NigelOnDraft
Why the rules should be determined by the BGA an organisation that has its own interests at heart and not all of us puzzles me.
That would be like the PFA setting its own rules and stating that homebuilts can fly in IMC conditions which they cannot. Yet most Homebuilt aircraft are more capable of IMC flight than gliders.
The CAA should be the regulatory authority which should lay out regulations to protect us all in an even handed way.
Realistically if you are flying solid IMC and ask for radar and when asked to squak say you do not have a transponder you will get raised eyebrows.
There can be very few aircraft who fly solid IMC and are irresponsable enough to do so without a transponder.
This whole thread started because of a tragic collision between two aircraft one a complex twin and the other a light aircraft.
The question was where are the risks and how can those risks be minimised.
The above accident happened in VMC but it is likely that the complex twin commander with poor and obstructed visibility from his twin did not see the light aircraft. Couple that with the fact that he thought he was on an approach and had his head in the cockpit sorting charts and configuring the aircraft and its easy to see how such an accident could occur.
That stresses the fact that all we can do is to be extra vigilant in VMC for other aircraft.
But IMC is a different matter because the idea of keeping a good lookout becomes irrelevant and hence I personally would have regulations which stipulate a transponder for all IMC flight and basic IMC flight training for those who enter IMC conditions.
Pace