Avoid head-on collision? Forward facing LED strobe?

On Wednesday, August 15, 2012 11:35:18 AM UTC-7, 2G wrote:
I had two near misses flying at a place where the Big Sky theory should be working at its best, Ely, NV. One was the closest I have had outside of a contest. Anyone interested can download the IGC files at:



http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0...l?dsId=2567554

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0...l?dsId=2567342



We were both flying near cloud base at the same altitude in opposite directions. The closing rate was 235 kt. The other pilot saw me about 3 sec (22:52:38), or about 1200 ft, before collision and turned to avoid me (I was checking my position on my map and looked up as he was passing me).



This got me to looking into high intensity LED markers. We all are aware of those used by emergency vehicles; they can be seen in bright sunlight at a long distance. I was thinking of mounting one inside the cockpit of my DG400 in front of the instrument pod. I would have to modify the flash circuitry reduce the rate (thereby reducing power consumption). One potential source is:



http://www.extremetacticaldynamics.com/



The cost is a small fraction of a FLARM, and will work with non-FLARM equipped aircraft.



Tom

The big sky theory does not apply to gliders, this is why we keep having midairs and near misses. Most of us had similar experience at least once. Reason is that gliders congregate in relatively small portion of the sky, especially when cloudstreets are presented, we are all following the same energy lines at the same altitudes, and worth, our eyes are often focused above the horizon to follow the best line.

Please continue your research and post the results. Sometime all it takes is for someone to find an easy solution which works and the rest of us will follow. I am flying for years with reflective tapes on my wingtips but still can't say for sure if it is effective or not, but it doesn't hurt...

Ramy