Traffic in close vicinity

[Speedbird744]

I am currently suffering from huge amounts of anxiety and tension when flying VFR and in the close proximity of other aircraft.
Today I had a close encounter with a glider that I'm still shocked about, I regularly scan the skies but how sure can we be that another aircraft can simply not appear out of the clouds on a constant relative bearing?
What do you suggest I do to overcome this fear of being "smashed to pieces" midair?
Lastly regarding Gliders in the South East of England: Is it likely gliders creep up to 3000ft and do they have large rates of descents and climbs unlike powered aircraft?
Please any advice before my solo Nav qual...
Thanks

[Andrew Sinclair]

There is a good CAA Safety Sense Leaflet 13A on Collision Avoidance here (http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/224/ssl13.pdf) it talks about maximising the efficiency of your look out as well as many other topics to help in this area. I hope it helps reduce your fears and optimize your skills and enjoyment of your solo navigation exercise.

[Warped Factor]

It's the one you don't see that will get you and I suppose you can never guarantee 100% that you'll see everything.

What can you do? Keep eyes outside as much as possibe, get a radar service from someone if you can. Train yourself to actually scan and not just aimlessly look outside, the RAF have a good system for this. Easier said than done.

As for gliders, I'm no expert, but if it's a good gliding day expect to see gliders operating up to cloudbase, whatever height that may be. In areas where there's wave expect to see them a lot higher than you might expect.

Personaly I find gliders quite hard to spot given that most of them are white, first contact is usually when they're turning and you get a glint of sunshine from them. To a certain extent you possibly are relying on the glider seeing you first.

There's a major gliding comp on at Lasham this week, 50+ gliders launching at a time, looks impressive on the radar and even more so when stood underneath watching :)

WF.

[flower]

If you are in touch with an ATC unit you could always ask for a Radar Information Service, even a Flight Information service from a radar unit will give you some traffic information. If that helps you build your confidence I cannot see a problem however i'm not to sure what your FI will think.

Having a good idea where the gliding sites are and checking your NOTAMS to see that there are no gliding competitions going on will help as well.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Today I had a close encounter with a glider that I'm still shocked about Yeah, they do that. Had one last week.

[Aerobatic Flyer]

Gliders will spend most of their time underneath cumulus clouds, if there are any. Fly in the blue bits between the clouds, and you minimise your chance of a close encounter. Fly above the cloud base, if you can - that'll keep you above 95% of gliders. Don't play too close to nice fluffy clouds - there might be a glider inside which could pop out of the side unexpectedly....

Alternatively, fly low. Away from gliding sites, you don't find many gliders below 2000ft. When soaring cross country, unless you're an expert that's the sort of height where you start accepting any kind of thermal, no matter how weak, just to stay in the air.

Also, when close to gliding sites, bear in mind that there will be more gliders upwind than downwind. The less experienced glider pilots don't stray too far downwind from home, in case they can't get back. And the more experienced ones don't stay close to home.

As for the rates of climb and descent - yes, they can be very high. When flying a high performance glider, the technique is to fly fast between thermals, then pull up and slow down when flying through them. The pull up is quite sharp, and the climb rate (for a few seconds) can be several thousand feet per minute. The rate of descent can be high too, but this happens much less often than it used to when I was an active glider pilot! My most shameful moment was beating the tug back to the ground from 2500 ft........ :O

Keep your eyes open, and your wits about you and be a wee bit paranoid - but don't let it spoil your fun. The glider pilots will be looking hard for you, and aren't "out to get you"!

Final point - once you've qualified, go to a gliding club and have a go. After a couple of flights, you'll be able to predict their behaviour much better.

[Saab Dastard]

Speedbird744

Don't let it get to you - just keep a good look out. I had a VERY close call a couple of years ago, but I figure that statistically it's unlikely to happen again, so I don't let it bother me.

Gliders can travel faster, climb higher and generally run rings around your average 152 / PA28! Coming down from altitude or racing between thermals a decent glider can do well over 100 knots.

Glider pilots generally have better visibility than sepls, with their bubble canopies - they usually spend more time looking outside, too!

Stay clear of launch sites - both cables and tug-glider combinations can be encountered to 2500' + aal.

To give you some feeling of what to look out for, to stay airborne, gliders use:

Thermals - relatively slow circling flight, usually under cumulus clouds that often appear in "streets" or lines downwind from where the heat source on the ground is. If you can see one glider, chances are there'll be more. They should all be circling the same direction if in the same thermal, BTW.

