Today I was on a short XC flight at 3000, and had flight following. They advised of traffic at my 1:00, but could not tell me more because the traffic was not speaking with ATC. I could not see them because I was flying right at the sun. They advised a climb to 3500. I saw them pass right in front of me at 3000 - if not for the climb, it would have been uncomfortably close (or worse).
For the first 300 hours and 7 years that I have been flying, I never really used flight following. I know why - it's because I wasn't comfortable with talking to ATC. After a couple of IFR lessons and moving my airplane to a controlled airport, I feel so much more comfortable and it is no big deal.
If there is any VFR pilot out there who doesn't use this resource, I'd highly recommend going outside of your comfort zone and getting the training to feel comfortable with using this. It is so helpful to have another set of eyes watching the sky for me. In addition to traffic, I feel like now I always have someone by my side in the event of an emergency.
For the first 300 hours and 7 years that I have been flying, I never really used flight following. I know why - it's because I wasn't comfortable with talking to ATC. After a couple of IFR lessons and moving my airplane to a controlled airport, I feel so much more comfortable and it is no big deal.
If there is any VFR pilot out there who doesn't use this resource, I'd highly recommend going outside of your comfort zone and getting the training to feel comfortable with using this. It is so helpful to have another set of eyes watching the sky for me. In addition to traffic, I feel like now I always have someone by my side in the event of an emergency.
