Originally Posted by Mooncrest
people who used to work with them (or perhaps still do !)
No 'perhaps'. Definitely..
Originally Posted by Mooncrest
The same phrase keeps recurring regarding the 424, i.e. "pencil beam" which I surmise means great for talkdowns (practice permitting) but not much use for general surveillance.
Interesting bit in Tchocky's link:
"if the blip is temporarily lost....the beam has but to be depressed or raised to pick it up again"
The pencil beam is very thin. Nowadays this necessitates (or should necessitate...) re-ident...
It's a horrible feeling when that blip disappears with a ULE examiner standing behind. Bit difficult to explain to him that one gets used to vectoring 'parcels of thin air'..."don't worry, it'll re-appear" is no longer acceptable!
If there are two blips in the beam they could be somewhat close...
If there are two raindrops in the beam you might as well go home...it's a great weather radar!
It's also fine in CAVOK...when the crews don't need radar...
Originally Posted by matspart3
Our man passed today
But you predicted it:
Originally Posted by matspart3
One of our guys will be validating on the 430 today