So you are flying along VFR at...

Morgan3820

Morgan3820

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5500 ft. northbound on Victor airway V1. FlightAware shows another plane, southbound at 6000 ft perhaps IFR. You are on flight following so, ATC apprises you of the traffic which you cannot yet see but should pass directly overhead. ATC makes no other call.

Question is, do you deviate from you current flight path?
 
Agreed. 500' vertical separation - no deviation needed.
 
How wide is the airway????? Even though you were VFR, "offsetting" might make you more comfortable.
 
I’m just gonna tell ATC ‘searching’ until I see the traffic. Nine times out of ten, that’s the end of the conversation. Big sky and nose aspect is really hard to get visual on unless there’s some sort of contrast or canopy glint that gives away the motion.
 
Morgan3820 said:
5500 ft. northbound on Victor airway V1. FlightAware shows another plane, southbound at 6000 ft perhaps IFR. You are on flight following so, ATC apprises you of the traffic which you cannot yet see but should pass directly overhead. ATC makes no other call.

Question is, do you deviate from you current flight path?
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Nah. Unless it’s something big and wake turbulancy
 
Daleandee said:
In my small plane it would depend on how large and fast the approaching plane was. If it was large and I had a ADSB on it and still couldn't see it I'd consider moving over a bit to give him more room.

We had a fatal here a few years ago that still haunts me. It was discussed here: https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/f16-vs-cessna-150-collision.83754/
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I remember this. And I was in the vicinity, coming back from a trip to Beaufort, sc. In fact I made comment about it to my wife.
 
Depends - ATC is telling me we're 500' apart, which is good enough. Might sidestep a little to add lateral clearance too.
 
Morgan3820 said:
I remember this. And I was in the vicinity, coming back from a trip to Beaufort, sc. In fact I made comment about it to my wife.
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I was at work. The planes came down not very far from the shop. KMKS is an airport that I get most of my fuel from. I knew of these men but can't say I knew them personally but many of my coworkers did. Don't know why the Cessna wasn't talking to ATC or on a flight plan. Lessons learned ...
 
I'd be comfortable with 500 ft separation, but would monitor his altitude on my ADS-B traffic and try to spot him visually as well.

This happens only on days that end in "y" in the L.A. basin. :)
 
So i don’t know about where you fly, but in my neck of the woods, there are a large number of pilots who seem to struggle with altitude maintenance - I’d sidestep a bit - 500’ is fine if it is actually 500’. If its 200 or 250’ then I’m a little twitchy.
 
Mike Blackburn said:
So i don’t know about where you fly, but in my neck of the woods, there are a large number of pilots who seem to struggle with altitude maintenance - I’d sidestep a bit - 500’ is fine if it is actually 500’. If its 200 or 250’ then I’m a little twitchy.
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There are some that intentionally fly off altitude too, rationalizing that they won’t get hit that way. That always baffled me.

Im fine with 500 feet but there are enough opportunities for error for me to be wary of much less than that.
 
Had a glider pass underneath the nose of the plane I was flying in that was definitely less than 200’. Big sky and all that until it’s not. Probably was riding a thermal upwards which is why we didn’t see it until the very last second.
 
Morgan3820 said:
I remember this. And I was in the vicinity, coming back from a trip to Beaufort, sc. In fact I made comment about it to my wife.
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I actually used to work Beaufort approach. Issued many traffic advisories along V1 just like that. Beautiful area and a lot of history there. Thought about retiring there but don’t think I could deal with the summers.
 
Are you at FL or QNH when flying in Victor airways? Is the IFR (if it actually is IFR, seems it was a guess) using FL?
 
TCABM said:
I’m just gonna tell ATC ‘searching’ until I see the traffic. Nine times out of ten, that’s the end of the conversation. Big sky and nose aspect is really hard to get visual on unless there’s some sort of contrast or canopy glint that gives away the motion.
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Why not use the proper terminology. The words are "TRAFFIC IN SIGHT" and "NEGATIVE CONTACT." ATC assumes you're going to look for traffic they point out to you. The only thing that matters to them is if you see it.

