How to request VFR flight following

Flight following gives you traffic advisories and a controller watching your tail on a VFR flight. How to ask for it and what to read back.

Who to call

Call the appropriate Approach or Center facility for your area (look it up on a chart or get a handoff from tower). On initial call, give your call sign, type, position, altitude, and that you are requesting flight following — e.g. "Norcal Approach, Cessna One Two Three Four Five, ten miles south of Livermore, four thousand five hundred, request VFR flight following to Salinas."

The squawk

ATC assigns a discrete transponder code: "Cessna One Two Three Four Five, squawk zero two three four." Read it back and set it: "Squawk zero two three four, Cessna One Two Three Four Five." Then expect "radar contact."

Traffic calls

You'll get advisories by clock position, distance, and altitude: "traffic, two o'clock, three miles, opposite direction, altitude indicates four thousand five hundred." Reply "traffic in sight" or "looking, negative contact."

Leaving the service

ATC ends it with "radar service terminated, squawk VFR, frequency change approved." Set 1200 and you're on your own again. You can also cancel anytime: "Cessna One Two Three Four Five, cancel flight following."

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