Free airspace

[craigw85]

One other little told fact... If we are dogfighting (which is what I'd be most afraid of getting mixed up in) both the Navy and Air Force usually utilize a 5K AGL hard deck. So if you insist on going through a hot MOA, staying below 5K should keep you safer, and also hopefully keep the fight going for the military guys.

Cheers

[Stu McCurdy]

I detect from replies posted that there is an attitude it is okay to fly through a MOA since it is not illegal. Let's think about that.

The MOAs are approved and placed on the charts to provide our military aviators in that local area valuable training on their tactics with the few flight hours they get to train each month. They study their manuals, get placed on the flying schedule, brief for an hour or so, hope they get an airframe that is ready to fly, start and taxi out for takeoff in all kinds of weather, and navigate to the MOA where they get cleared into the MOA for training. With fuel available they have perhaps 45 minutes do do about 3 or 4 setups using selected tactics, then they have to head back to home base. If there is a stray aircraft flying through the MOA, they have to knock it off burning precious training fuel until the stray is out of the way and they lose that training set up.

So, by flying through the MOA, you save maybe 10-15 minutes rather than flying around the MOA corners, but they lose valuable training to make them better and more combat ready. They may not be on the flying schedule to fly that training scenario for months. Is that what you want to save a little time?

Why not call Center as you are getting close to the MOA to find if it is HOT or COLD. If center says it is HOT, go around the corners and give our military aviators the opportunity to get full use of the their spot on the schedule and the fuel they have for training. If Center says the MOA is COLD, go on through and monitor Center freq so they can contact you if necessary.

[Jesse]

In this case I would fly V115 (more or less) to CEW then V198 just past 54J yen south to KECP. It's almost impossible in that area to avoid all MOA's. If you are on flight following, you can check to see which ones are hot and avoid them unless they are all hot (which I imagine rarely happens), then go through the small ones around Crestview. I fly through this area all the time and I usually fly the V198 corridor if things are hot. Even IFR I've never had them send me way out to the north past the Rose Hill and Pensacola MOA's. There's too much GA traffic into and out of Florida and south Georgia for them to make a lot of them hot at the same time.

[erich weaver]

There seems to be a variety of opinions here and also a variety of conditions. In flying from So Cal to Tahoe I typically go through the Lemoore MOAs on flight following. I usually get transferred to the Lemoore controllers and get through with their assistance, even while the airspace is hot. The last time traffic was called out as two F-15s (??) and I got a decent view of them as they rapidly climbed through my altitude, all from a safe distance. No stress and actually enjoyable. Transiting a hot MOA does not necessarily mean no help from flight following.

Erich

[Notorious Nate]

sua.faa.gov is your friend. Lesser known resource that can aid in determining when various forms of Special Use or other airspace will be active.

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

Here's a timely reminder, then, that the MOA's just west of Oshkosh WILL be active during AirVenture this year. Plan accordingly.

Big war games planned that week.

[Charles in SC]

This thread reminds me how nice it is to have an IFR ticket and be able to file IFR even in VFR conditions. By doing this you get eyes on you to get through busy airspace safely. It scares me when I see pilots worrying more about their XM reception than staying in touch with services such as flight following. Most of them just do not know what they do not know.

[Brettc]

Tyndall never uses all of Bravo MOA. They use a portion of Bravo and Hotel called Compass Lake, if you fly direct to Laara, to ECP, you will be well clear of the portion of Bravo MOA they use. You can also fly to 54J and call Eglin Sikes Sector/Eglin north to keep clear of R2905, they will push you just east of it through Tyndalls unpublished arrival/departure corridor, hope this helped.

[thinkn9a]

All kidding aside, I Have flown the panhandle a number of times,..and down to Appalachicola once. Controllers are fine, and you will talk to a number of military controllers along the way. Think they enjoy working a mixed group, and staying busy.

Think you will have more trouble with JPG and Cincinnati than here. My navigator just piped up and said take the northern route,... I-10. Southern along the beach is ok also. Her hometown is southern IN, so, haven't exactly flown the reverse, of yours, But pretty well covered most of it. (She really enjoyed the Appalachicola trip)

Think only one time did a MOA go hot after part way through, on flight following.

I for one, like to keep our tax dollars working, and our aviators trained, so I try to avoid if at all possible when they are hot. The routes I fly are only slightly tweaked when MOAs are hot. Generally have more change due to weather than MOA. Afternoon thundershowers can be wicked bad,..... As can morning and evening thundershowers. Plan to fly early in the day,...and be done by 11 or earlier if possible. If not, heads up and keep options OPEN.

[rchrds]

We fly helicopters in some of those same MOAs the OP is talking about, and now I'm in a MOA much further north. Though helicopter traffic is normally going to see you long before you ever see them (if ever) Most MOAs set up for helicopter use (can't speak for the fast mover types) have extensive route structures established within them, and FAA traffic will almost never have knowledge of the route structure. I've always thought it was unfortunate that a CTAF style common freq was not established for MOAs. It sure would help with air to air deconfliction. I can't tell you how many times we've been in the trees and have low and slow VFR traffic cruising around us and we just hide out until they leave, or watch them on the sights.