Narrative:

A flight of 2 C130s is normal for sector X. However; a new wrinkle is the surveillance aircraft; a C182; the local sheriff department uses at the top of two class D airports; oftentimes dipping into the class D airspace. The two C130s made the situation today more complex because; as often happens; they change which aircraft is the lead! You don't always know which aircraft is on what beacon code; and calling trying from a VFR climb out of the C182 to the first C130 didn't keep the other C130 from climbing right into it! For years; decades; these aircraft; and a typical climb out from airport is generally understood/expected/performed heading 030 VFR/050. The problem is: the C130s will often run a course due west from airport to circle around the other into the MOA to then proceed into another MOA. Usually; they are in the airspace for about 1 hour: today; they made 1 pass and went to the airport with 'the lead' changing to the other C130 because he was departing; which I didn't was calling traffic for the C182 and the second C130; I was surpunderstand clearly at first. I called traffic successfully with the first C130 and the C182; but as irised they were opposite direction/head-on; same altitude! I switched to 'traffic alert...' as soon as possible; deemed that insufficient; immediately turning both aircraft right to avoid each other. They were also other matters to deal with: overflight; descending traffic; plus a B757 inbound to a nearby airport with an opposite direction H/B757 departing said airport; inbounds to pass.... I eventually got to a place where only the C182 was on frequency before I asked him how close he felt the traffic was and he said it was very close and seemed rattled. Because of that; I assigned a steeper climb out to the C130 for subsequent approaches; and when I queried tower what the C130 was doing after an inbound to runway xx they told me he was circling to runway yy which was another point over 10 minutes later that I spoke with the C182 who was still somewhat rattled by the previous close encounter and moved his surveillance operation to the west of the class D airport to stay clear. My opinion is uav activity should only be done inside of restricted areas and moas; outside of NAS airspace. I feel similarly about the danger of this surveillance activity; where a camera is mounted to the bottom of an aircraft; controlled by sheriffs on the ground; unknown as to its purpose by the pilot; who is directed to fly a particular grid/route. I have turned this aircraft for a 'traffic alert' previously; only to have them request to be able to return to their intended route as soon as possible. I highly doubt this activity would be acceptable anywhere else in the nation; but somehow because these are contract towers it's allowed here? I don't know the rationale. All I know is: when I first spoke to the C182 weeks ago when this operation first began I cautioned them against becoming lazy and/or complacent because even though the class D airport is a low volume airport; that's not necessarily always the case. When we get busy with practice approaches; the pattern could be filled with H/DC10; H/K35R; a LJ60; T38; C182; lots of C130s; and they all spin out off the departure end at different rates of speed and turn radius' - this was a different situation. In this instance; a flight of 2/C130s is generally more predictable: usually they fly runway heading westbound off the runway or they turn northeast heading 030 VFR/050 for subsequent approaches; or routes to enter the buckhorn MOA from the east.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller described an unsafe situation involving a conflict between military aircraft and a local law enforcement aircraft that was conducting surveillance maneuvers.

Narrative: A flight of 2 C130s is normal for Sector X. However; a new wrinkle is the surveillance aircraft; a C182; the local sheriff department uses at the top of two Class D Airports; oftentimes dipping into the Class D airspace. The two C130s made the situation today more complex because; as often happens; they change which aircraft is the lead! You don't always know which aircraft is on what beacon code; and calling trying from a VFR climb out of the C182 to the first C130 didn't keep the other C130 from climbing right into it! For years; decades; these aircraft; and a typical climb out from airport is generally understood/expected/performed heading 030 VFR/050. The problem is: the C130s will often run a course due west from airport to circle around the other into the MOA to then proceed into another MOA. Usually; they are in the airspace for about 1 hour: today; they made 1 pass and went to the airport with 'the lead' changing to the other C130 because he was departing; which I didn't was calling traffic for the C182 and the second C130; I was surpunderstand clearly at first. I called traffic successfully with the first C130 and the C182; but as Irised they were opposite direction/head-on; same altitude! I switched to 'Traffic Alert...' ASAP; deemed that insufficient; immediately turning both aircraft right to avoid each other. They were also other matters to deal with: overflight; descending traffic; plus a B757 inbound to a nearby airport with an opposite direction H/B757 departing said airport; inbounds to pass.... I eventually got to a place where only the C182 was on frequency before I asked him how close he felt the traffic was and he said it was very close and seemed rattled. Because of that; I assigned a steeper climb out to the C130 for subsequent approaches; and when I queried Tower what the C130 was doing after an inbound to Runway XX they told me he was circling to Runway YY which was another point over 10 minutes later that I spoke with the C182 who was still somewhat rattled by the previous close encounter and moved his surveillance operation to the west of the Class D Airport to stay clear. My opinion is UAV activity should only be done inside of restricted areas and MOAs; outside of NAS airspace. I feel similarly about the danger of this surveillance activity; where a camera is mounted to the bottom of an aircraft; controlled by sheriffs on the ground; unknown as to its purpose by the pilot; who is directed to fly a particular grid/route. I have turned this aircraft for a 'Traffic Alert' previously; only to have them request to be able to return to their intended route ASAP. I highly doubt this activity would be acceptable anywhere else in the nation; but somehow because these are Contract Towers it's allowed here? I don't know the rationale. All I know is: When I first spoke to the C182 weeks ago when this operation first began I cautioned them against becoming lazy and/or complacent because even though the Class D airport is a low volume airport; that's not necessarily always the case. When we get busy with practice approaches; the pattern could be filled with H/DC10; H/K35R; a LJ60; T38; C182; lots of C130s; and they all spin out off the departure end at different rates of speed and turn radius' - this was a different situation. In this instance; a flight of 2/C130s is generally more predictable: usually they fly runway heading westbound off the runway or they turn northeast heading 030 VFR/050 for subsequent approaches; or routes to enter the Buckhorn MOA from the east.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.