Bear activity
As Mr P has decided to resume sightseeing flights I was just wondering what sort of altitude do they operate at and how do they keep clear of civvy traffic?
I've seen the QRA follow aircraft well into the higher flight levels.
Must be interesting when they get as far south as into the more densely used NAT routes off Ireland and Scotland. No transponder on the Russians, so no TCAS
When they are within range of the radars of the AW chain here in Norway, the CRCs alerts the ACCs when they see the Russians in the general vicinity of civilian traffic. Actually, back in the bad old days when we had only 4nm territorial waters here, several approach units had Russian aircraft mixed into their radar pattern. (Inside class D TMA) Still, when they are that close, F-16s are in attendance!
Otherwise it's happy go lucky I'm afraid. Still, NATO aircraft flying in controlled airspace (Outside 12nm) in similar fashion is not that uncommon either, but at least they use transponders more of the time.