Safety Corner-Nov/issue

I'd like to make a comment about this months Safety Corner. It's been
over twenty years since I flew the HS125, but I do know that, "With the
nose up", "passing through 350 knots", you would be going UP like a
homesick angel, not "losing altitude", as the author guesses. Besides I
believe that vmo in the hawker is more like 320kts, which would still
have you going up, quickly.

With regard to visibility, the particular model involved in the mid-air
has the new style windscreens, which in comparison to the older models
I flew, provide the crew with quite a panoramic view. Yes, yes, I know,
you have to be looking out the window. Point is the author should, in
his research maybe set up a tour of the aircraft model in question, and
get some facts. I've always read and learned from Safety Corner, but
this issue, well...........

I'll take my bizjet hat off now and put on my soaring cap, as some of
the other items discussed are just too far out there to waste time on,
"retractable domes, windows in the nose".

I have a real life scenario to offer up in the equation of having
xponders or not. Happened yesterday, I'm flying the Gwhiz corporate
plane, climbing out at 250 knots which is our normal climb speed until
we reach 10000 ft. then we accelerate out to 300 knots, until we
transition to mach around 32'000ft. Our TCAS brings up a target, at our
1 o'clock about 5 miles ahead converging. We're climbing to 6000 ft.
initially, in clear blue, daylit skies.

To dispel the rumors about controllers not saying anything to help
separate vfr from ifr, the controller does issue an adisory about the
target. The target does not have an encoder so we don't know if he's up
or down from us, but we know where he is laterally.

I tell my right seat to tell ATC, we're turning 15 degree turn to the
left to diverge from this target. All four eyes are out the window
looking. The autopilot is working just fine, all the way to level off
and speed control. With 42 computers on this machine, I'm going to use
every last one, and save the yanking and banking for my glider, the
Pawnee, and my friends' beautiful Cassutt, he trusts me with. As we
roll out on our new heading we spot the single engine taildragger about
500' above us at his legal vfr altitude. No conflict.

I have great faith that we would have spotted him even if he didn't
have a xponder on, because of our personal and flight department
mandated scanning habits, and the use of all automation to ease our
load so we can look outside. It was nice to have an early heads up
though.

The point is that the xponder in the single engine plane showed us
where he was and gave us some options before we came up on him/her
unannounced, or say another not so observant crew was involved, well,
it could have been disastorous. It was the way it should be.

We saluted our fellow General Aviation buddy as we passed him, and
pushed on home to Texas. If I still have my glider next year, I'm
investing in that cheap insurance called a xponder. I like that warm
and fuzzy feeling vs the cold cash I saved, that may be found in the
grease spot that used to be two aircraft.

Snoop