R400... It might not seem so, but I am trying to be constructive.. by "testing" the various arguments / solutions being offered. Only if the arguments are fairly watertight does the solution have any realistic prospect?
There are a core of posters here who clearly desire a mandated system - fine, but as I said above, the trouble is, they have already gone to the expense / hassle of fitting systems. Trouble is they now seem to want (to mandate) "others" to buy kit so their (and their alone) systems "work" - but I doubt they will pay for them?
How can we stop banging into each other?
There is a long standing current system called lookout
Until it is fairly provable that whatever system is being mandated is a significant enhancement to the current system (to all users), and by a sufficient margin to offset the cost arguments (cost v risk) I doubt we'll get anywhere.... apart from using the tragedies to emphasise look and listen out.
The "cost / hassle" but little benefit to the installer was a major argument used in the Mode C debate. So, IMHO, mandating Xpdrs for all, just so a small % of people with 5 figure bits of kit can see us just will not happen. The "benefit" has to accrue down to the installer, but at these sums I do not see it happening.
FLARM is at a realistic cost, but incompatible with the big boys' and ATC systems... so seems confined to maybe the gliding world?
To be absolutely crude about it... how much of a problem is it? What % of (GA) fatalities, over a few years' timescale, are due to midairs? And of those, how mnay might have been prevented by other means (look/listen out). If we were to blow all this money on something else, could it produce more effect / safety? Leave aside accidents under investigation for obvious reasons....
NoD