FLARM.....for good, or evil??

On Oct 26, 7:38*pm, kd6veb wrote:
On Oct 26, 5:37*pm, Ramy wrote:



On Oct 26, 10:46*am, kd6veb wrote:

Hi Gang
* Surely flying in a thermal with a gaggle of other gliders is
suicidal period. And what use is a Flarm in those conditions? I have a
Phoenix on order and am anticipating putting a PowerFlarm in it. Why?
Because the PowerFlarm has a PCAS function in addition to the Flarm
function and the PowerFlarm costs only a little more than a Zaon PCAS..
I do think the mandatory use of Flarm is a good idea for comps
especially if one can inexpensively rent a Flarm. But outside of comps
with the flying I do having a transponder is by far the most important
piece of safety equipment I have on board. A PCAS is also worth
having. Having a Flarm? It is a useless device until the use of Flarm
by the gliding community reaches critical mass (usage). That is
unlikely to happen here in the US for several years at best. And then
*Ramy wrote:

Dave, are you no longer flying to the Whites? Cause otherwise I am
sure you'll agree that in the area you are flying, other than near
Reno, the biggest risk of mid air collision is with another glider
running the White Mountains. On a good day, there can be over 20
gliders dolphine flying at 100 knots (200 knots closing speed) in a
1000 feet altitude band and within half a mile lateral, in both
directions.

Ramy
* I fly the Whites with the transponder on like almost all responsible
glider pilots do. I also have PCAS on so if there is another pilot
near me with a transponder on I know that. Flarm is technically better
but why would we from the Reno area buy one having a transponder and
PCAS? I think you are missing the point of this discussion. Another
device that will only respond to other glider pilots having a Flarm?
This will not make sense to a large number of pilots who also want
protection from GA. I have said this many times but for us the
transponder is the most important safety device with PCAS a useful add
on. Flarm is a distant ( let me repeat that - A DISTANT THIRD) - on
the safety list of devices. I am not saying it is useless but until
about 50% of the glider pilots in the region you fly use one its
affect is marginal at best. That said I am purchasing one as I don't
see much downside for me but if I really had to tbe serious about
expenditures it would be a distant third on my list of safety devices
- transponder (90%), PCAS (8%) and guess where Flarm would be.
Dave

PS1 How are we going to persuade our FOBs at Minden to make the major
modification to Flarm when the installation of PowerFlarm in their
existing gliders may be difficult to say the least. The conversion to
transponders has been difficult enough for them and for Minden
transponders are clearly superior to Flarm. Hitting a commercial jet
with 200 passengers is not an option!

PS2 I wish risk management was taught in schools in the US.



what about GA? What good is Flarm for GA? They are never going to use
it in the US. The FAA has another system in store for GA and
commercial aircraft.
Dave

Dave, are you no longer flying to the Whites? Cause otherwise I am
sure you'll agree that in the area you are flying, other than near
Reno, the biggest risk of mid air collision is with another glider
running the White Mountains. On a good day, there can be over 20
gliders dolphine flying at 100 knots (200 knots closing speed) in a
1000 feet altitude band and within half a mile lateral, in both
directions.

Ramy- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Gee Dave, looks like you are mixing between PCAS and TCAS!
Having flown with PCAS in the last 8 years (yes, even before MRX) I
can say that PCAS, until now, where the best and only colision
avoidance system available for gliders, and I would not fly without
one. But having said that, all the PCAS I flew with, including the
MRX, are unreliable, often do not alert you at all, or alert you way
too late (how many times it alerted me of other gliders AFTER they
passed me!), the audio alert often comes too late, the display alert
is hardly noticable unless you looking at it instead of outside, the
distance is very inacurate, the altitude difference is often
completely wrong, it will not alert you at all if there is no
interrogation, and even when everything works as designed, all you
know is that there is another aircraft nearby, but not WHERE. So the
best outcome of PCAS is that it encourages you to scan at the right
moment. That's it. And in case you suspect I have a faulty unit, mine
was at the factory nearly 5 times in the last 5 years, and got
completely replaced twice (great customer service though, they never
charged a dime).
Also Dave, I suggest reading a little more about PowerFlarm. Why do
you think a portbale device will be complicated to install?

Ramy