Run Over @ 20,000'
 

I felt so bad at the autopilot thread being sidetracked that I thought I would start a new thread dedicated to this danger.:eek: Please post how many times this has happened to you (sideswipes count)! Also trying to determine who the worst offenders are so we can start tracking them and issue notams!:D

ok track me

don't have too...not working for NORAD anymore!:)

All kidding aside, Mid-airs can happen at any altitude...I almost had one with a couple F-15E's in Eastern Turkey rejoining on the same tanker at 21,000 (you'd think with 8 eyeballs between the 2 of them somebody would be looking at something besides the tanker) and I've also almost had one with a crop duster at 100' agl on a lowlevel. I've had numerous close calls in restricted areas and MOA's where people just fly through them VFR not talking to anybody. I always fly IFR or VFR flight following but there are people out there that fly without talking or squawking so keep your head on a swivel!

4x
 

One was kind of funny, one was interesting, 2x no fun.

I've overtaken a lot of traffic at higher altitudes, but haven't been run over up there. Converging traffic can sometimes be an issue, but in the flight levels, traffic is more established, and most equipment is TCAS equipped and under positive radar control. Most aircraft are crewed by trained and experienced pilots/crews, too.

Around FL180, different hazards exist. The weather is among them. A lot of your short-range traffic, as well as slower, smaller traffic is found just above or below the transition level at FL180 (in the Continental US). This can include turbojet, turboprop, and piston equipment. A lot of aircraft hang out close to the transition level, either just above or below it; 20,000' is an altitude where nearly everything else that's not hanging out at FL200 will be climbing or descending at high speeds through FL200.

Most of my close calls with respect to traffic have been at much lower altitudes, including a recent TCAS resolution advisory at 7,000' near Newark, earlier this year.

In Iraq, I averaged three near-misses nightly. In my opinion, that's way too much. I haven't experienced nearly that number in Afghanistan, but the conflict potential is very much there.

That said, I'm not flying a skymaster in Afghanistan, either. My single biggest concern in flying has always been the potential to have a traffic conflict with a light airplane on a VFR weekend, especially near high-traffic areas. Sometimes there's just no telling.

+1 Iraq was a mess...take the most congested airspace you know of and throw in UAV's (Predator's... etc.)....u get the pic.

In Iraq, there was a lot going on at times, but it was always the UAV's that concerned me the most. Hazards to aerial navigation, if you ask me.

+1... did you actually fly the Guppy and was it the mini, pregnant or the super? One of the coolest planes I've ever seen...I was SOF one day in Tulsa when we loaded one of our Oshkosh Firetruck's to go to Iraq or Afghnistan...I don't remember which...it was early in the war(s).

Howard story
 

"My last 'close encounter' with a hot-rod Howard occurred back in the mid 70's. I was a proud young co-pilot on a shiny new Merlin III, my first turbo-prop job. We were enroute from Florida back to Texas cruising at 20000 feet and 260 kts when ATC called overtaking traffic at 22000. I looked out the window and saw a Howard 500 going by us like we were standing still. So much for turbines."

200 Gallons per Hour
 

325 MPH
And a beauty she is. Those are some fine lines.

Twin Tail
 

Look, it even has twin tails, like a Skymaster.

When I was a kid a Doctor had one across the field....I would just stand there and drool....just a beautiful plane.

None of the above. We had C-97's, but no guppy's. The guppy in my login name came from the Sorrell SNS2 Guppy. It's SNS3 because SNS2 was taken at the time. It was a homebuilt project I started quite a few years ago.

We also had really nice L-18. It's not a Howard, but similiar. Not nearly as fast.
I've carried a lot of that kind of equipment into certain locations downrange, as well as trucks trailers, armored equipment like MRAPS, helicopters, etc. Just not in B377 variants. In fact, I'm there doing that, now.