PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20; Flight Crew Total 50
Situational Awareness
Conflict NMAC
Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Human Factors; Airspace Structure; Weather
I was being checked out on the Piper Warrior II. We had just departed PAO. The Controller was extremely busy giving traffic advisories to several planes and handling traffic at the same time. We were given a traffic advisory but couldn't see the airplane. There was a lot of glare from the sun (we were flying towards it). We turned left to avoid the hills and to direct us to the practice area. A few seconds later we saw a C172 flying towards us. My instructor saw the airplane first and turned right to avoid a mid air collision. This happened on a clear day after a week of relatively poor weather.
PA28 pilot reports an NMAC departing PAO with flight following by NCT. The Controller pointed out the traffic but it was not detected by the reporter until the very last second.