Ron Lee wrote:

snip

The apparent "incident" trying to establish flight following as I
approached the LA basin remains questionable. I don't recall whether
I was not agressive enough trying to call in the very short
transmission openings or if I was put on hold (possible) and
forgotten. Since I saw no restrictions on flying at 12,500', and that
is a typical flight altitude for me, I don't see where that was a bad
decision on my part. Flight following...had it happened much
sooner...would have provided adequate separation with jets. FSS
mentioned the VFR corridors during the preflight briefing but I don't
use those. I fly over Class B.

Keep in mind that area is extremely busy and VFR traffic has a low
priority.

Some tips for out of towners flying the area:

Get a LA TAC and take note of SOCAL frequencies for specific areas
and the suggested VFR flyways.

Contact SOCAL early as they tend to be less busy around the edges.

Once clear of the mountains, an altitude of 4500 to 7500 keeps you
above most of the local GA traffic, below most of the heavies and
makes transitions through the numerous class C and D airspaces pretty
trivial while on flight following.

In the basin the terrain, except for the occasional hill, is mostly
between about 0 and 2000 feet, so altitudes above 10,000 feet just
mixes you in with the heavies.

For most destinations it is simpler to fly under the LA class B
rather than over it.

Plan ahead.

Going around the MOAs added unnecessary time. I asked the military
controller if there was a way to get MOA status on the ground. He
stated that if I am VFR I can fly through them then get activity
updates from the appropriate controller. So from now on, MOAs are no
different than non-MOA airspace. I will continue to use flight
following and talk to MOA controllers as appropriate.

While VFR traffic can legally go through a MOA without talking to
anyone, doing it without flight following or knowing absolutely
for sure the area is cold is not conducive to a happy ending.

--
Jim Pennino

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