En route altitudes and safety

A recent thread reminded me it might be worth discussing an personal
flying practice. When en route, as a way of reducing the likelihood
of a midair by about a binary order of magnitude (that's a factor of
two for the non mathematically inclined) I fly the nominal altitude
less 100 feet VFR, or the assigned altitude less 50 feet IFR. The idea
of course is if the unseen/unreported converging traffic is at the
correct altitude or on the high side of it, we'd miss. I chose lower
because I fly a low winged airplane, and of course I would agree this
makes a very unlikely event only slightly less likely. On the other
hand, I don't see that I've significantly increased other in-flight
risks much by doing this, What (if anything) might I have overlooked?
To the wiseguys, yes I in fact do hold altitude pretty closely when
flying.

Do any of you have similar odd real life habits you think enhance
safety?

"a" wrote in message
...
A recent thread reminded me it might be worth discussing an personal
flying practice. When en route, as a way of reducing the likelihood
of a midair by about a binary order of magnitude (that's a factor of
two for the non mathematically inclined) I fly the nominal altitude
less 100 feet VFR, or the assigned altitude less 50 feet IFR. The idea
of course is if the unseen/unreported converging traffic is at the
correct altitude or on the high side of it, we'd miss. I chose lower
because I fly a low winged airplane, and of course I would agree this
makes a very unlikely event only slightly less likely. On the other
hand, I don't see that I've significantly increased other in-flight
risks much by doing this, What (if anything) might I have overlooked?
To the wiseguys, yes I in fact do hold altitude pretty closely when
flying.

Even if you do hold altitude pretty closely, it's inevitable you're going to
vary every now and then. As far as IFR goes, 200' altitude deviation busts
are pretty common these days. In theory, you could get busted for a 100'
variation, but I don't know if anyone has ever received a deviation for
such.

One thing to remember is if a controller ever asks, do NOT tell them you are
200' (or more) off your assigned altitude. A good stalling technique is to
ask them for the altimeter setting again and quickly correct while they are
giving it to you. The people who get busted are the ones that fess up.

One thing to remember is if a controller ever asks, do NOT tell them you are
200' (or more) off your assigned altitude. A good stalling technique is to
ask them for the altimeter setting again and quickly correct while they are
giving it to you. The people who get busted are the ones that fess up.

You can also tell them you are resetting the transponder. While it is
off, fly to the correct altitude.

a wrote:

Do any of you have similar odd real life habits you think enhance
safety?

When flying VOR to VOR, I never fly directly over the VOR.


--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

wrote in message
news
a wrote:

Do any of you have similar odd real life habits you think enhance
safety?

When flying VOR to VOR, I never fly directly over the VOR.


--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.


Don't worry about it. With a little more practice, you'll be able to do it.

--
Regards, BobF.

a wrote:
A recent thread reminded me it might be worth discussing an personal
flying practice. When en route, as a way of reducing the likelihood
of a midair by about a binary order of magnitude (that's a factor of
two for the non mathematically inclined) I fly the nominal altitude
less 100 feet VFR, or the assigned altitude less 50 feet IFR. The idea
of course is if the unseen/unreported converging traffic is at the
correct altitude or on the high side of it, we'd miss. I chose lower
because I fly a low winged airplane, and of course I would agree this
makes a very unlikely event only slightly less likely. On the other
hand, I don't see that I've significantly increased other in-flight
risks much by doing this, What (if anything) might I have overlooked?
To the wiseguys, yes I in fact do hold altitude pretty closely when
flying.

Do any of you have similar odd real life habits you think enhance
safety?


I fly at the assigned altitude, period. I put my trust in the
controllers and would hope that the PIC's sharing the airways with me
are just as trustworthy (and professional). Someone that thinks
deviating from an assigned altitude by as much as 100 feet (plus or
minus) is "OK" should spend a few hours with an instructor that's going
to rap your knuckles with a ruler when you try pulling something like
that in the name of "safety".

On Aug 27, 12:22*pm, Frank Olson
wrote:
a wrote:
I fly at the assigned altitude, period. *I put my trust in the
controllers and would hope that the PIC's sharing the airways with me
are just as trustworthy (and professional). *Someone that thinks
deviating from an assigned altitude by as much as 100 feet (plus or
minus) is "OK" should spend a few hours with an instructor that's going
to rap your knuckles with a ruler when you try pulling something like
that in the name of "safety".- Hide quoted text -

I fly the assigned altitude as well. And while I put my trust in the
controller, I occassionally hear the little voice in my head reminding
of that pilot saying..."When the pilot makes a mistake, the pilot
dies. When the controller makes a mistake, the pilot dies."

--Jeff

On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:22:12 GMT, Frank Olson wrote:

I fly at the assigned altitude, period. I put my trust in the
controllers and would hope that the PIC's sharing the airways with me
are just as trustworthy (and professional). Someone that thinks
deviating from an assigned altitude by as much as 100 feet (plus or
minus) is "OK" should spend a few hours with an instructor that's going
to rap your knuckles with a ruler when you try pulling something like
that in the name of "safety".

Jesus trusted Judas.

****ing moron.

"John Smith" wrote in message
...
One thing to remember is if a controller ever asks, do NOT tell them you
are
200' (or more) off your assigned altitude. A good stalling technique is
to
ask them for the altimeter setting again and quickly correct while they
are
giving it to you. The people who get busted are the ones that fess up.

You can also tell them you are resetting the transponder. While it is
off, fly to the correct altitude.

That's pretty much unnecessary and if your transponder is off for very long
it can cause your tag to go into coast on the controller's scope which means
he has to reacquire and that certainly won't score you any points.

The controller is not going to bust you by a small altitude deviation based
on what he sees on his scope. The reason is because it's possible for
barometric pressure to vary over small distances which cause errors. His
scope only reads in 100' increments also. He doesn't know what your
altimeter is reading until you tell him, which is the most accurate
instrument. A good controller will repeat the altimeter setting which is
your que to check your altitude. If you miss that que, and he asks you what
your altitude is, and you report something different than what you were
assigned, there's a good chance you're going to be writing down a number.
Most controllers do not want to bust you, but they are left with few options
these days.

the extremophile " the wrote in news:g94e7s
:

On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:22:12 GMT, Frank Olson wrote:

I fly at the assigned altitude, period. I put my trust in the
controllers and would hope that the PIC's sharing the airways with me
are just as trustworthy (and professional). Someone that thinks
deviating from an assigned altitude by as much as 100 feet (plus or
minus) is "OK" should spend a few hours with an instructor that's going
to rap your knuckles with a ruler when you try pulling something like
that in the name of "safety".

Jesus trusted Judas.


Why would he need to do that if he knew what he was going to do?



****ing moron.


Tch tch , that'll get you a fast boat to hell.


Bertie