Class D / Class C precedence

"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
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PilotWeb.org writes:

Do not feel guilty about asking for flight following or any other ATC
service. If the controller is unable to provide you with the service
because of a high workload, then he will tell you he is "unable flight
following at this time."

Part of good CRM is taking advantage of EVERY AVAILABLE RESOURCE to
reduce risk and contribute to safety. VFR flight following, be it
terminal or center radar is just one more resource. Use it.

Point taken, but I know that ATC's first priority is to keep IFR
flights safe, and in busy airspace I'd not want to take any risk of
distracting them from that job. If it's quiet I might ask for flight
following, or if I felt that I were in a risky situation myself (lots
of traffic nearby).


You are contradicting yourself Anthony. First you say you don't want to risk
distracting in busy airspace then you turn around that you'd use flight
following with lots of traffic nearby.

ATC is capable of deciding whether or not they are too busy to provide
flight following the pilot need not worry about distracting them with the
request or the service.

Gig 601XL Builder writes:

You are contradicting yourself Anthony. First you say you don't want to risk
distracting in busy airspace then you turn around that you'd use flight
following with lots of traffic nearby.

It's not a contradiction. At some point my safety (and that of
others) makes flight following necessary. ATC might be busy, but not
with traffic in my area; in that case I don't necessarily need flight
following. Or I might be right in the thick of the heavy traffic that
ATC is handling, in which case flight following might be justified.

ATC is capable of deciding whether or not they are too busy to provide
flight following the pilot need not worry about distracting them with the
request or the service.

I suppose that's true. I hate to impose.

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Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Mxsmanic wrote:
It's not a contradiction. At some point my safety (and that of
others) makes flight following necessary.

That's not true. NTSB accident statistics don't support it.
It's a service, providing only add'l assistance in the
see-and-avoid department, which is the primary way airplanes
don't hit each other.

F--