Originally Posted by DB6
Valid point but, like turnbacks, I could see more people coming to grief practising (flicking, overbanking at low level etc.) than would ever be saved by doing an emergency turn. In ~3700 hours of flying I've never had to do one, but I've gone around a few times
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I've managed a couple, one this morning when I found myself head-to-head with a Hawk T1 doing (I'd guess) about 300kn in the open FIR. Not complaining, it's what lookout is for, but even with his landing light on, a Hawk pointing straight at you gives relatively little reaction time. (For the record, I reckon he and I pulled right within about a second of each other and I wouldn't like to say who was first - actual clearance was a couple of hundred yards in the end).
Another was some years ago when I was flying non-radio in a microlight and a PA28 for reasons best known to himself (he didn't seem to explain himself very well to the Airprox Board) decided to suddenly change course whilst we were passing on reciprocal headings to fly straight through me. A course of action that offended me somewhat at the time. If anybody has access to the Airprox reports, it was 30 August 1998.
G