On Tue, 07 Nov 2006 13:44:13 +0000, A. Sinan Unur wrote:

you should assume it is
right where you can't see it rather than safely away from you.

I'd a minor "scare" like that a couple of days ago. I was approaching an
airport that happens to have a VOR on the field. TRACON had told me to
try again in a few minutes for advisories, but I stayed on their
frequency. And someone reported their location as "at the VOR".

I didn't know the other plane's altitude, though I did know he was
climbing. But I did know that I didn't see it. And I guessed that it
was likely below me, probably departing from that airport (or its
neighbor) given that this was that airplane's first contact with TRACON
and that he was climbing.

So I assumed the worst, and turned away from the VOR.

Shortly thereafter, the other plane announced its altitude as being a few
thousand above me.

- Andrew