Easier with /G to enter the fix and fly to it, but then entering the rest of the routing can still be a challenge.
Also - does anyone know where to get the letter agreements so you can figure out for yourself how to make them work for you?
