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Keep your head on a swivel 'cause there are plenty of pilots out there that either don't have radios, or don't want to talk to ATC. It's perfectly legal and I, for one, hopes it stays that way. I know professional pilots that will do a lot of their "fun flying" in VFR "I-ain't-talkin-to-nobody" mode, just because they're tired of working with the ATC guys every day for their job, and they enjoy the freedom of just flying where they want, and if they see something that interests them they turn and look and meander wherever they want to without having to report back to "big brother".
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That's me defined to a T. I don't really like talking to ATC if I don't have to. That being said, I'll still monitor the appropriate ATC freqs for the area I'm operating in, if applicable. It goes hand in hand with see and avoid, and helps with overall SA. Also, normally when I'm flying and not talking to ATC, I'll avoid "common" fly areas such as airways, etc. I'll usually be very off airway and low-level to avoid pretty much everybody. Case in point, when I'd fly cargo from PHX to LAS. Instead of flying IFR up the airway north from PHX, taking a left to DRK, continuning on to LAS; I'd just fly a VFR departure our of PHX northwest, cancel outside Class B, and continue northwest low-level underneath the Bagdad/Gladden MOA....the next ATC agency being LAS TRACON that I talk to. Still, I'd monitor ZAB as well as Guard enroute, as per standard and to build any SA.
Keep your head on a swivel 'cause there are plenty of pilots out there that either don't have radios, or don't want to talk to ATC. It's perfectly legal and I, for one, hopes it stays that way. I know professional pilots that will do a lot of their "fun flying" in VFR "I-ain't-talkin-to-nobody" mode, just because they're tired of working with the ATC guys every day for their job, and they enjoy the freedom of just flying where they want, and if they see something that interests them they turn and look and meander wherever they want to without having to report back to "big brother".
.
[/ QUOTE ]
That's me defined to a T. I don't really like talking to ATC if I don't have to. That being said, I'll still monitor the appropriate ATC freqs for the area I'm operating in, if applicable. It goes hand in hand with see and avoid, and helps with overall SA. Also, normally when I'm flying and not talking to ATC, I'll avoid "common" fly areas such as airways, etc. I'll usually be very off airway and low-level to avoid pretty much everybody. Case in point, when I'd fly cargo from PHX to LAS. Instead of flying IFR up the airway north from PHX, taking a left to DRK, continuning on to LAS; I'd just fly a VFR departure our of PHX northwest, cancel outside Class B, and continue northwest low-level underneath the Bagdad/Gladden MOA....the next ATC agency being LAS TRACON that I talk to. Still, I'd monitor ZAB as well as Guard enroute, as per standard and to build any SA.
