A CRUISING C182 ACFT IS ALMOST HIT BY A TWIN CESSNA TYPE DURING AN NMAC OVER DTA; UT. PF WAS IN TRAINING FOR THE CAP MISSION; INSTRUCTOR WAS REVIEWING HIS MISSION PAPERS.

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WE HAD JUST PASSED THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE DELTA ARPT HDG 210 DEGS AT 10500 FT. AFTER WE HAD STATION PASSAGE ON THE DELTA VOR; IT WAS ONLY MOMENTS TILL I SAW A TWIN ENG ABOUT THE SIZE OF A PIPER NAVAJO; THOUGH I'M GUESSING IT WAS A CESSNA (CAN'T THINK OF A MODEL NAME) -- IT DIDN'T HAVE WINGLETS OR TIP TANKS -- HOWEVER; IT DID HAVE SQUARISH WINDOWS. WHEN I FIRST SAW THE PLANE; IT WAS AT ABOUT A 30 DEG L BANK AND ABOUT 150 FT OFF MY PORT (L) WING. WE WERE SHOWING ABOUT 128 KTS; AND I WOULD GUESS HE WAS DOING ABOUT 160-180 KTS. WE CONTINUED ON OUR COURSE OF 210 DEGS WHILE HE APPEARED TO BE HDG ABOUT 180-190 DEGS. NOTE: VICTOR 21-235 IS 187 DEGS OFF THE DELTA VOR. WHEN I INITIALLY SAW HIM I THOUGHT TO MYSELF; 'MAN HE'S CLOSE BUT WE'RE NOT CONVERGING' OR AT LEAST WE WEREN'T WHEN I SAW HIM; SO I SAW NO NEED FOR ANY CORRECTIVE OR EVASIVE MANEUVER -- HE WAS ALREADY TURNING AWAY FROM US. MY BURNING QUESTION IS; DID HE SEE US OR DID HIS AUTOPLT JUST HAPPEN TO BE TURNING HIM ON COURSE FOR VICTOR 21- 235. HE NEVER CHANGED ALT; JUST A BANK -- AND HE APPEARED TO ROLL OUT ON COURSE. WHEN WE STARTED OUR DSCNT; I COULD STILL SEE HIM ON THE HORIZON. WHAT DID WE LEARN? HAD WE BEEN ON FLT FOLLOWING WITH ARTCC; WE WOULD LIKELY HAVE GOTTEN A RADAR TFC ALERT. AT THE ALT WE WERE CRUISING; WE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN VISIBLE ON RADAR; AS THE MEA FOR THE AIRWAY IS 10300 FT N OF THE VOR AND 9600 FT S OF IT. ON MANY MISSIONS; WE ARE AT CRUISE FOR SUCH A SHORT TIME; IT HARDLY SEEMS WORTH IT TO ASK FOR FLT FOLLOWING. AND MANY TIMES WE ARE SO LOW; COMPARED TO THE MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN; THAT WE DON'T SHOW UP ON RADAR. HOWEVER; IN THE FUTURE; I'M GOING TO TRY TO BE VISIBLE ON RADAR; EVEN IF IT MEANS CLBING AND EVEN IF IT WILL ONLY BE FOR A FEW MINS.