Ridges - local rising air caused by wind striking an escarpment and being deflected upwards. Often very close to (or at) the gliding site - e.g. Camphill, DLGC. Typically gliders are soaring at about 1000' above the ridge and a bit upwind.

Wave - this is ridge lift on a massive scale! Air is deflected upwards by a mountain range, e.g. Welsh mountains, Pennines, Scotland. Characterised by lenticular clouds forming (read your met books ;) ). Fantastic rising laminar flow on the upwind side - violent rotor and downdraft effects downwind. Gliders fly in the rising air perpendicular to the wind and just go up, and up and up! I've had a height gain of 3000' and would have gone higher but for an airway above :{ It's possible to get very high indeed - I don't know what the record is, but it is over 25000'!

So now you know what to look out for!

Good luck with your QXL - and don't wait till you've qualified to go gliding!

SD

[Speedbird744]

Thanks for all your advice, I'm feeling more relaxed already.
Although I think I'm going to buy one of these cheap mini TCAS systems used in General Aviation once I have my PPL and CPL. Anyone considered this? Around £500, any advice on the TCAS system at Transair? Or the Monroy ATD-200?

The scariest aspect of closing in on an aircraft is not knowing whether or not the other guy as seen you.
And I figure because gliders are climbing fast and flying aerobactics, the "relative constant bearing" is virtually non existent and you cannot predict where they will be next!

[Fly Stimulator]

Speedbird744,

I wouldn't place too much reliance on a TCAS system - even one that's not cheap relies on the other aircraft having a transponder which is switched on at the time.

A lot of aircraft don't have transponders. Having flown quite a bit around SE England with a TCAS-equipped aircraft recently I'm surprised at how many which presumably do have transponders don't seem to switch them on.

TCAS certainly can help, but since you only have to hit one aircraft in order to spoil your day you can't afford look out any less than you would otherwise do.

What TCAS does help with is telling you there's something out there that you hadn't spotted even when you have been looking. That happens alarmingly often.

[Blinkz]

Hey guys, I'm a glider pilot and can agree with most things that have been said above. As long as both pilots use there common sense then the risk can be reduced as much as possible. Like has been said we have better visibility, we don't usually do erratic flying as it uses up alot of height, so the only time we do this is near to our airfields. Everything else about glider flying (thermals, wave etc) is all spot on, two weeks ago I had a great flight where I took a winch launch to 1500' and climbed to 13,500' :)

[The Nr Fairy]

The other option if you encouter concentrations of gliders away fro a pukka gliding site is to descend a bit. They're normally trying to gain or keep height, and unless they've binned it they'll want to go up.

However, how low you go is the decision - if it's your solo nav speak to your instructor about this.

[FlyingForFun]

I recall speaking to an air traffic controller a while ago. The controller told me about an "exchange" he did with some private pilots. The pilots visited him and his colleagues in their radar centre and spent some time there. Then they all jumped in their respective aircraft with controllers as passengers and went flying.

This controller said that it was one of the scarriest experiences he'd ever had. He was in a light aircraft, flying around at a few thousand feet, looking for traffic, and could maybe see two or three aircraft. Yet less than half an hour before, he'd been sat in front of his radar screen, and he knew there were dozens, if not hundreds, of aircraft that he couldn't see at all.

:ooh: :eek: :ouch:

FFF
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[Warped Factor]

FFF wrote :

This controller said that it was one of the scarriest experiences he'd ever had. He was in a light aircraft, flying around at a few thousand feet, looking for traffic, and could maybe see two or three aircraft. Yet less than half an hour before, he'd been sat in front of his radar screen, and he knew there were dozens, if not hundreds, of aircraft that he couldn't see at all.

That's why I try to avoid flying at weekends, frightening ;)

WF.

[IO540]

FlyingForFun

I don't doubt you (or what the ATCO said) but perhaps this shows that most of the time the other traffic doesn't matter - it is too far away.

I know for sure lots of people flying in Class G don't use their radio; plenty of old timers do it to make a point as much as anything else. But in the end, all you would get as a "VFR" pilot especially on a sunny day is an FIS which is practically worthless (e.g. London Information is a waste of space for traffic avoidance purposes)

There is also a LOT of traffic very low down, say 1000ft agl, and without transponders on, the ATCO would see the dots but would have no idea where they are vertically. I often fly under a RIS and at e.g. FL50 most of the "unknown level" traffic is either invisible or it turns out to be something practically crawling along the ground...

