(USA) NTSB issues recommendations to the FAA and the SSA regarding transponder use in gliders

Mike Schumann wrote:


...we should try to get all aircraft equipped with transponders.

This is not sufficient, even if practical.



...negotiate an agreement to require transponders in all gliders in exchange
for increased ATC separation of IFR traffic from glider targets and VFR
access to higher altitudes. This is an argument we can win, that doesn't
make us all look like a bunch of whiners.

How much separation do you want?

How likely are you to get _any_ more separation in a system which is
already overburdened and has every expectation of becoming more so in
terms of personnel, equipment, and airspace? The response of the US.gov
to requests for more separation for gliders will be to restrict gliders
and no one else. We already have wave windows. A raising of the national
floor of Class A airspace is not in the cards.



Jack