Potomac TRACON Operation Raincheck & ADIZ/SFRA

My son and I went to the seminar last Saturday. Any event with donuts and hotdogs is a great event in my son's eyes. When flying out of Manassas in the SFRA, sometimes I feel Potomac is a barrier to entry. My instructor keeps telling me that Potomac is a service like other Tracons around the country and should be treated as such. He is right. Ultimately, Potomac Tracon keeps the skys and the underlying greater Washington DC area safe. With respect to the FRZ, I have no desire to fly over monuments. Even if it was allowed, it seems like it would be an awfully congested airspace with Reagan National traffic and all the other potential sight-seeing pilots.

Part of the presentation included numerical facts about number of accidents and number of deviations over that last five years. As one would hope when such a service is put into place, the numbers went down drastically. Part of this is due to better pilot education. Part of this is due to improvement of the service. Part of this is due to fear of the SFRA.

When it comes to the SFRA, I think I am not alone when I question the amount of freedom within the zone that is granted after a flight plan is filed. My plans usually entail a direct ingress or egress through Fluky. What if I want to squeeze between class B and the FRZ to go north? What if I wanted to fly east, squeezed between class B, FRZ and some restricted areas? After the seminar, I feel that these routes are possible with a proper a plan and communication. Although, Tracon will not route GA traffic between class B (Dulles) and the FRZ during peak times.

Most of the time, VFR traffic is handled by two or three dedicated stations. This makes me feel that, if I needed the service, I should not hesitate for a flight following. From what I could tell, during a peak Saturday morning time, the controllers are well within their capabilities to handle it. The controllers were friendly, professional, relaxed and very efficient. Even the hand-offs were a work of art. I have experienced hiccups in the service, even with my low time in the plane. That never gave me warm fuzzies about how things are handled. Now, I feel a bit relieved, meeting the controllers and watching them work.

I noticed a few funny things that seemed odd to me. The ticket dispensers at each station are not used. There is still a set of professionals that handle the clearance calls (IFR and VFR), get the ticket and WALK it over to the controller who handles the sector that plane flies through. I also noticed that, for VFR traffic requesting ingress to the SFRA, the DEN mother needs to be consulted if a plane does not call to open a plan within 15 minutes of the SFRA flight plan start time. The DEN mother needs to look up the N number, as it is not directly available to the controller. This means walking away from the station. It is only a few steps away and the radio is never left behind. Still, odd. After letting these observations stew a bit, I realized that this is not all bad. Technology is not everything. These direct interactions may dispel some confusion and are less likely lead to issues of when pressing the wrong buttons.