The real solution (for a problem which doesn't really exist - en-route mid-airs are very rare) would be mandatory Mode C (for all aircraft with an electrical system) and traffic data uplink like they are getting in the USA. That would start a nice thread here I am sure :O

[Keef]

The real solution (for a problem which doesn't really exist - en-route mid-airs are very rare) would be mandatory Mode C (for all aircraft with an electrical system) and traffic data uplink like they are getting in the USA. That would start a nice thread here I am sure.


It already did! I'm not going to look for the thread, but it got very excited - all the Mode S and ADS-B etc stuff was very thoroughly aired about six months ago.

I saw, at the PFA Rally, a "low-cost" mode C transponder on the CAA stand. Nice idea, but only a two-year life before it would have to be thrown away and replaced by a Mode S.

[flower]

How much we see on radar is down to the positioning of the radar head, trust me we see a great deal more than some of the posts here may suggest. I am able to see large trucks on the M4 and ships in the Bristol Channel , so not seeing traffic at a 1000ft is really not an issue within the published LARS radius. Where there are problems with the siting of the radar head ATC units will provide services not below a certain altitude/level .

[Fly Stimulator]

Keef,

I saw, at the PFA Rally, a "low-cost" mode C transponder on the CAA stand. Nice idea, but only a two-year life before it would have to be thrown away and replaced by a Mode S.
I thought we had until 2008.

I'm about to purchase a Mode C transponder for my new toy, and hope to get more that two years use out of it. Mind you, I only got 8 months use out of the last new aircraft before vandals destroyed it, so perhaps I shouldn't be worrying about the lifespan of the transponder. :ugh:

[slim_slag]

Flower, I think they are suggesting it's the pilots who cannot see anything, but even then if you have a primary radar you are quite dependant on transponders being turned on.

Hairiest place I know is on final to Sedona in Arizona on a Sunday morning. People use runway 3 to land and 21 to depart, they are usually impatient to leave, and on short final it's like dodging missiles (except I don't know what dodging missiles is like, but I've seen James Bond movies). I've had to break off on final several times with planes shooting past me within a few hundred feet. Then you get people coming up from behind. Nasty place, not sure even the restaurant is worth it, needs a tower when the Sunday drivers are around.

[2Donkeys]

even then if you have a primary radar you are quite dependant on transponders being turned on.

If you have only primary radar, you cannot see transponder returns at all.

2D

[flower]

The point I was trying to make was that I can see practically everything, even if I had only Primary radar . SSR is a wonderful tool and without it my job would be extremely hard work but primary radar is more than adequate if required for me to be able to pass significant traffic information to anybody requesting a RIS.

[slim_slag]

2Donkeys,

You are following me :) Yep, got that wrong too, was thinking secondary. Too long at work...

[rodan]

I'd be interested to hear how many piots leave mode 'C' turned off even if they have it fitted? I know for a fact that it's not that uncommon, quite often asking the pilot 'G-xx, do you have mode C?' will lead to it magically appearing.

What I don't know if these pilots appreciate is that if they are in class G and not talking to anyone, (no problems with that, btw, it's up to you), with 7000 set and no mode 'C', they are effectively wiping out a 10 (ten) mile diameter cylinder of airspace around them from the surface to FL245 for anyone who is in receipt of a radar advisory service.

The radar controller providing the service must achieve - if the subject of the RAS cannot see the unknown traffic - either lateral separation of 5 miles or 3000 feet vertically based on mode 'C' returns from the unknown aircraft (our non-talking 7000 squawker). The easiest of these is nearly always the 3000 feet, and this is not an option if there is no mode 'C'.

The most frustrating thing is when the unknown aircraft is showing on secondary radar only since it is too low for primary contact. As a controller you know that it is down in the weeds, but the rules say that you must take a 10 mile detour with your departing passenger jet which is passing FL100.

So does anyone leave their mode 'C' off as a matter of course? I'm genuinely interested.

[IO540]

Rodan

You appear to be saying that if you see an unverified (e.g. no radio) 7000 return without Mode C, flying "across" an airway whose base is say FL55 and which has traffic in it at say FL65, you have to reroute that airway traffic??

There are many such situations!

I think a lot of people knowingly don't switch Mode C on. In my PPL training it was never switched on. Bizzare...

