In the case of some of the East Coast stuff it's simply much more economical (and environmentally friendly ) to go Newcastle direct Aberdeen rather than going...TILNI TALLA PERTH ADN. It's going to happen more and they do pay to have the required equipment fitted.
You will be pleased to know that there are very few gliders on that over water route, and the one that is sometimes 20nm off shore in that region does have a transponder.
Now the military have transponders and radar and last time I looked at airprox reports they were still getting close to you
environmentally friendly risk takers on the east coast, so how will gliders fitting transponders lessen that risk? Gliders are not in that mix but very fast military types most certainly are and it can be quite difficult to keep out of their way with or without transponders and ACAS. There is a good reason why P18 is not H24 and is nothing to do with gliding.
ComJam, if you read the airprox reports on that route you might reconsider your choice. Like many others you seem to ignore real risk when it suites you and blow up perceived risk beyond all reasonable proportions. Do you really think you could reliably out manoeuvre a military jet if you were to encounter one and is that what you should really be doing in this super safe modern world ?
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