At a fact finding meeting, held by the NTSB at Minden following the recent
mid-air, I suggested that the FAA might consider streamlining the optional
installation of transponders in gliders. This might be similar to what they
did for the installation of shoulder harnesses in classic light aircraft a
decade ago. i.e. dispense with the engineering hassle for adding a battery
box/tray and eliminate the requirement for 337 approval. Require only a log
book entry and VFR xponder check. This was received as a "good suggestion".

We'll see, but I don't expect anything to happen soon - - if at all. I'd
also be surprised if certification standards for avionics used in LSA are
lowered beyond that required for other GA aircraft.

bumper

"Mike Schumann" wrote in message
ink.net...
They are already doing that with Light Sport Aircraft. Do those rules
apply to avionics? I would suspect that the FAA would be very receptive
to a proposal that would drastically increase the visibility of gliders
and other airborne vehicles that are currently flying around without
transponders.

Mike Schumann

"Marc Ramsey" wrote in message
...
Mike Schumann wrote:
It would make a lot more sense if someone would engineer a low cost ADSB
compliant transceiver that would interface with a PDA. Then eveyone
could go nuts developing software that would be able to identify not
only gliders but also power aircraft. Once the FAA starts installing
the necessary ground equipment, we'll even be able to see Mode C
transponder equiped aircraft using the ADSB version of TIS.

The ground equipment is already in place along the east coast from New
York down to Florida, Alaska, Oregon, and a few other scattered places.
It's much cheaper than upgrading radar equipment, but suffers from the
classic chicken and egg problem.

In principle, a simple low power ADS-B transceiver (to be precise a UAT)
need be no more complicated or expensive to manufacture than a FLARM
unit. In practice, however, the certification costs alone are something
over a million dollars for a device which currently has a tiny market. If
the FAA really wants to kick start use of ADS-B in this country, they
need to take a serious look at simplifying or subsidizing the
certification process.

Marc