Rory O'Conor wrote:

I certainly would not want to sell an American a product which they may use=
to stop them colliding with each other. What would the US courts do about =
the two gliders that recently collided in Europe - at least one had non-ope=
rational FLARM?

It seems like there is plenty of precedent for selling instruments that
aid in collision avoidance. Zaon Flight, Monroy Aero, and Proxalert sell
transponder detectors for just that purpose, and for $500 to $800.
Foster Flight sells a visually based unit using cameras.

These are all portable, non-TSO'd, non-certified, units, as is FLARM.
So, perhaps the situation isn't as grim as suggested. I suggest
approaching these companies about producing and selling a FLARM unit, as
it would be good fit with their current business. FLARM has sold over
9000 units, so there can be a good market. In Europe, it's not just
gliders that are using them.

Even better would be a low cost ADS-B system, but right now, in the USA,
it's $7000 just for starters in a glider.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org