Transit Through An MOA

Ventucky Red

Ventucky Red

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Jon
Looking to do a flight up the coast of CA over the Christmas break and I have never transited through an MOA... really ever had a reason to, however, this MOA has some of the best scenery anywhere... so time give it a go. So I get it that I'll need to check the NOTMAS to see if the area is active (hopefully over the next few weeks it isn't) and need to ring up Oakland Center @ 128.7 a few miles out, however, what would be the proper phrasing be and what will they be looking for - route of flight etc... just want to make sure I have it down as to not waste their time..

Has anyone here done this route - any pearls or pitfall to be aware of, and are any of you blokes in the Watsonville, Monterey, Hollister area and can recommend a good burger?

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"I'll be flying up/down the coast at x,xxx MSL, any concerns with the Hunter MOA's?". or something like that.
 
It's legal to fly VFR through an active MOA, but I stopped doing it when it was pointed out that it could disrupt a training exercise. In the absence of a NOTAM, I would just ask if the MOA was active.
 
Looks like a fun flight.

I’m based at Watsonville. You can get a good burger at Ella’s or Beer Mule across the street from Ella’s at Watsonville. You can also get a great lunch at the restaurant behind the glider school at Hollister airport.

When I fly down to San Luis Obispo we transit the Hunter MOA’s making sure we stay out of the two restricted areas without any issues. We either get flight following or monitor the frequency.
 
Ventucky Red said:
Looking to do a flight up the coast of CA over the Christmas break and I have never transited through an MOA...
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Beaufort MOA, just north of Hilton Head SC is similar in many respects. I have flown through it many times. I was hesitant just like you at first but most of the time it is a non event. An MOA means military aircraft, which are much heavier and faster than you are, may be using the same airspace as you. It is best to have Flight Following so ATC knows what you are doing and can alert the military of your presence and intentions. They may ask you to alter course for traffic or just help point out aircraft you may not see, just like they do anytime you get FF.

Enjoy your flight.
 
Yeah, flight following or (better yet) talking to the folks running the MoA. You don't want to go bumbling into an active MoA for the obvious safety reasons but also because you could screw up a training event that has been planned and prepared for weeks in advance. The controlling agency (military ATC) really just need to know your intentions so they can either vector you around or through the MoA, or keep their own folks clear. It's the unknown guy that makes everyone knock it off.
 
I love this topic because of the predictable chorus of horror that arises when I say I fly through ‘em all the time - hot, cold, with radar services, without, talking to ATC or not. Had some great air shows through them, even fly through restricted areas with some regularity. All perfectly legal and safe. Oh the horror!
 
FF won’t always work. A few facilities like Atlanta Center won’t work VFRs through an active MOA. Also sometimes the controlling agency listed isn’t even the one working the aircraft in the MOA. “Multiple aircraft in the Bulldog MOA that I’m not talking to, either go around or I’ll have to terminate flight following.”

A lot of pilots think a MOA is a beehive of activity but most times it’s a couple of aircraft at altitudes that are no factor for VFRs. I’ve flown past far more military aircraft in alert areas and VR routes than I ever have in MOAs.
 
William Pete Hodges said:
Beaufort MOA, just north of Hilton Head SC is similar in many respects. I have flown through it many times. I was hesitant just like you at first but most of the time it is a non event. An MOA means military aircraft, which are much heavier and faster than you are, may be using the same airspace as you. It is best to have Flight Following so ATC knows what you are doing and can alert the military of your presence and intentions. They may ask you to alter course for traffic or just help point out aircraft you may not see, just like they do anytime you get FF.

Enjoy your flight.
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Beaufort used to be busy back in the day but noise complaints shutdown all the cool stuff. Used to a semiannual “Hornets Nest” where aircraft came from all over. It revolved around air to ground and aircraft would attack the airfield. Sometimes as low as 100 ft. My friends that work ATC there said years ago they stopped doing that and pushed all that activity to Coastal MOA and Townsend range. That’s a heavily trafficked area especially during Savannah Sentry ops.
 
Timbeck2 said:
Here in Southern Arizona, if we couldn’t fly through MOAs, we’d never get anywhere.
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Me too - exactly. And ours basically lack radio coverage due to the distances and terrain, so going through them without services is just a reality. When I am able to get services and they are obviously hot, I have never once gotten the sense that anyone - ATC, the military pilots, or anyone else - was the least bit bothered by my presence. The air shows I’ve gotten have all be planned and clearly friendly: “bugsmasher 123, expect two F-18s opposite direction your altitude, they have you in sight”

:F-18 pilot blasts by just above, rolls inverted and waves:
 
Ventucky Red said:
Looking to do a flight up the coast of CA over the Christmas break and I have never transited through an MOA... really ever had a reason to, however, this MOA has some of the best scenery anywhere... so time give it a go. So I get it that I'll need to check the NOTMAS to see if the area is active (hopefully over the next few weeks it isn't) and need to ring up Oakland Center @ 128.7 a few miles out, however, what would be the proper phrasing be and what will they be looking for - route of flight etc... just want to make sure I have it down as to not waste their time..

Has anyone here done this route - any pearls or pitfall to be aware of, and are any of you blokes in the Watsonville, Monterey, Hollister area and can recommend a good burger?

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Hunter Low E and D have tops of 3500 and 6000. They don't have published hours but are intermittent by Notam. The user will probably be on Christmas break to.
 
Ventucky Red said:
Has anyone here done this route - any pearls or pitfall to be aware of, and are any of you blokes in the Watsonville, Monterey, Hollister area and can recommend a good burger?
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OAK center and flight following have pretty well been addressed. Seabrisas on the field at Hollister is pretty good, maybe a little pricey. I don't recall whether or not there's a courtesy car at Hollister but Dunneville Market, about 5 miles from the field, has pretty amazing tri-tip.

Nauga,
and the gravy pipe
 
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Timbeck2 said:
Here in Southern Arizona, if we couldn’t fly through MOAs, we’d never get anywhere.
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Yeah if I depart from my airport going any direction between north and southeast I'm headed straight into one of several MOAs in the area. They're not active very often and I honestly have almost forgotten they exist after living with them for all these years. I'm almost always either on an IFR clearance or using flight following and the MOA hasn't ever popped up on a pre-flight briefing or with ATC in hundreds of hours of flying.
 
Timbeck2 said:
Here in Southern Arizona, if we couldn’t fly through MOAs, we’d never get anywhere.
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R-5117 is a triangular shaped restricted area just east of Gallup. We ignore it like it was never there. In the 18 years I have lived here I have only seen if go active maybe 5 times.

V-291 goes right through it.
 
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