On Tuesday, May 1, 2018 at 7:06:47 AM UTC-7, wrote:
You know...I get it. Flarms are very cool and glider specific.
BUT, transponders are the primary anti-collision tool for all aircraft.
I strongly argue that a transponder should be the first collision avoidance instrument installed in a glider.
Flying in the busy airspace around Reno with transponder on and transponder off and observing/listening to traffic control and the many "heavies" flying in the area made it so clear how powerful they are.
Then there is the problem that many don't want to discuss and that is the blind spots that Flarms have in carbon fiber gliders. There needs to be some serious work on external antennas for carbon fiber gliders.

I agree about the external flarm antenna. I have always thought it would be simple to make one that is as thin and flexible as a piece of tape, and the coax could be fed through an 1/8" hole in the bottom of the cockpit. Yes, polarization is wrong, but way better than seeing nothing below you. of course a vertical antenna on both side of the cockpit would be perfect. Any RF engineers out there care to comment?

Matt