Originally Posted by
ShyTorque
Knowing where you are in relation to a VOR should come from the mental picture formed during thorough pre-flight planning and map study.
I don't necessarily agree with this statement. Yes, I know where I am in relation to a particular VOR, if I'm using that VOR myself for navigation. But if, during my pre-flight planning, I chose to navigate using landscape features (roads, railways, rivers) or maybe the magenta line on the GPS, and then I get a position report with reference to something else (a VOR, or maybe an obscure town), then I'm going to have a hard time figuring out whether something is a threat or not. And this is of course made worse if you're flying in unfamiliar airspace, or even in a foreign country, and the local pilot pronounces the local town name with a local accent. A lot of languages are far from phonetic.
So if I'm flying in class G and I hear a position report from another pilot and I can place it immediately, I might register it and do something with that information. But if I can't place that report immediately, I'm just going to disregard it. Like I said before, it takes me too much time, and too much heads-down time, to figure out what that report means in the first place and whether he constitutes a threat to me. And by the time I have figured it out, he has moved on anyway. Looking outside and assuming everybody flies around without making position reports is a far better strategy IMHO.
Edited to add - I'm only doing position reports in class G when I'm staying in a particular area for a longer time, and especially if I know my lookout is going to be less than optimal. For instance when doing a photoshoot, or when flying aerobatics. And even though this is class G and there are no guarantees, I'm always hoping that the FIS will inform other aircraft of my intentions if they happen to come near my location.