Originally Posted by
bookworm
Unfortunately, that's not the case. You're doing 150 kt. An aircraft reported in your 12 o'clock, "opposite direction", at 5 miles may be passing safely down your right side by a mile. A right turn of 30 degrees puts you perfectly on to a collision course with him if he's doing the same speed as you. More than 30 degrees then? What if he's just a little faster than you?
If the controller simply said "turn left to increase separation" or even described the encounter as "left-to-right" which, in terms of relative bearing, it is, the action to take is obvious -- you turn to the left.
If there was opposite direction traffic, same height, I'd be thinking of turning more than just 30 degrees. With a combined closing speed of 300kts you have 60 seconds or less to take avoiding action. I think I'd take the hint from the controller who's trying to help, rather than elect to plough straight on and play the odds of just how recipricol the "traffic, opposite heading" call was. You're right that it would be better if the controller could drop a hint, e.g. "suggest turn right for avoiding action" but I'm not sure if they're mandated to do that or not.
[later edited because I'd missed the bl**dy obvious]....should have added that climbing or descending, depending upon airspace constraints, would also be an option.