midair in Bay Area Nov 7

Unfortunately FCC does not allow transmit on both antennas.

Perhaps we should standardize on Rx+tx on top, rx only on bottom?
(Hoping there is a place in the wheel well without carbon fiber.)

Then at least you would have a certain path from the guy you can't see.

For towplanes the critical case is below and to the front as sadly shown in this TSB Canada accident report:

https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/rapports-r.../a19w0099.html

While the student and instructor were wearing parachutes, the canopies were still on when they hit the ground. I suggest the brief be "When you hear my canopy coming off, get the hell out NOW!"

Of course a Flarm can't ever help when it's not on.

An external antenna on the bottom of a glider is highly vulnerable to damage in outlandings and getting in and out of the trailer.

Glider-tow plane collisions happens every few years. This is the reason that at our operation, when the glider releases, he makes a slight turn to the right, and announces that he has released, and the tow pilot confirms on the radio the release. The tow pilot turns left and begins his decent. The glider stops turning right and keeps his eyes on the tow plane until they are both well clear of each other. After the release, the glider pilot is the only one that can see the other plane, and a collision with the tow plane is the biggest danger at that time. It is imperative that glider operations stop the practice of both the tow plane and the glider turning in such a way that NEITHER planes can see each other during separation. At least one of the planes needs to make sure there is a complete, positive separation, and communicate that. Almost all of us have radios these days. We need to use them better.

Boggs

According to Flarm the New Fusion transmits and receives on both A and B Flarm Antennas.

http://www.craggyaero.com/fusion.htm


Richard
www.craggyaero.com