Two die in Glider mid-air

As a european and as a first hand experience from a mid air by the
FLARM system. It amazes me how still people can stick their head in
the sand and say Look-out is the only thing you need!

You need lookout supported by FLARM, supported by FLARM RADAR,
supported by TRANSPONDER for the big heavy metal, supported by
COLLISION MARKINGS on your plane..

and even then sometimes you find a plane passing you below that you
haven't spotted with your eyes first.

I was alerted by flarm in a thermal of another glider that flew in
front of me. he was hidden below my cockpit edge and out of my field
of vision. I was able to dive below him with 8 meters to spare !!
FLARM WORKS, Adopt it. If you start using it you will see your look-
out is poor sometimes....

Zen



On 9 sep, 17:14, Darryl Ramm wrote:
jcarlyle wrote:
Transponders are not a magic shield.

I fly with a Mode S transponder in the busy Philadelphia / New York
airspace. I often see airliners diverting course to go around me
(particularly commuters), but then there was the Southwest 737 that
flew 300 feet directly over me. I was thermalling at 5700, he was
straight and level at 6000. Gliders in this area have a discrete
transponder code, and we know from conversations with ATC that they're
keeping track of us specifically as glider traffic. So, I know for
certain that (1) the Southwest pilot was aware of me (long before I
was aware of him), and (2) he was also aware that I was a glider.

I'm not standing on principle here, if I'd seen him sooner I would
have quit thermalling and flown 90 degrees to his track while losing
altitude (quickly). But it was a hazy day, I was thermalling, he was
doing 250 kts, and I just flat didn't see him until he was about a
mile away.

Moral - keep a good lookout, amd remember that stuff can happen in
spite of a transponder...

-John

Something is a little strange here as this seems well within the
altitude difference window that should have generated an RA. Which is a
big deal to the 737 crew both from the immediate required response to
the RA and subsequent reporting/paperwork.

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