ChiefPilot
Well Known Member
Couldn't decide if the general area or pictures area was better, but decided in the general area due to the ADS-B aspect...
Anyway, a month or two ago on a return from a trip west, ATC put us in a nice bank right over the top of MSP at about 14,000 and I thought "If Pete Howell were here, he'd take a picture!". Unfortunately, taking pictures from the cockpit of an airliner are frowned upon by many and so it was instead stored away as an idea for later.
Last week the weather was amazing, and so I thought I'd go take that picture in my RV. Not wanting to deal with all the usual stuff around a class B airport, I figured out a route that'd keep me out of the way of the airline traffic and motored up to 12,500' - well above the 10,000' top of the MSP class B. My plan was to loop around KMSP once taking a bunch of pictures to sort out what I wanted later. Since it can be a busy airspace, aside from the ADS-B traffic displays I had departure and approach on the main and standby frequencies (I can listen to both at the same time) on com1 plus guard on com2.
Imagine my surprise when I hear "N164BL, Minneapolis Depature". Completely unsolicited. I never called them, nor was I ever required to talk to them as I never encroached on any airspace that required two way radio comms. Obviously, ATC had my N-number via ADS-B and I had no reason to not talk to them, so I answered. I had recognized the controller's voice and I think she recognized mine - it was a pretty friendly exchange and she was just curious what I was doing. It also helped, I think, when I explained that I was aware of and remaining clear of the WLSTN departure along with the BAINY, KILLR, and MUSCL arrivals.
They offered flight following for the return to KSGS; I accepted, and that was that. Pretty uneventful otherwise. But remember kids - the 'S' in 'ADS-B' stands for 'surveillance'
Anyway, a month or two ago on a return from a trip west, ATC put us in a nice bank right over the top of MSP at about 14,000 and I thought "If Pete Howell were here, he'd take a picture!". Unfortunately, taking pictures from the cockpit of an airliner are frowned upon by many and so it was instead stored away as an idea for later.
Last week the weather was amazing, and so I thought I'd go take that picture in my RV. Not wanting to deal with all the usual stuff around a class B airport, I figured out a route that'd keep me out of the way of the airline traffic and motored up to 12,500' - well above the 10,000' top of the MSP class B. My plan was to loop around KMSP once taking a bunch of pictures to sort out what I wanted later. Since it can be a busy airspace, aside from the ADS-B traffic displays I had departure and approach on the main and standby frequencies (I can listen to both at the same time) on com1 plus guard on com2.
Imagine my surprise when I hear "N164BL, Minneapolis Depature". Completely unsolicited. I never called them, nor was I ever required to talk to them as I never encroached on any airspace that required two way radio comms. Obviously, ATC had my N-number via ADS-B and I had no reason to not talk to them, so I answered. I had recognized the controller's voice and I think she recognized mine - it was a pretty friendly exchange and she was just curious what I was doing. It also helped, I think, when I explained that I was aware of and remaining clear of the WLSTN departure along with the BAINY, KILLR, and MUSCL arrivals.
They offered flight following for the return to KSGS; I accepted, and that was that. Pretty uneventful otherwise. But remember kids - the 'S' in 'ADS-B' stands for 'surveillance'