A CPR SMT PLT RPTED LATE TO ZTL AFTER TKOF; BUT WITH A VERY SHORT 'VOID TIME' IN MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN.

Narrative

THIS OCCURRENCE WAS A BREAKDOWN OF COM BTWN RALEIGH AND ZTL. OUR VOID TIME AT OUR UNCTLED ARPT WAS XA40 LCL TIME. WE WERE OFF BY XA30 LCL HOWEVER MACON COUNTY (1A5) ARPT IS IN A VALLEY 2020 FT; SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS ARE APPROX 6000 FT. COM WITH ATLANTA CTR COULD NOT BE ESTABLISHED UNTIL XA45 LCL TIME PER OUR CLRNC DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS. (POOR COM IN MOUNTAIN AREAS.) ALSO CTR HAS US ON A RWY DIRECT COURSE INTXN V222 LOGAN DIRECT PDK. OUR AIRPLANE IS NOT /R EQUIPPED. WE ARE /A EQUIPPED. OUR CLRNC TOOK US DIRECT ODF V222 COURSE V222 LOGAN DIRECT PDK. AGAIN MISCOM FSS AND ATLANTA CTR. VOID TIMES IN THIS AREA WITH MOUNTAINS SHOULD BE NO LESS THAN 30 MINS. AND CTLRS SHOULD BE SENSITIVE OF THE FACT THAT COMS SOMETIMES CANNOT BE ESTABLISHED UNTIL 7000-8000 FT. IN IFR CONDITIONS IN MOUNTAINS; RADAR VECTORS TO INTXNS WOULD BE A GREAT HELP. CTR CTLRS SHOULD ALSO BE AWARE OF MOUNTAIN LIMITATIONS IN THIS AREA. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR FLIES A CESSNA 414 FROM MACON COUNTY ARPT; FRANKLIN; NC. THE ARPT IS AT 2020 FT MSL WITH SURROUNDING TERRAIN MORE THAN 6600 FT MSL. AS THERE IS NO APCH PROC INTO MACON COUNTY; THERE IS NO PUBLISHED DEP PROC. ZTL GIVES DEPARTING ACFT INSTRUCTIONS TO CALL OVER A CERTAIN FIX AND A VERY SHORT 'VOID TIME' TO GET INTO THE IFR SYS. THE RPTR THINKS THAT THE 'VOID TIMES' ARE VERY SHORT AND HARD TO COMPLY WITH. AS THE NEAREST ZTL XMITTER IS ABOUT 50 MI AWAY; DEPARTING ACFT HAVE A HARD TIME CLBING HIGH ENOUGH TO AN ALT WHERE THEY CAN COM WITH ZTL. THE RPTR SUBMITTED THIS RPT BECAUSE THE ZTL CTLR 'WAS REALLY SHORT' WITH HIM. THERE HAS BEEN NO FURTHER ACTION TAKEN.