[Andrew Sinclair]

I get the impression that some aircraft commanders are of the opinion that leaving "Mode C" off is a good way to avoid detection if they infringe CAS by accidently departing their cruise altitude i.e. the are VFR at 2400' under the London TMA and they "drift" up to say 2600'

For myself, I switch on to Mode C and leave it on. I have had the fortunate benefit of visiting Farnborough LARS and Thames Radar ATSUs and so have been able to see the benefit to the ATCOs and therefore other aircraft.

I like the idea of using all methods available both visual and by means of RF to enable me to see and be seen with all available information to anyone whom it concerns.

[flower]

The use of Mode C is also for your benefit. Although the "C" may be unverified the likelihood is that is it a reasonable indication of your altitude. We see traffic not working us with "C" on we pass the traffic and say "indicating ****ft unverified" the other aircraft is able to look above or below it to find said aircraft also they sometimes decide to climb or descend to help with their separation.

As an aside but with reference to Andy's post when we verify Mode C if the figure indicated on our radar screen is with 200ft of that stated by the pilot we consider the "C" to be verified

I have said it before and will say it again , we are not there to Police the skys we are there to help pilots out, so why do they think we are in some way Big Brother

[flower]

IO540

traffic not transponding, or not transponding "C" are deemed to be flying beneath Controlled Air Space , we do not take avoiding action unless we have reasonable knowledge that the aircraft is in side CAS, or we have a an aircraft with radio failure which may possibly have entered CAS.

Hope that helps :)

[IO540]

Flower

That's what I expected. What I didn't get was Rodan's statement

What I don't know if these pilots appreciate is that if they are in class G and not talking to anyone, (no problems with that, btw, it's up to you), with 7000 set and no mode 'C', they are effectively wiping out a 10 (ten) mile diameter cylinder of airspace around them from the surface to FL245 for anyone who is in receipt of a radar advisory service.

ATC would direct traffic receiving a RAS around suspected conflicts. Would you advise an a/c receiving a RAS, in any airspace, around a radar return without Mode C, or would this happen only if the a/c receiving RAS was outside CAS? I suspect the latter might be the case. I flew under RAS only once (outside CAS) as I normally prefer RIS, and got directed in doglegs all over the place.

[FlyingForFun]

IO540 - you can't get a RAS inside controlled airspace, only outside! If you receive radar vectors inside controlled airspace, it would be a Radar Control Service. :confused:

FFF
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[englishal]

I try to fly as high as possible and leave let others bimble around at 1500-2000', that way you tend to get cleaner air and stay clear of other traffic. Trouble is, high as possible often aint that high in the UK [though we did get to FL210 the other day outside CAS :D]

I can't believe someone with mode C would leave it off, thats insane in my view.

EA

[Ludwig]

Earlier in this thread someone mentioned a RAF method of look out - what is this as if it is better than your average ppl lookout, it would be worth knowing

[flyingwysiwyg]

I was always taught to squawk 7000 Mode C as soon as I had switched the landing light off on after take off checks (unless in the circuit) and switch it to STBY when I had the airfield in sight and switched my landing light on. This seems sensible, and is easy to remember:

Landing Light On: Transponder STBY
Landing Light Off: Transponder ON

F-Wyg

[Genghis the Engineer]

Fly Stimulator

If you are buying a transponder for your new CT, I assume that since it's the cheapest and lightest on the market you're probably looking at the Microair T2000. Do be aware that the importer has never actually bothered to get CAA approval on it and therefore you can't fit it until they do (rumoured to happen sometime in the hopefully-not-too-distant-future on the back of a German JTSO that doesnt exist yet).

My opinion on people selling avionics in the UK that can't legally be fitted you can probably guess.

G

[rodan]

IO540:

I was referring to the situation where an aircraft outside controlled airspace receiving a RAS comes into conflict with a no-mode-C unknown aircraft - happened to me again this morning, and a passenger carrying flight had to be vectored all over the sky to avoid a 7000 squawk that was probably no threat whatsoever :hmm: .

With aircraft inside controlled airspace, like airways, it is assumed that any unknown traffic is outside controlled airspace unless the controller has reason (eg., mode 'C' returns) to believe it is inside controlled airspace - lost etc. This brings up another situation which has been mentioned - if you inadvertantly strayed into an airway or control zone without mode C selected. The controller would assume you were beneath the airway or above the control zone unless they had any other reason to suggest you weren't, and would ignore you. In these circumstances, quite apart from the ramifications of the airspace infringement, leaving mode C on is a good way to avoid an airprox or worse :ooh: .

