Small Aircraft
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200; Flight Crew Total 6000; Flight Crew Type 210
Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown
Airspace Violation All Types; Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Airspace Structure; Human Factors
Local training flight departing home airport of Willis Gliderport (FA44). After takeoff from Runway 9 climbing through about 600 feet Instructor noticed traffic on ADSB display which appeared to be directly on top of our aircraft. Zoomed in the display and found traffic about 300 feet above and just to the right of us. Had student lift right wing and gained visual of a Cessna 172 inside of half a mile and just above us. Turned right 90 degrees to go below and behind traffic which appeared to be enroute to LNA at 1;000 feet MSL. We were transmitting position calls on home field UNICOM. Traffic went through our pattern at pattern altitude and was not transmitting or monitoring Willis Unicom. This report is submitted to highlight a recurring risk of mid-air collision over FA44 which I have repeatedly encountered in the last several months due to training aircraft from LNA transiting to or from training areas to our west. These aircraft typically fly through the Willis pattern at 1000 MSL and frequently can be reached still monitoring 122.7 which is the Lantana UNICOM frequency. I've spoke with instructors from Lantana who admitted that they use Willis as a waypoint to avoid antennas just to the north but disregard the hazard of aircraft in the pattern at Willis. At a minimum the flight schools at Lantana need to either utilize Willis UNICOM when transiting or offset north or south to avoid the pattern. As a further indicator of the danger; we had another aircraft fly through the pattern as we returned to land less than an hour after the first occurrence noted above. This aircraft flew west to east directly over the runway at 1;000 MSL again not talking on UNICOM as we were entering the pattern to land.
Flight Instructor reported an NMAC while in the traffic pattern at FA44 with an aircraft transiting through the pattern. Instructor noted that traffic from a nearby airport frequently transit through FA44 traffic pattern posing a recurring risk of mid-air collision.