Having taken part in the debate on flyer it is interesting to see that there is a huge difference from unit to unit which as Mike says is exactly what the system was supposed to stop. My local airport used to provide excellent traffic info on a FIS, as did most of the other units, in my experience. Now you get no traffic at all and almost all the time you do not get identified (I have mode c which is always on). Imagine the following scenarios;
You are flying along in your basic LAA/BMAA aircraft, at 1500ft, flying under CAS, with a hand held radio, no transponder and an inexperienced passenger. It is a glorious Saturday and traffic levels are very high.
Scenario one.
Our intrepid aviator calls up and asks for a “basic service”. This takes several attempts on the very busy frequency. Passenger and pilot then listen to 30 min of endless radio babble and the passenger has no idea what is going on. Bang, the engine stops, oil everyware. Pilot immediately goes through his emergency checks; he now had about 30 sec before he is too low to communicate. On the radio, Err, Golf, Err, Alfa, Alfa, Echo, err Piper Cherokee, err, (etc etc). OK, no chance of getting a mayday out, look over the side. Lots of small fields with dry stone walls. The aircraft was not identified, no emergency was ever declared, the bodies were found the next day.
Senario two.
Our intrepid aviator is keeping a listening watch on 121.5. Pilot and passenger discuss the flight in detail, passenger helps with traffic spotting, life is good. Bang the engine stops, oil everyware. Emergency checks done the pilot issues a Mayday. The emergency triangulation system identifies his position within 3 seconds of the transmission starting, the specialist controler organises the emergency services and help arrives in time.
Which would you choose?
Rod1