To a hammer, every problem is a nail …
Jack, you seem to have quite a bit of experience. Haven’t you been to busy aerodromes at and in the vicinity of which the carriage of VHF is not compulsory, and there are ultralights buzzing around, parachutists dropping in, a tourist charter operator flogging in and out the occasional RFDS aircraft passing through? Continuous ‘AIRPROX’ is SOP, yet the sky hasn’t fallen in.
During those tedious AFRs the ATOs tend to emphasise the fact that pilots must keep a lookout, because although alerted see and avoid is much more effective than un-alerted see and avoid, there are lots of people flying around, perfectly legally, without radio, and they have been for decades.
If you want VHF carriage and use mandated for any aircraft operating anywhere in the ‘J’ curve, go your hardest. But it would have to be all or nothing: gliders; ultralights; balloons; anything in the air with a human on board. No ‘favours’ for sectional interests.
And can we get one fact clear: Were these terribly irresponsible pilots operating in an area in which the carriage and use of VHF is
compulsory? Yes or no.
Not your opinion on whether it’s a good or bad idea; just a yes or no.
