On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 08:32:57 -0400, David wrote in message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> Arnt Karlsen wrote: > > > Call me paranoid, I prefer to > > carry an onboard radar too, not just rely on the ground radar etc, > > yes, it's another point of failure, in pretty much the same way the > > Ju52-3m has a 3 times bigger chance of a flame-out as the early > > single engined Ju52-1m. > > [this is not directed mainly at Arnt, since I think he already knows > all of this] > > Even airliners don't have primary radar outside of their radar > altimeters; they rely on TCAS, an expensive secondary system that > interrogates transponders of nearby aircraft. TCAS works well enough, > though it cannot see a plane with its transponder turned off (that's > why transponders are required at higher altitudes and near airports). > Light aircraft can use passive alerting systems from TPAS right down > to a portable Monroy system that costs a few hundred dollars -- these > tell you the altitude and distance of other traffic, but not its > direction, and they rely on evesdropping on ATC's interrogations of > other transponders rather than interrogating them themselves. ..these are all safety measures which relies on everybody trying to play it nice, which _wasn't_ the case on 9/11'th. > That said, when you spend money for safety, you have to look to see > what benefits it will bring you. For example, I could spend $500K to > reinforce my house against small asteroid strikes, but I probably ...asked for this one. ;-) > wouldn't improve safety in any measurable way; on the other hand, $500 > on smoke and carbon monoxide detectors can make an enormous > difference. ..agreed. > Airplanes almost never collide in cruise, either in VMC or IMC. Most > midair collisions take place in beautiful VFR weather, uncontrolled, > near an airport, and even then, they're not all that high on the risk > list. ..FWIW, that spectacular russian airliner and Lufthansa(?) freight plane mid air over Germany a year or so back, and several near misses in Norway the last few years, were all under (busy!) ATC controlled IFR. Carry your own radar, and you see them coming, and you can dodge them and you can tell ATC "Bring'em on." ;-) > People die mainly because of VFR flight into IMC, stall/spin on > takeoff or landing, and controlled flight into terrain (especially > during night approaches or scud running). ..automatic ejection seats and chutes, then truck away the wreck and find and fine the the idiot pilot. -- ..med vennlig hilsen = with Kind Regards from Arnt... ;-) ...with a number of polar bear hunters in his ancestry... Scenarios always come in sets of three: best case, worst case, and just in case. _______________________________________________ Flightgear-devel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.flightgear.org/mailman/listinfo/flightgear-devel
