Do you call when you're the unknown traffic

Don't open the can of worms. Let them do what they are going to do without involving you. From experience, I have learned to play dumb.
 
sarangan said:
What is the purpose of monitoring Approach (instead of talking to them)? They may point you out to other traffic, but you have to do the inverse calculation in your head to figure out where the other traffic is.
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RyanB said:
If you’re going to monitor frequency and do all of that, why not just get flight following?
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In my case, same answer to both. Enhanced situational awareness while not really wanting to talk to anyone. Before someone accuses me of being afraid of ATC, when I'm not IFR, I've been a regular user of flight following since I've been a student pilot. My long solo cross country took me into an ARSA (now Class C). I'm a fan and a proponent of flight following. But the bottom line is, while I do have to aviate and navigate every time I fly, communicate is an option when VFR.

There are times I don't want to talk, just be aware. I don't see the "inverse calculation" problem @sarangan sees. Sure, if I were beamed into an airplane already in flight and suddenly heard a traffic call, I'd be disoriented, but that's not what's happening. Whenever I've done it and heard myself pointed out, It's been obvious (even before TIS-B).

And to answer the question in the thread, sometimes I call and identify myself. Sometimes I will also ask for FF. Sometimes I just keep quiet. It depends.
 
Funny thing I've noticed these days is that with ADS-B, I've had more than one controller call me in the blind when I am in "stealth mode" just to see if I was on frequency. I will always answer, but if I don't need air traffic service during a VFR flight, I probably won't make a call. But when I listen, if it appears that my speaking up and checking in would be helpful to the controller or the overall safety situation, I certainly will make my presence known. Otherwise I just enjoy the ride.......
 
Sometimes busy airports are too busy to pay attention to FF. During flight training my instructor and I flew from South Jersey to North Jersey (Greenwood Lake). We got flight following and handed off to New York. When we had Greenwood lake in sight we called to cancel flight following with no response. My instructor made the decision to land and call them on the phone. Somehow they forgot about us and appreciated the call.

Another time was flying south to Cape May and got FF from Atlantic City while flying along the coast. ATC diverted me east out over the ocean for incoming Coast guard helicopters. As the buildings got smaller as I headed out to sea I called ATC to request getting back yo my original route. They apologized for forgetting about me.

My take away is major airports are too busy with an onslaught of commercial traffic to really stay on top of little guys like me. I do use it for night flying and long cross country but always have a concern I will be lost in the ATC dealing with bigger fish.
 
I'll resurrect the old thread with a recent experience I had. I never really thought I'd be in a position to do this but alas....

I was flying with a fellow club member the other day in a plane I'm not familiar with. We chose to do a round-robin flight from HYA to CQX where we swapped seats and I flew from CQX to PVC then to PYM where we swapped again where he took us back home to HYA. On the CQX-PVC leg, we were planning to utilize the LFV VOR so that he could dabble in the GPS (he's an IFR student) while I handled the flying. The LFV VOR is a popular spot for Cape Air trainers. Perfect clear day and all, my friend decided to monitor Boston Approach. Now, I've done a significant amount of flying and training in this corridor and have never really worried about monitoring approach. Traffic avoidance out here is pretty easy and I know LFV is busy so I generally stay away from it. We heard approach talking to a Cape Air trainer announcing us "...unknown VFR aircraft at your 10 o'clock indicating 1,800 feet" and Cape Air couldn't see us. When we spotted him, I called "Approach, Tiger 36R we have Cape Air in sight." Seemed to ease the alarm, at least. "Care Trainer xxx VFR traffic has you in sight, no longer a factor." Personally, I'll keep that in mind in the future when I'm flying around the outer Cape. I'm a flight following junkie when I'm actually transiting somewhere. If I'm just sight-seeing or practicing I've not been one to monitor but now I will.
 
Velocity173 said:
If you’re not going to call approach for FF, then just stay on your heading and altitude. That way you remain predicable for ATC to issue a traffic call on you. Chiming in at the last minute to tell ATC who you are isn’t much of a benefit to the controller.
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This is the correct answer to your specific question.

No idea why people chime in on stuff that is not related to a question.
 
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