What in the world!A 20 mile final...this will be great....in Winter, over Lake Superior, in a single engine Cessna...AHHH!FSX ATC needs work!

I had that happen when I flew to Palwaukee, Chicago last year as copilot with a friend in a c210. I told him I would only go if he filed around the lake-and was miffed when atc cleared us directly across Lake Michigan at 3000 ft. at the widest point. I remarked if I'd known atc was going to do this and he was going to accept it that I would have brought life vests,survival gear etc. He responded that he had a life raft-relieved I asked where it was. He said back in the hangar...lol....now....At least in the winter you might land on a ice patch-even in the summer 15 minutes is about the survival time in a Great Lakes due to hypothermia.But yes-fs atc needs some work.GeofaMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

Ugh....and you guys couldn't ask to go south a bit, or at least closer to shore?

hehe. On another forum there was talk about saying 'no' to ATC and how it can be hard for us mere mortals to do it. After that discussion I decided that when it comes time to inflict myself upon ATC that if they give me a clearance that I don't think is safe then I will say so.It will be interesting to see if I follow through :-)Steven.

>hehe. On another forum there was talk about saying 'no' to>ATC and how it can be hard for us mere mortals to do it. >After that discussion I decided that when it comes time to>inflict myself upon ATC that if they give me a clearance that>I don't think is safe then I will say so.>>It will be interesting to see if I follow through :-)>>Steven.Usually you're not going to #### anyone off by declining such a clearance. The computer spits it out and the controller is just reading it off of the flight strip or URET screen. Generally it tries to stick to the most direct routing when possible, taking into consideration normal traffic flows, adjacent airspace, MOAs, restricted areas, etc. It sees the route around the lake and tries to straighten it out, regardless of what equipment he may have had on board. If he filed the plan directly with the FSS, he may have been able to tell them what's going on and they could have forced the computer to accept the portion of the flight plan that went around the lake.

I would have not flown it that way-but my friend was in charge , he is comfortable doing it. I have done the lake crossing in a single a couple times but usually only at 10,000 ft. with the winds behind me.Flying from Michigan to the Chicago area in my experience atc wants you low and over the lake-why I fly a twin now.I did fly my single that way years ago-denied the clearance and said I didn't want to go over the lake-and they sent way south and around the back practically to Iowa-lol-added an extra 1 1/2 hours to what should have been a 1 hour flight.GeofaMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

In that situation, fly VFR as long as you can, then pick up a clearance when you're headed towards the IAF of whatever approach you want into the airport you're destined to. That was a little "hint" I picked up over on the AOPA forums to avoid being vectored halfway around the world flying IFR the whole way.I haven't tried it myself, but it is evidently an effective way of getting the routing YOU want.

That wasn't an option as the ceiling was 1800 ft. and we were in solid ifr. Complicating things, there were unforecast tstorms popping up on the southern route so that wasn't an option either. When we accepted the across the lake clearance we asked for a climb to 10,000 which I would have felt comfortable with. However, as soon as touching the east side of the shore were were descended till 3000 ft.In my experience, that is what they want if going to Chicago. Going north to Oskosh is not a problem and going well south is not either.When I flew to Meigs field before it closed it was the same thing-though since Meigs was farther south than Palwaukee I wasn't that far from the south shore.GeofaMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/