To do a Practice Approach at a Drop-In Airfield, what type of flight plan should you file?

To do a Practice Approach at a Drop-In Airfield, what type of flight plan should you file?

• A. Terminal Area Delay
• B. IFR Flight Plan
• C. VFR Flight Plan
• D. Special-Use Flight Plan

Answer: (A)

A practice approach in a busy terminal environment is coordinated through a plan that specifically requests a hold or delay in the terminal area before commencing the approach. Filing a Terminal Area Delay flight plan communicates to ATC that you intend to enter the terminal airspace and will be held until you’re cleared to begin the instrument approach. This setup is ideal for one-off practice at a drop-in airfield because it aligns your timing with traffic flow and ensures you can perform the approach when the airspace is appropriate. An IFR flight plan is for standard IFR routing from departure to destination, not the deliberate hold-in-terminal-area arrangement used for practice approaches. A VFR flight plan is for typical visual flight operations outside instrument procedures, and a Special-Use Flight Plan applies to operations in restricted or active special-use airspace, not for routine practice approaches.

A practice approach in a busy terminal environment is coordinated through a plan that specifically requests a hold or delay in the terminal area before commencing the approach. Filing a Terminal Area Delay flight plan communicates to ATC that you intend to enter the terminal airspace and will be held until you’re cleared to begin the instrument approach. This setup is ideal for one-off practice at a drop-in airfield because it aligns your timing with traffic flow and ensures you can perform the approach when the airspace is appropriate. An IFR flight plan is for standard IFR routing from departure to destination, not the deliberate hold-in-terminal-area arrangement used for practice approaches. A VFR flight plan is for typical visual flight operations outside instrument procedures, and a Special-Use Flight Plan applies to operations in restricted or active special-use airspace, not for routine practice approaches.