“I know I keep coming back to this, but do the dealers who sell these clearly state that”
I have no idea and it is not really relevant to the debate. If you allowed us to junk the current rules and start from scratch we could knock up a better regulatory set of rules in a few days. When we started all this the CAA said that there would be a mobile phone size transponder, when it did not materialise we pointed out some basic ideas. Number one was allow micros with a transponder to increase the max empty weight by 5kg. The CAA group who were peddling the “transponders for all” went away and asked their opposite number in a different department, who said no way. This was one of the nails in the transponders for all coffin. It would still be good if we could win the concession, but I am unaware of any progress on this in the last 9 months. You now start to see what we are up against…
If you think it is possible to save 10kg on my aircraft basic structure give Cristoph Robin a call at Dyn Aero, he will probably reward you greatly. Just remember it is mostly carbon fibre and is much lighter than any of the opposition, which is why it performs so well.
“FLARM system”
This was pushed hard by the BGA. The formal CAA response to the 1st consultation spends some time dismissing it as unsuitable. I think you will find the document on the LAA site, but it must be on the CAA site too.
Can I suggest that if some of you would like to get involved at the sharp end of all this I know of several organizations who are desperate for help. Be prepared for a big shock, as any allusions you had that there is a big plan and somebody has thought it all through will rapidly disappear. The considerable number of people who worked on this on your behalf may not have won every battle, but we did iron out a huge number of kinks in the plan.
There is a meeting on the 15th March at LAA headquarters open to all. The CAA will be presenting the case for the second consultation and will be available to answer questions. I will be there and it would be nice to think you would all come along...
Rod1