Small Aircraft; High Wing; 1 Eng; Fixed Gear
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 60; Flight Crew Total 5000; Flight Crew Type 250
Distraction; Troubleshooting
ATC Issue All Types; Conflict Airborne Conflict
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Aircraft; Procedure
I was flying as a passenger with a low time pilot; who had asked for my company to help him learn how to fly [to] SUS; so that he could go to see his son on the weekends. We had made our trip to SUS and were on the return flight; and utilizing flight following services. As with most low time pilots; he was having trouble holding his altitude at 4;500 feet MSL; and I was working with him on the importance of maintaining altitude. Approximately 8-10 miles West of Whiteman AFB we received the following transmission from Whiteman Approach: 'Aircraft X; traffic alert; 5 miles; 11 o'clock; 5;000 FT; heavy; caution wake turbulence!' 'Aircraft; additional traffic; 6 miles; 11 o'clock; 4;000 FT; heavy; caution wake turbulence.' Quickly looking to our left we saw coming almost directly at us two heavy aircraft; one just above us and one just below. In very quick succession the first 'Heavy' passed directly over our nose at 5;000 FT so that we could look up and see the undercarriage; and at almost the same time a second aircraft passed directly beneath us so that we could look down onto the top of the aircraft. As I look back on the incident; while the pilot thought this was 'cool' the more I reflect; I think it was dangerous and stupid. Here I am flying with a pilot having trouble holding his altitude and [Approach] puts two aircraft at 500 FT above and below us. The bigger problem to me is the wake turbulence issue. If we had gotten into the wake from the aircraft passing overhead; I shudder to think of the consequences to our little aircraft. I am absolutely certain that the aircraft could have easily been vectored in order to avoid this situation; and I am thinking this was somebody wanting to do a little showboating; but in hindsight the consequences could have been deadly. There was absolutely nothing that we could do to avoid the situation in the short time from the warning until the event.
Pilot reports of while under flight following the Approach Control issues traffic of two heavy aircraft; one above and one below his aircraft. Pilot is concerned about wake turbulence and later wishes they had been vectored around traffic.