Many of your points are valid for your area of operation. Where I fly, we
see a couple of power planes on a busy day. We are, however, under the
arrival route to ABQ and so we see a lot more airline, military, and large
general aviation traffic at or above around 12,000 MSL. That's why, even
though not required, I installed a Mode-S transponder. ATC is not
interested in talking to me unless I go into the Class A or C areas but it's
my hope that they'll tell their clients about my presence. I'm not
confident of that happening, so I'll keep looking outside.

Equipment which I would agree is beneficial to everyone in your area doesn't
make a lot of sense to me where I fly. To me, it's like requiring east
coast fliers to carry desert survival equipment. When I lived in Alaska
back in the 70s, it was mandatory for GA pilots to be armed (gasp!), and to
have food, axd, knife, etc. Try that in New york!

Maybe I'm wrong (it's happened before), but it's my understanding that FLARM
only works with other FLARM-equipped aircraft. Maybe it was originally that
way and has since been corrected, but, if my assumption is correct, how
would it prevent a collision with an airliner?

As I said in another post, there's no place to put it in my cockpit anyway
whthout blocking my view outside.

"bumper" wrote in message
...
On Jan 25, 7:54 am, "Dan Marotta" wrote:
That all sounds great except for the "mandatory" part. STAY THE HELL OUT
OF
MY COCKPIT!


Mandatory" is no stranger to aviation, so the gub'ment will not be
staying out of our cockpits

If we were not putting innocent lives at risk I could more easily see
your point. As an example, with some air space exeptions, transponder
use is not mandatory for gliders in the US. We've had one mid-air and
several close calls involving non-transponder equipped gliders near
Minden. Transponder use, though fairly high here , is not universal.
The specter of a glider vs airliner mid-air is unthinkable and would
doubtless devastate soaring. "Mandatory" would most certainly follow
such an accident . . . should it be implemented before rather than
after?

Some regulations are (I'll be kind) clueless and excessive, but some
are for the overall good. When on balance the benefit to society
outweighs the individual right to freedom, I have no problem with
"mandatory". At least so long as it's reasonable, effective, and the
least intrusive to get the job done.

I don't think there's much risk of PowerFlarm being mandated by the
FAA . . . ever. It's too practical, inexpensive, and sensible for a
government program. It works. Well. If you don't have one on order
yet, please do yourself and all your fellow pilots a favor and do it..
It's best to see what your are missing.

bumper

bumper