emergency chute

Stefan wrote:
Eric Greenwell wrote:

Even better is to avoid the collision in the first place. The
Europeans now have an additional choice beyond "see and avoid": the
"Flight Alarm" device from www.flarm.com. Over 450 of these devices
have been delivered, and 2000 more are scheduled for delivery this year.


But this device (whether useful or not, we will see) will never be sold
in the USA. An excerpt from the manual, translated from German:

FLARM must not be used in the USA or in Canada or by US or Canadian
pilots or in aircraft which are immatriculated or insured in the USA or
in Canada.

My contact with the FLARM people suggests the liability question can be
resolved. After all, we already use similar devices in North America,
but they are effective only if the other aircraft has a transponder.

A bigger problem, I think, is getting enough people in the US excited
about the value of the Flarm device. In fact, it may not have much value
here, except in the one or two places where glider traffic is very
dense. This would include the White Mountains near Minden, and perhaps
the Allegheny ridges near the East coast.

If the Flarm device was also an IGC approved flight recorder, as they
have considered doing, this would make it more likely to find use in the
USA.


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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA