If any of you are flightinfo.com trolls, there's a very lengthy thread about this over there.

Depends on the route. The one I flew this morning was 2 nm of centerline and 200'-1,500'.
VR-1255 Points A-E

Now that's funny!

Dude...our TECH ORDER speed on departure is 350 KIAS...that is the airspeed I'm supposed to fly, Cessnas around or not. I assume F-16s are the same. It's not even close to reckless...it's procedure!

350 on departure. 300 below 10K on recovery.

Joe cessna flying around aimlessly, talking to no one, scares the crap out of me. I've had three RAs thanks to these guys in the past two months. ATC didn't help matters either. During the first RA, they gave me a vector into the guy then, changed it as we were maneuvering away from him thanks to the RA. During the third, ATC was "offline" as we were climbing out of CLL right into this guy. Swapping a 2500'/min climb for a 2000'/min decent in about three seconds is fun stuff...NOT!!!

I did a poor job of wording that. What I mean was that it's a bad combination (400KT fighter + 60KT C-152, same altitude). I understand it is procedure for you guys. I will definitely think twice next time I take a pinger out for a spin around an AF base.

As for the IR and VR routes; totally forgot about those. Thanks for the refresher course. It's been well over a year since I've looked at a sectional.

What about the fact that in the AOPA article it claims that the F-16 was flying in "close formation" with the PC-12? I understand sharing the skies, but following a pinger in close formation? Does that happen often?

[quote=TurboFan;361585]I did a poor job of wording that. What I mean was that it's a bad combination (400KT fighter + 60KT C-152, same altitude). I understand it is procedure for you guys. I will definitely think twice next time I take a pinger out for a spin around an AF base.

As for the IR and VR routes; totally forgot about those. Thanks for the refresher course. It's been well over a year since I've looked at a sectional.

What about the fact that in the AOPA article it claims that the F-16 was flying in "close formation" with the PC-12? I understand sharing the skies, but following a pinger in close formation? Does that happen often?[/quote]

TF -

First part - yes it is a bad idea - but see and avoid is what VFR flying is all about. We keep a vigil lookout, use our radar, and get flight following as much as possible if VFR. Matter of fact - don't know about the AF, but the USN/USMC rules state that we shall file and fly under IFR rules to the maximum extent possible. One particular place that I fly out of A LOT is El Centro, CA. It is just north of I-8 and there is a bunch of VFR or IFR - I follow roads) traffic transiting from San Diego to places east bound. I have had numerous close calls and near mid-airs flying around there.

Second part - I would have to have them define "close formation". They may consider anything with a mile being close, but NO - flying in any formation with a civilian aircraft is not normal ops.

USMCFLYR

So how far off centerline do I need stay when I'm out in a 172? Is there a standard, or variable based on the mission?

I think the average corridor on most VR routes are 5nm wide(+/- 2.5nm each side of centerline). It can vary by route or between specific points on the route.