I do laugh at the blissful ignorance of the number of no-radio aircraft out there in G.
Rolled open the hangar doors one afternoon over the Christmas break, and there was a hang glider on my doorstep. G'day I said. German hang gliding champion. He and a bunch of colleagues from other countries were warming up for championships. He'd come a long way. He'd got up to 10,000'. Some of his colleagues made it as far as my home aerodrome. They were a long way up. I was surprised to learn - and observed first-hand - that their biggest problem was getting down.
Some went further. Some not. And while we were chatting, there were numerous glider launches by the gliding club that was operating there for a couple of weeks.
All these aircraft were operating at altitudes and on tracks intersecting IFR routes. No radio. (Although I don't fly, I can read an ERC.) Gliding club at YMIA... (BTW, when I wasn't flying over YMIA on Sunday, I didn't have a couple of very respectful and helpful interactions on the Area frequency and the YMIA CTAF with an outbound RPT and inbound IFR lightie MKR was it? I'll have to look at my EFB scratchpad to see if I deleted my notes.)
I realise that you people who are used to the cocoon of the command and control paradigm feel safer if you believe these no-radio aircraft are just the "fringe", but in terms of numbers they are substantial and becoming more substantial. And then there are aircraft with the radio tuned to the wrong frequency or with the volume turned down or other finger trouble...
Best to keep a good look out.
(And you, Bloggs, have a comprehension problem as well. I didn't say "cancel" 243. In any event, the evidence from countries with real traffic densities shows it would not be "silly" to do so for G.)
Triadic: Let's say I'm cruising at 5,500' AMSL but on my track I am continuously going below and then above and then below the MULTICOM AGL 'ceiling'. What frequency do I monitor if I have a singe VHF in the system you are advocating?
Last edited by Lead Balloon; 10th Mar 2017 at 21:23.