Finbar wrote:
The reason I asked about what happens if you turn off a transponder in
flight was that I imagine most/all the pilots who have equipped their
gliders with them are doing exactly that, i.e., turning off the
transponders when they don't feel they're necessary. It's sensible,
but it's illegal. Nobody's been busted so far, but I wonder... About
10-15 years ago we had a brief period when the FAA suddenly started a
get-strict policy and enforcing all these "petty" rules, and AOPA and
the aviation press were warning pilots not to talk to ANYONE from the
FAA without a lawyer present. Remember the days when some airline
pilots filed a NASA form after every flight, just in case? Cooler
heads prevailed, and our FAA field personnel were allowed to go back
to doing their jobs promoting safety instead of playing "gotcha" with
obscure regulations, but who knows what the future will bring, and who
knows how many of those disappearing transponders will have been
digitally recorded for the benefit of some enterprising career-minded
young investigator? The trouble with bad laws is that sooner or later
some dimwits show up and enforce them. It's not like it hasn't
happened before. And unlike flying with an out-of-date chute, when
you turn off a transponder your crime is broadcast to the world (or,
technically, your compliance with the law is no longer broadcast!).

I'm told by SSA officials and others that talk to FAA people frequently
about airspace issues that the FAA knows glider pilots turn off their
their transponders sometimes, and the FAA doesn't care about that.
Mainly, they are just really happy the pilot is willing and able to
carry one.

I'm sure ATC doesn't care, either, if a VFR transponder signal
disappears 50 miles from their Class B airspace, as long as it was
heading away from them. Signals disappear for various reasons, such loss
of radar coverage and equipment failure. They aren't going to send out a
posse to get you; mainly, they are just glad you have one when you are
close to them.

To the best of my knowledge, this exemption seems to be a good one for
glider pilots. It will legalize what some of us already do, and make
putting in a transponder slightly more interesting to those that adhere
strictly to the rules. Safety may increase ever so slightly. The biggest
benefit might be we won't have to have talk about the issue any more,
and can go back to other things.
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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA