While the Irish rule is clear, a full flight plan is to be filed an hour in advance (unless impracticable) for a VFR flight any part of which is in controlled airspace - why is this?
In comparison with other European countries this is a somewhat unusual requirement. Do the other countries give a lesser service to GA as a result, or is safety thereby compromised? I don't think so.
Usually a VFR flight plan is required only for international or over-water flights.
A few countries such as Spain, Portugal, Greece, and some ex-Iron Curtain countries require a flight plan generally for
every VFR flight. However the domestic flight plan details required in say Spain and Portugal are much less formal than filling up the whole standard form with route details, the colour of my liferaft, whether I have jungle equipment etc. etc. Commonly there is just a slip of paper with some very basic info.
It may be said that the Irish system in practice does not require the full flight plan form to be completed for domestic flights, if that is the case can we please have an abbreviated form for use in future?
If we have to put up with Ireland's unusual requirement, at least it should be designed for ease of use. So what has happened to filing by email? Or by text message? It would be much more convenient to just send the plan from a mobile phone, rather than searching for a working fax machine or having to call Shannon, wasting both parties' time.
