Frank Whiteley wrote:

I'm told some soaring pilots operating locally request discrete
transponder codes and receive flight following and are offered climbs
and cruise blocks above FL180 occassionally. Useful when cloud base
may exceed FL240. This may be more common in California/Nevada due to
long time agreements and experience. A former partner of mine once
wrote up an article for the PASCO newsletter about blocking FL220-260?
and cruising about 115miles from Truckee to Mt Whitney without turning.
I don't think he was transponder equipped for that flight.


Hi Frank,

That's exciting stuff, and encouraging! I would be interested in
reading that article if you can find it.

Chris Fleming, F2
El Paso, Texas