[Fly Stimulator]

Genghis,

Have replied to your email address to avoid boring everybody here!

[Skycop]

It's not just ATC who have a problem if Mode C isn't used.

The pilot of any aircraft with TCAS, (which detects aircraft with an operating transponder), will not know the altitude of the other aircraft without C.

This means that his TCAS will give a loud "TRAFFIC! TRAFFIC!" voice warning (20 seconds to a collision, impossible to ignore) even when the aircraft may be well separated in altitude. I can't stress how difficult it is to locate an aircraft visually if you don't know whether it is above, below, or at the same level as yourself.

This causes a major problem to passenger carrying aircraft. The last thing I want to do is to start any unnecessary hard manoeuvring, it puts the $hit$ up the pax, that's what TCAS is supposed to prevent. It also greatly reduces the number of heartbeats left over for my retirement, if you get my drift.

If you've got it, please use it whenever you use the transponder. It's for your safety as well as mine.

I do my best to avoid you, so please help us both out.

Thanks.

:ok:

[bookworm]

I was always taught to squawk 7000 Mode C as soon as I had switched the landing light off on after take off checks (unless in the circuit) and switch it to STBY when I had the airfield in sight and switched my landing light on.

Current thinking is that you turn your transponder on before take-off and turn it off after landing. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

[WestWind1950]

hello all!

in Germany it is required to have your transponder on 0022 above 5000 ft MSL or 3500 GND for motorized aircraft (gliders exempt), below that 0021 is only recommended. I remember a student telling me that another instrutor told him "leave the transponder off, they (i.e. ATC) don't need to see what we're doing". :mad: not a good example for a student IMHO!

I flew with another student on a XC... we stayed below 5000 ft but had the transponder on 0021 C as recommended and listened into FIS, not announcing ourselves, but listening in gave us any info we needed (we were outside any type of restricted areas, of course). There was quite a bit of military traffic around. At one point we heard ATC tell a military jet about "unidentified traffic at about suchandsuch altitude flying, flying NW at suchandsuch o'clock position"... the jet replied "in sight"... my student looked at me with a big eyed look and asked "did they mean us?" I calmly affirmed. That is one student that will always turn on his transponder I'm sure!

http://www.click-smilie.de/sammlung/aktion/action-smiley-072.gif Westy

[flyingwysiwyg]

Current thinking is that you turn your transponder on before take-off and turn it off after landing. It doesn't get much simpler than that.

I was told that this was not encouraged on return to the airfield once it was within visual range as aircraft in the circuit just create screen clutter for ATC and can potentially cause TCAS alerts for other aircraft on approach?

I stand to be corrected.

FWyg

[expedite_climb]

People flying below CA with only mode A is a pain for those above them in CA. mode A will set of a Traffic Advisory on the TCAS, because it doesnt know exactly how far below it is.... If mode C was switched on then the TA may not have happened in the first place.

[FlyingForFun]

I was told that this was not encouraged on return to the airfield once it was within visual range as aircraft in the circuit just create screen clutter for ATC and can potentially cause TCAS alerts for other aircraft on approach?The definitive answer about what controllers want has to come from a controller - but I know that quite often when I'm approaching an airfield, controllers will tell me "Frequency change approved, and it looks like there's several aircraft in the circuit there" or something similar.... so I'd guess that leaving your transponder on is definitely helping someone.

FFF
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[flyingwysiwyg]

People flying below CA with only mode A is a pain for those above them in CA. mode A will set of a Traffic Advisory on the TCAS, because it doesnt know exactly how far below it is.... If mode C was switched on then the TA may not have happened in the first place.

I should have made myself clearer. I was assuming mode C in use. See my previous post.

FWyg

[flower]

Unless the local instructions say to do so or specific instructions are given by the ATCO keep your transponder on until after you have landed.

[flyingwysiwyg]

Unless the local instructions say to do so or specific instructions are given by the ATCO keep your transponder on until after you have landed.

Flower,

Thanks for that. Another grey area cleared up for me on PPRune. From now on I shall be squawking 7000 Mode C unless told otherwise or on the ground.

:ok:

[Andrew Sinclair]

There was some specific advice given by the CAA on the use of transponders a while back. it was given in the December 2002 of GASIL

GASIL (http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/srg_gad_gasil2002_04.pdf)

Check the top of Page 11. The old advice was to use transponders all the time squwaking both Mode A and Mode C except in the visual circuit. the latest advice is to keep a serviceable transponder on squawking 7000 Mode C unless:

*ATSU has allocated a different code
*A special purpose code is more appropriate
*Local procedures require the transpoder to be switched to 'standby'

So now the advice is keep it on ALT unless instructed otherwise.

