What % of glider pilots go into IMC?
The one I met
Most stay under clouds but this one dispelled the theory of only dipping in and out of isolated cumulus lumps.
The cloud tops were FL90 and overcast with multiple layers below and a fair amount of mountain wave.
I think it is a fair comment to state that all aircraft flying in cloud regardless of type must be transponder equipt to mode C
Gliders have certain unique characteristics
Poor Radar returns
usually white and difficult to see
inability to maintain seperation levels in cloud
tend to stay orbiting in one area ie a fairly static target rather than a fast moving one
Minimal equiptment
Surely it must be the more experienced glider pilots in the expensive high performance gliders who need to be in clouds or at higher levels and they should like the rest of us have to meet the cost of having a transponder.
We all have a responsability to each other especially now as we appear to be more alone in IMC outside CAS. It is not just GA that operate in that airspace.
Hitting another aircraft may as one poster put it be equivalent of having the odds of winning the lottery. But then someone does win the lottery and I hope its not an airline.
Pace