Originally Posted by PH-UKU
but as far as I see it ... if you fit transponders to ALL flying machines you will probably over clutter many of the other radar screens around the country .. for what ? If everyone that decides to get airborne then decides to call ATC for a service .. do you really think the system could cope ?
You need to decouple transponder equipage and ATSOCAS in your mind: They're not linked, never were linked, and are unlikely to ever be linked.
The benefit of Mode C or S OCAS is not just from an ATC perspective, but from a TCAS perspective as well.
The benefit of Mode S over C is selective interrogation, more data,
less clutter.
Old people on here like to bleat on about class G airspace grabbing, "chav air" lo-co class G 'abuse' etc., etc., but people from my generation and younger realise that air traffic density has increased since 1945 so the technology to maintain separation needs to keep up with that growth and not be stymied by 1940's see-and-avoid advocates.
CAT in class G is here to stay*, higher traffic density is here to stay, VLJs will be here next.
* Not quite true, as by 2010 it'll be "U" and not "G"
