On Wednesday, July 15, 2015 at 9:58:46 AM UTC-7, Mike Schumann wrote:


Walt:

You've hit the nail on the head. The FAA wants us to spend all this money, but then they don't use the data. Right now, under the FAA rules, ATC can watch an airliner heading straight for a transponder equipped VFR aircraft and not even give the airliner a traffic advisory, much less a minor course deviation to avoid a potential collision. Everybody is putting their trust in eyeballs and TCAS.

Eyeballs don't work when you are dealing with jet traffic. TCAS also is useless when you have Military jets, who are exempt from ALL the rules, flying around at 400+ knots 500' above the ground without TCAS or ADS-B, and maybe not even an operating transponder.

Before we have any more FAA mandates, we should insist that all Military jets be equipped with TCAS and ADS-B just like everyone else, and that ATC (both civilian and military) provide active separation services for all IFR aircraft under their control to avoid any transponder or ADS-B OUT equipped VFR aircraft that are visible on their radar screens.


Mike, I agree with you and on practically all of that. Kirk... I'm sorry... my eyeballs simply can't see (although my ears "heard one") a fighter jet crossing my path or coming up from behind.

ATC has all that data from transponders and in the future ADS-B. They could easily provide collision advisory servic if IT WERE A PRIORITY ... which it isn't (BTW... asking for radar VFR flight following isn't a practical solution). SSA in their argument against the transponder mandate should point this out. No transponders or ADS-B should be mandated for gliders until FAA provides a safety service for collision avoidance. I worked in the ARTCC (ZLA) as a meteorologist for 30yrs and looked over the shoulder of air traffic controllers. Sure, it's a burden to call collision advisories to non IFR traffic. But, with further automation... that's the point of Nextgen... a robotic voice COULD call the traffic on VHF sector frequencies or alarm the air traffic controller to broadcast these collision avoidance advisories.

BTW, Mike... I'm not on your side w.r.t equipping ADS-B on gliders. I'm definitely on the side of PowerFlarm with Daryl and Andy Blackburn...augmented by a Mode S (Trig) transponder. However, if FAA lowered the requirements for a certified GPS (lowered cost), and we could hook up our existing GPS's to the Trig... I'd be in favor of that.

Walt Rogers WX