TCAS in military jets?

[MikeD]

Quite a few of the routes go both directions, but they'll be numbered consecutively. So VR 1010 (I'm making this example up, BTW) might be one set of points, flown clockwise or east to west or whatever, and VR 1011 will be the exact same groundtrack, but in the opposite direction (west to east or counterclockwise or whatever).

Where I used to instruct we used SR-137 quite frequently, but we could have just as easily used SR-138... same route, but flown the opposite direction.

Exactly. Plus, the aircraft you may have seen going the opposite direction could've been in the LATN area, ie- where you can fly anywhere low-level, and not necessarily on a designated route, since in that area of the Sells MOA, both exist.

 

[Zondaracer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOMOBXKmQEI
See and Avoid, T-38 near miss with civilian plane

 

[Hacker15e]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOMOBXKmQEI
See and Avoid, T-38 near miss with civilian plane

Note that occurred on an MTR (a published MTR that is right there on the sectional) at 500' AGL.

 

[///AMG]

Not sure where to post this, so let it be here.

Was on my solo x-county yesterday, part of the route was pretty close to a low MOA.
At some point I had 4 military jets (not sure of make and model, could've been T-45s) converging/approaching me head-on. ATC was issuing traffic advisories: 2 of them blasted by me like 700 below, two of them I never even saw - must've had lights-out I guess :crazy:
My question is: 1) is it often that military low-altitude training is conducted outside of MOAs, and 2) do they have a radar or TCAS on board so see some small creeper like a C172 and not hit one?
As a student, will appreciate any input related to this matter

You probably saw our jets en route from MS to El Centro. We've been using those routes for the last week or so, and T-45's are pretty unmistakable with the nice high viz orange and white paint

To answer your question specifically for my aircraft: No we don't have any sort of radar, and no TCAS or anything like it. Yes we are flying VFR at 350-400 Kts groundspeed at 500 AGL and practicing terrain masking along the way (read hard breaking turns around mountains and other unpredictable maneuvers). At those altitudes we are not really talking to anyone, though we check on and off the route with the local FSS. In other words there is certainly a risk of having a mid air with non-participating aircraft. If you plan to fly low around MTR's I highly encourage you to contact FSS and find out if the route is "hot". From my perspective there is also a risk involved around the primary entry and exit points of these routes, as you are doing a number of cockpit admin things, climbing or descending through normal VFR altitudes, accelerating (or slowing down coming off), and most likely trying to pick up some sort of a clearance or flight following from ATC. I'd be especially watchful in these areas if you have a reason to believe there is activity on the route.