I've never used Flight Following, and really wouldn't know how to go
about it.


It's pretty straightforward. You call up on an appropriate frequency (they are
listed on the charts and in the AF/D - in a pinch a tower can start you off)
and say something like "Boston Approach, November two four one Romeo Charlie,
twenty five miles northeast of Pawling VOR, level at six point five, request
flight following to Nantucket" If they are busy, they may wait a moment before
answering (if they are really busy just announch your call sign and wait before
you get into the long spiel). When they answer you they will say something
like "two four one Romeo Charlie, squawk 3721". Repeat the code back to them,
put it in the window, they will say "two four one Romeo Charlie, radar contact
thirty miles east northeast of Pawling" and you're in.

Then listen for and acknowledge their traffic calls, and their frequency
changes (you'll get a lot of them - maybe even at the start if you call the
"wrong" sector.) You may get an occasional vector around airspace, but
basically, navigation is still up to you, as is everything else you are
normally responsible for.


But apart from that, I hated it whenever the tower called out traffic.
I could never see it! Finally the instructor told me to say "XXX is
looking for the traffic" and to stop craning around. That helped.


I agree with the first bit. Unless you have already seen the traffic, it may
take a moment to find it. Acknowledge the call, but DO look for that traffic.
That's why it's called out to you. In your normal scan, pay particular
attention to the direction they indicate, and the areas around it (when they
say "three o'clock" it may be off by a bit, for many reasons).

The more you do this, the more comfortable you will get with radio procedures.
It will soon be second nature.

As for preflight checklists from memory, try a paper one as a reminder after
you are done - to ensure that you in fact did remember everything. It's easy
to forget stuff and not realize it. Memory is the second thing to go.

Jose


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