It also says the UK AIP is going to be amended to reflect this recent change.

[Davidt]

Nuf said about Gliders but some more tips to stay safer

1) Fly at odd numbers, most folk particularly students tend to go for round numbers 1500 ,2000 etc if your at 2700 and meet a student concentrating on staying where he's been told your 200 apart.

2) Avoid the known choke points and honey pots

3) Turn before or at the side of beacons if youve spent hours perfecting crisp beacon breaks its a ****** doing slpooy one deliberately

4) Higher you go less folks will be with you as a rule

[engineless john]

Someone earlier posted asking what the RAF lookout technique is. I don't know what they recommend exactly but I believe the BGA has adopted something similar described at

http://www.cotswoldgliding.co.uk/docs/safetybriefing.pdf

"The BGA have recently introduced the scan cycle lookout to the instructor courses. All members will be expected to use the technique from now on. The technique involves a fixed routine consisting of lookout, checking the attitude and then the instruments. The lookout is first done straight ahead, on the horizon, and then above and below. Then the same thing is done 45 deg to the right, 90 deg to the right and finally as far back as you can see. Then you look directly above you and then return to look ahead where the attitude and instruments are checked. This is then repeated on the left side. Each scan cycle should take about 20 seconds"

Which is basically what I was taught when learning to fly gliders. However I've never had a powered lesson, so what do student PPLs get taught?

Yes transponders are a good thing, but I doubt there is a glider in the sky with a transponder of any form, and that glassfibre probably doesn't show up well on radar.

Cheers
John

(who though he has right of way will get the hell out the way if he sees you coming :) )

[gasax]

It really worries me that when someone is concerned about traffic popping up in the windscreen, people start banging on about TCAS, transponders, radar and CAS.

If you are flying VFR and paying your own way the chances of having TCAS are absolute zero - it costs more than your aircraft.

Flying VFR you cannot get a RAS.

The chances of getting an effective RIS are slim and relying on that to keep you safe is bluntly asking for a full windscreen. Apart from the fact that when it is busy - you are least likely to get that service.

The technology does not and will not answer the issue. If that is a problem - don't fly VFR in airspace lower than class D. That might be a little limiting but it is a fact of life. And that is before you start worrying about the wannabe's who barrel along in this airspace with their shiny IMCs.

Develop an effective lookout, use the strategies outlined by some of the more rational posts here and it is unlikely you will be surprised.

Understand the sky is a very big place and it is only the choke points that concentrate aircraft - avoid them.

Bluntly if you're happy with a 120 mph closing speed with total strangers less than 2 metres away on the road and not a barrier in sight - why are you worried about the tiny chances of an aerial - particularly when you take positive measures to avoid collision?

[FlyingForFun]

Good post, gasax. Except where you say:Don't fly VFR in airspace lower than class DBecause ATC won't provide you with any separation from anyone in Class D. (Ok, they probably will, but they don't have to.) Even in Class C (if we had any in the UK), you'll be separated from IFR flights, but not from other VFR flights. If you want ATC to keep you away from everyone else, you need to be in Class B or higher. Not really very practical at all, I'm afraid...

Keep those eyes outside the aircraft!

FFF
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[dbromle]

Is there any concensus around flying Quadrantal in VFR conditions-it's my impression hardly anyone seems to bother?

I once came across an instructor who kept the landing lights on all the time as an alleged aid to being seen.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

I once came across an instructor who kept the landing lights on all the time as an alleged aid to being seen. I've had instructors who tell me to do that, and instructors who tell me to switch the light off during the after take-off checks. All from the same school.

[bluskis]

In poor visability, and in areas of known opposite traffic, using the landing light must be a safety aid. No good for flashing to overtake though.

[Chilli Monster]

And for those of us who fly retractables with the landing light fitted to the undercarriage....................? ;)

[FlyingForFun]

Is there any concensus around flying Quadrantal in VFR conditionsIf I'm above 3000', and the base of controlled airspace and cloud base allows, I always fly at the correct quadrantal level (or semi-circle in other countries). But most VFR pilots spend most of their time below 3000', and on the few occassions when we do get higher than that we are restricted by needing to keep 1000' vertically from the clouds.

FFF
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