report by Bruce Estes

Steve Harvey, a NORCAL TRACON air traffic controller spoke for more than an hour at EAA Chapter 1541’s breakfast meeting on June 24. If you missed this presentation, you missed a very informative meeting. Steve spoke about:

• Flight Following and how to use it to your advantage
• Beale’s TFR and how to get thru it legally
• Aircraft without a transponder (including ultralights)
• Communicating as a novice with NORCAL

The audience provided a lot of good questions for Steve, and everyone learned something. Steve encouraged everyone to communicate with NORCAL on 127.40, even if you are just flying around outside of the airport environment. NORCAL can see you on their radar, even if you don’t have a transponder or don’t have your transponder turned on. If you communicate with NORCAL, even an abbreviated call stating that you are just going to be flying in a certain area, they can then help keep other aircraft clear of you. Several times, Steve told the audience “talk to us. We want to help keep you safe”. Again, his presentation was GREAT.

Note: We have set up a facility tour at NORCAL TRACON (located just east of KMHR) for interested chapter members for Saturday, July 22. We are at the maximum capacity (ten) for this visit but if there is enough interest, we will try and set up another facility tour.