Perhaps I'm missing someone, but who uses FlightAware as traffic avoidance in flight? It's not intended to be real time.
 
Coming home from Florida I was given a short cut direct BASSO from somewhere just NE of Fernandina on V3. I believe I was about to cross V1. I split between two aircraft heading south, one on the V1 airway the other most likely getting a shortcut too. We had 1000' separation so no factor at all. However, when it comes up on ADS-B you tend to take notice and get ready to maneuver if needed. Trust but verify....
FPR OXB BASSO (1).jpg
 
You didn't mention his airspeed however, I'm turning 30 degrees and descending until he passes. It costs me nothing.

How do you know he is not about to initiate a descent??? If he's high performance he could be in your flight path in seconds.

How do you know both readouts are precisely correct? Technology is not perfect.

It costs nothing to make a slight deviation.

Let's put it another way. Without the technology, if you see an aircraft at 12 o'clock and three miles on a converging course, would you make a deviation? I'm guessing you would because that 500 feet is very hard to judge, and again, you don't know if they are about to descend. I'm guessing without the ADSB input, you are going to deviate.

I understand that some people fly as if nothing bad is going to happen to them. My perspective is about the opposite.
 
Lndwarrior said:
You didn't mention his airspeed however, I'm turning 30 degrees and descending until he passes. It costs me nothing.

How do you know he is not about to initiate a descent??? If he's high performance he could be in your flight path in seconds.

How do you know both readouts are precisely correct? Technology is not perfect.

It costs nothing to make a slight deviation.

Let's put it another way. Without the technology, if you see an aircraft at 12 o'clock and three miles on a converging course, would you make a deviation? I'm guessing you would because that 500 feet is very hard to judge, and again, you don't know if they are about to descend. I'm guessing without the ADSB input, you are going to deviate.

I understand that some people fly as if nothing bad is going to happen to them. My perspective is about the opposite.
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What if he also descends and turns 30-degrees? How do you know he won't also deviate? I feel like you can play that game of what-ifs all the time. What if your deviation now puts you closer to traffic that wasn't called out because it wasn't a factor and now you've created another issue?
 
I was more concerned about traffic ATC didn't tell me about that was 500' below me in the direct opposite direction. Odd since they did tell me about the jet 1,000' above me and over taking me.

The head-on traffic and I had a 350 knot closure rate; two SR22s, me at 5,000' and the other at 4500'. The jet was at 6,000'. We were all over the top of ATL, so they were talking to all of us. I saw the other Cirrus on ADS-B and SkyWatch.

I've been over ATL lots of time, but that was the first time I've seen any traffic there other than the traffic landing or taking off at Hartsfield.



Wayne
 
Turning and changing altitude makes it harder to see and avoid. Also makes it harder for the other pilot to predict your path and avoid you. Straight and level for both aircraft is the most predictable action.

Dunno about other programs, but Pilot has settings to warn you of ADS-B traffic conflicts.
 
eman1200 said:
Lots of people fly just fine not talking to ATC or on a flight plan.
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True dat ... and I've flown many times not talking to anyone. In his case it might have made a difference.

There is another thread about flight following and the virtues of it ...
 
The other aircraft is level at 6,000. Probably a 99.9 % chance they are IFR talking to approach. They’re not descending without ATC permission. That’s 500 ft vertical built in for any VFRs at cruising altitude. That’s the way the system was designed. Nothing to worry about. While I’d issue one, technically a traffic call isn’t even required.
 
Yep, no need to get worked up about it unless you get compliments on the accuracy of your instruments.
 
Happens all the time in Southern California. Even in these days of GPS and more planes equipped with autopilot, no two planes fly the airway quite the same way. Unless it's a Challenger or bigger, I don't really care. Even business jets aren't much of an issue when in cruise, cause they're still pretty fast and clean.
 
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