Fred wrote:
My fear, though, is that the talking heads who
form much of Americans' opinions will start speaking out about the lack
of sophisticated equipment on board the sailplane. You know the kind:
"if that glider had an encoding transponder on it, this never would
have happened."

When you hear that, please point out to the speaker that the sailplane
pilot was following all the regulations, was flying in great visibility
near an airport that is maked on sectionals with a glider symbol and is
known worldwide for its fantastic soaring, and that the Hawker ran into
the saiplane, not the other way around.


It's GREAT that the sailplane pilot was able to safely jump out, and
the jet make an emergency landing at Carson. But I too believe that
there will be increased pressure to take away airspace near Minden.
Pressure has been building since the Reno airport became an ARSA (we
called it AIDS, it was renamed class C).

In my limited experience in biz jets, it's not uncommon to see both
pilots simultaneously eyes down. That puts the lookout responsibility
on the instruments. Great assumptions are being made about other
aircraft using Mode C. Outside Class A that's irresponsible behavior.
The comment should be: "If the jet pilot looked out the window, this
never would have happened".

During one charter flight I remember going into the cockpit to see
both P1 and P2 doing their timesheets on PDAs. We were climbing through
an area that gliders frequent.
I keep this in mind while flying.

Remember "Geese at 18,000 feet"? Geese don't have transponders either.

Jim