IO540,
Tolerance mode on//
“Rod, with the amount of time you have spent on here in the past telling everybody how easily you can do pilot maintenance on your permit machines, why not re-make some parts out of lighter materials, shave a few kg off the empty weight, and then you could fit a transponder.”
I have a transponder thank you! I choose to spend some of my time fighting the corner of the people who cannot fit one and trying to explain this to the CAA who listens and you lot who seem to find the concept inconvenient.
Yes I advocate regulatory systems which allow aircraft to be maintained by builder pilots. I spent 1800 hours building mine so I have a reasonable knowledge of how it fits together. There is a world of difference between building and maintaining an aircraft and designing one. My aircraft was designed by two of the best light aircraft designers in Europe. I would not even consider trying to mod it to save weight. In the whole build I registered one mod, a high intensity strobe in the tail.
soay
“So, please help me by explaining how I can improve my lookout in the situations I listed, while flying at 120 kts.”
If you really want to improve your lookout go fly gliders for a few years or get an ex member of the ROC to help you. Both would help more than trying to force 1000’s of people to fit kit which cannot be fitted to their aircraft so you can rely on electronics. You may be going at 120kn in the conditions you specify, my problem is I will be going at 138kn in the opposite direction…
Islander2
I do not think SS or I are anti tec. I have a state of the art carbon composite aircraft which is very close to my ideal flying machine. You are seeing frustration because SS could not fit a mode s transponder to his machine; it is just not technically possible to do it given current tec. I have spent 100’s of hours on the Mode s campaign along with many others. The CAA started out with “everyone must fit mode s” and finished up agreeing this was not technically possible. I realize that is inconvenient, as mandatory transponders and TCAS would be very convenient for you, but it is not going to happen. I say this not from the point of view of being anti tec, but from the point of view that the majority of flying machines cannot fit the devices.
I am genuinely astounded at the lack of knowledge of the lighter end of GA exhibited by some of the postings on this thread. It is a shame we cannot all get together at some suitable airfield. A good look round SS excellent machine would soon convince you we are not making the technical issues up, as would a look at the w&b of a Eurostar or CT.
Tolerance mode off//
Rod1
