triadic,
RE: the radio calls,
I suggest there is nothing from stopping them from doing that right now!! Either due to poor training, no appreciation of the environment they are in or just plain lack of airmanship!
Agreed. But at least under the current rules VFR are still
supposed to make broadcasts and
supposed to monitor area VHF. But I don't dispute your point that that doesn't stop many from doing whatever they want even now. As you indicate, education is largely the problem, but policing is also nearly impossible. I know for a fact many situations where Dash 8s in MBZs have had TCAS help avoid potentially ugly situations (ever wondered what the "M" stands for?
).
RE: the FSA ad. I think the message in the ad was a little strong (crossed arms, grim face, etc.) ... there are already a lot of VFR pilots out there who are "scared" of troubling ATC ... indeed education would help. But the other day I had a VFR that called up for a no-plan clearance which I denied due workload, and when I finally got back to him for the clearance (say about 10min later) he mentioned engine trouble. Now if he had said that the first time, he would have been given priority. Now what initially appeared to be a "nuisance" call ended up being a rather important one!
Of course there are many situations like this (and vice-versa), but from my own point of view I like knowing, through area broadcasts, who is in the airspace and their intentions etc. If it means I give the Area QNH from time to time, so be it. It helps to keep the picture, especially the provision of traffic OCTA. But I digress.
And of course our friends in gliders will be out there (as they are now) doing their thing on a frequency we might only find out about from either local knowledge or a NOTAM.
Umm, let's not forget the meatbombs in Class E that don't need to talk to ATC and all we can see (if we're lucky) is the aircraft from which they originated ... and there is a jet going right through the middle. Now
that's scary!
no_name_oz,
I would'd have gone so far as to give credibility to the person you describe as one of your "fellow aviation enthusiasts"
tobzalp,
Agreed!
