PDC (Pre-Departure Clearance) is an amazing tool available to IFR pilots. It allows you to skip the back-and-forth with Clearance Delivery to make sure you copy the clearance down correctly, instead, you can opt to receive the clearance on your phone.
Who can use PDC?
I’ve heard a lot of anecdote about this, the most common thing you’ll hear is like: it wouldn’t work on rental airplanes because only the owner would get PDC. While that might be true at one point in time (and I have no idea if it was), great news to us renters are – this is no longer true!
Here’s the latest PDC information from service providers:
Use Forefilght for example: PDC is enabled per tail number and you must be on Premium or better plans. (According to their documentation, everyone who needs to file IFR at PDC-enabled airports will need to have it. I have not verified what happens if you don’t, but presumably you will not receive PDC and might cause additional workload on ATC. Due to extra subscription requirements and potential for ATC confusion, sadly you will probably not see PDC enabled on rental fleets.)
Not every airport is eligible for PDC, check the table on Foreflight’s link to know where you may use it. Most importantly, you do not need to be the owner of the airplane to use PDC. As long as the owner registered their tail number and you’re on Foreflight’s Premium plan, you will receive PDC.
Receiving PDC
Okay but what does it look like and how do I use it? Once you filed an IFR flight plan (and verified next to aircraft it says PDC), you should receive a PDC ~30mins before ETD.
The PDC will be sent to the filght plan’s email and phone number. (My plane’s owner says he did not get the PDC.) You will also get D-ATIS by text as well. The PDC basically looks like a CRAFT, and you should treat it like one as well in the airplane. Setup your avionics according to it. Don’t forget it because you did not write one down.
Radio Communications
Now that you have the fastpass, you can now skip clearance delivery. I called up ground and just goes: Boise Ground, NXXXXX, at Jet Center, request taxi to run-up then 10R. IFR departure to Palo Alto. Everything else goes as usual.
Next time if you have a chance, go give it a try!