Geez! I am so glad this incident ended safely!! I am on the verge of starting an ab initio course and either have the option of staying closer to home but flying from an uncontrolled circuit airfield or further away at a controlled circuit airfield. There's me, perhaps naively thinking, that aerial conflicts only really happen (albeit very rarely) in an uncontrolled circuit - well this incident is very much a rude awakening for the uninitiated in me!
Perhaps in a visual circuit with ATC, radar etc (i.e. controlled) the odd pilot gets a little lax about maintaining a good look out for others in the circuit, perhaps relying too much on ATC and flying the aircraft. Whereas perhaps, in a purely uncontrolled circuit with no ATC or just a simple ATIS, pilots have nothing to fall back on other than their own vigilance and good airmanship and therefore are more aware of other circuit traffic.
There is really nothing about flying that scares me and with more knowledge and experience I expect to become more confident and competent. However, the only qualification to the last sentence is a pathological fear of a mid-air collision. This scares the s--t out of me. Recently near my house in Essex there was a collision involving a Cessna 152 (I think) under training and an aerobatic Yak which I understand collided in or very near the North Weald circuit. All 3 occupants were killed!
It strikes me that in this modern day and age , the 21st century, we still have no better safety against mid-air conflicts in VFR flights other than 'see and avoid' principle. I presume the stumbling block for introduction of further safetly features for training aircraft is cost but I am not sure. Some time last year there was a mid-air over Nottinghamshire between a Cessna doing aerial photography and an RAF Tornado. The AAIB noted in their report that the principle of 'see and avoid' failed as both pilots were preoccupied with their respective tasks, the Cessna pilot taking aerial shots and the Tornado pilot (under training) spending all his time looking inside the cockpit. Both aircraft therefore did not maintain a good look out. Although the Cessna pilot was heavily criticised in the report for not following establised guidelines vis a vis aerial photography and drifting into airspace used by the RAF.
I would be interested to receive views on this very touchy subject.
Safe flying to all!