Lonely up there?

"Peter R." wrote in message
...
Paul Tomblin wrote:

I especially get that "it's quiet - too quiet" feeling

LOL! "It's too quiet in here," as if a murderer is going to pop-up from
the back seat.

Steve McCroskey: "Sure is quiet out there!"

Rex Cramer: "Yeah, too quiet".

Same experience as Peter, it's usually busy in the NE. I usually only call
to check when there is absolutely no one on the freq and I believe that I'm
encroaching someone else's airspace.

Marco

"Peter R." wrote in message
...
paul kgyy wrote:

It appeared to be a long time since last hearing from ATC on a recent
flight, and sure enough, "27D can you still hear us?". I still could,
and they transferred me to a local approach control.

Anybody ever just call them up to see if they forgot about you? I did
that once over Toledo.

I do that a lot in the Northeast while flying IFR, since normally even the
airspace over central and western NY state is relatively active, but once
in awhile it does goes quiet.

In these cases, I will also make my request as, "Rochester Approach,
Bonanza 45W, requesting radio check."

Most times the controllers know exactly why I am asking and say,
"Receiving
you loud and clear Bonanza 45W. Yes, we are quiet for the moment but I
see
on my scope that it is about to pick up."



--
Peter




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Marco Leon mmleonyahoo.com wrote:

Same experience as Peter, it's usually busy in the NE. I usually only call
to check when there is absolutely no one on the freq and I believe that I'm
encroaching someone else's airspace.

Flying IFR back from Buffalo to Syracuse yesterday, I was presented with
long, silent frequency on Syracuse Approach. As a test, I decided to wait
it out and let ATC or another aircraft break the silence first, as if I
were having a blinking contest to see who would flinch first.

Perhaps five minutes passed without a sound on the frequency as I was
approaching the VOR where I know approach brings me down. I checked and
rechecked the volume on the radio and momentarily broke the squelch, but I
wanted to see how long I could hold out. Finally right at the VOR approach
called me to give me my descent instructions, loud and clear.

At this point in my experience, I admit that the stress of not knowing with
certainty (i.e hearing other activity) that the radio was still functioning
was greater than the effort of simply calling for a radio check.

--
Peter

"Peter R." wrote in message
...
Perhaps five minutes passed without a sound on the frequency as I was
approaching the VOR where I know approach brings me down. I checked and
rechecked the volume on the radio and momentarily broke the squelch, but I
wanted to see how long I could hold out. Finally right at the VOR
approach
called me to give me my descent instructions, loud and clear.

At this point in my experience, I admit that the stress of not knowing
with
certainty (i.e hearing other activity) that the radio was still
functioning
was greater than the effort of simply calling for a radio check.

Makes me uncomfortable too. I've been getting better though. On a late
evening flight from Bangor ME returning to Long Island I had long stretches
of silence and never once did a radio check (I knew there was a market for
them panel-mounted CD players!). Being unfamiliar with the airspace, I was
just probably ignorantly bliss.

Marco



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More than once.

Bob Gardner

"paul kgyy" wrote in message
oups.com...
It appeared to be a long time since last hearing from ATC on a recent
flight, and sure enough, "27D can you still hear us?". I still could,
and they transferred me to a local approach control.

Anybody ever just call them up to see if they forgot about you? I did
that once over Toledo.

paul kgyy wrote:
It appeared to be a long time since last hearing from ATC on a recent
flight, and sure enough, "27D can you still hear us?". I still could,
and they transferred me to a local approach control.

Anybody ever just call them up to see if they forgot about you? I did
that once over Toledo.


Sure. I've had a couple of flights at night where it was quiet,
completely quiet, for more than 5 minutes. That is about my limit
without talking to someone when IFR, at night, over hostile terrain. :-)


Matt

Matt Whiting wrote:
: Sure. I've had a couple of flights at night where it was quiet,
: completely quiet, for more than 5 minutes. That is about my limit
: without talking to someone when IFR, at night, over hostile terrain. :-)

Just about every time I fly from VA to WI or back, I feel that way when in Huntington
WV's airspace. I cross over it from end-to-end... very quiet for 10's of minutes
frequently.... just as getting into pseudo-"hostile terrain" around Charley-West.

-Cory

--

************************************************** ***********************
* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
************************************************** ***********************

wrote:

Matt Whiting wrote:
: Sure. I've had a couple of flights at night where it was quiet,
: completely quiet, for more than 5 minutes. That is about my limit
: without talking to someone when IFR, at night, over hostile terrain. :-)

Just about every time I fly from VA to WI or back, I feel that way when in Huntington
WV's airspace. I cross over it from end-to-end... very quiet for 10's of minutes
frequently.... just as getting into pseudo-"hostile terrain" around Charley-West.

Yes, I've flown through that area and I also get the "quiet nights" when
flying over Western PA.


Matt

Yeah flying from Niagara falls to Vermont on a weekday afternoon. There
was not much chatter at all, no traffic alerts just handoffs. By the
time I got handed off to Boston Center we were exchanging pleasantries
and I told them after I had fed and fueled I'd continue VFR to Maine so
they said "Call us when you get high enough to hear us and we'll be here"

paul kgyy wrote:
It appeared to be a long time since last hearing from ATC on a recent
flight, and sure enough, "27D can you still hear us?". I still could,
and they transferred me to a local approach control.

Anybody ever just call them up to see if they forgot about you? I did
that once over Toledo.

I've noticed that Boston Center's radar coverage get's quite spotty on the
NY/VT/NH area. No doubt because of the mountains. The MEA of 5000 is very
strict in that 4,500 seems to be where I lose radio contact. I basically
have to cancel before I descend if it's VMC.

Marco
"Robert Chambers" wrote in message
...
Yeah flying from Niagara falls to Vermont on a weekday afternoon. There
was not much chatter at all, no traffic alerts just handoffs. By the
time I got handed off to Boston Center we were exchanging pleasantries
and I told them after I had fed and fueled I'd continue VFR to Maine so
they said "Call us when you get high enough to hear us and we'll be here"

paul kgyy wrote:
It appeared to be a long time since last hearing from ATC on a recent
flight, and sure enough, "27D can you still hear us?". I still could,
and they transferred me to a local approach control.

Anybody ever just call them up to see if they forgot about you? I did
that once over Toledo.





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