Hardly 'extraordinarily complex', bookworm - just enter the chart with your a/c category and check whether you will need any transponder in the classes of airspace in which you wish to operate.
E.g. Piper Cub which never intends to operate under IFR or in Class D - no transponder needed. PA28 which operates in and out of Class D airspace and is used for IMC training - Mode C transponder required.
TCAS protection against GA aircraft operating under IFR in the open FIR is one thing, mandating that all GA aircraft should carry Mode S just to 'improve coordination' in the open FIR for the principal benefit of protecting LoCo airliners wanting to operate outside Class A-D airspace is quite another.
And no, I am not a civil serpent. Neither am I an air-trafficker or member of any other flying prevention organisation...
Mandatory transponder equipage should be reasonable, affordable and proportionate. The CAA's proposals are none of these.
Last edited by BEagle; 29th Sep 2006 at 09:39.