Socata TB20 flight Shoreham EGKA (UK) to Brac LDSB (Croatia), July 2025

Socata TB20 flight Shoreham EGKA (UK) to Brac LDSB (Croatia), July 2025. This video is a condensed version of a 6hr flight in the Eurocontrol IFR system. It was edited to show ATC interaction. It is unusual in that the flight was rendered impossible by a late-notified Eurocontrol rejection of the flight plan and a SUSP (flight plan suspension) message, leaving no time to sort it out before heading to the airport. The departure was also not possible to delay due to the destination closing time. So a decision was made to re-file the same route as VFR and press ATC for IFR clearances all the way down the route. Amazingly this not only worked but worked much better than I had expected. It incidentally shows what a dumb monster the Eurocontrol flight plan validation system is - that you can file a rejected route as VFR and then fly the exact same route! Not really surprising though, given that there is almost no traffic in that airspace, below FL200. I had no TCAS contacts (+/- 3000ft, 20nm radius) until the very end of the 900nm flight. A better quality version is on Vimeo https://vimeo.com/1101877898