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  #1  
Old 04-04-2014, 09:58 PM
Sonex 541 Sonex 541 is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: New Bedford Ma
Posts: 37
Question Smoke on for safety ??

Well flying a fully polished airplane can be near invisible in the sky so I hear , while flying into my local class D airport I was number 2 on final and there was a cirrus on the downwind , he was goin back and forth with the tower trying to locate me , and kept saying he couldn't see me , would it be acceptable to turn the smoke on for a few seconds to make myself visible , I was so tempted to turn it on but wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do while on final , I have had this issue before of not being seen in the traffic pattern , and has anyone else had this issue and turn the smoke on ,
Btw I had my led nav and strobes on the entire time .
Adam S
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  #2  
Old 04-05-2014, 01:29 AM
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Bob Ellis Bob Ellis is offline
 
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Location: Pembrokeshire, UK
Posts: 224
Default

Adam

I would have no hesitation giving a quick burst of mine (primary reason why I fitted it). When I approach an intensive area of activity I switch it to standby ready for such an event.
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  #3  
Old 04-05-2014, 05:58 AM
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Low Pass Low Pass is offline
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Houston
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Absolutely! Have done this dozens of times. Kind of fun at home field when Ellington calls me out to other traffic and I can lay out a couple of streams of smoke for them. I've never not been seen.
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  #4  
Old 04-05-2014, 08:24 AM
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Toobuilder Toobuilder is offline
 
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Location: Mojave
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How much smoke are you going to make with the throttle pulled back to idle (on final)?
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  #5  
Old 04-05-2014, 10:29 AM
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Snowflake Snowflake is offline
 
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Location: Victoria, BC, Canada
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You've heard of TCAS? Well, smoke is VCAS... Visual Collision Avoidance System.

If someone can't see me in the circuit, I would do anything possible to become visible. Right now, that's rolling into knife-edge and out again. When I get smoke, it'll be with smoke.

I wonder if a small circuit to pulse the smoke at regular intervals, making a dotted line, would be useful... Turn it on as you join the circuit, turn off after touchdown. It wouldn't have to use very much smoke oil, just a short pulse every 10 seconds maybe?
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1996 RV-6 "Tweety" C-FRBP (formerly N196RV)
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  #6  
Old 04-05-2014, 11:41 AM
WenEng WenEng is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 522
Default In the interest of safety....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Snowflake View Post
You've heard of TCAS? Well, smoke is VCAS... Visual Collision Avoidance System.
And this, my friends is precisely why my wife readily approved the expense for Marvin's smoke system. She's so great!!, and appreciates my concern for safe flight
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  #7  
Old 04-06-2014, 06:53 AM
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GeneL GeneL is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida
Posts: 121
Default Smoke

Don't leave your smoke on at idle on the ground it can cause a fire! Some systems even require a switch on the throttle. If you have it on while on final you could forget it.
I have used my smoke going into Oshkosh after the AV Cup Race, semi mass arrival controller couldn't figure out which flight of three we were, 2 seconds of smoke and he said "thanks".
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  #8  
Old 04-07-2014, 07:06 AM
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LettersFromFlyoverCountry LettersFromFlyoverCountry is offline
 
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Location: St. Paul, MN.
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I've thought of installing a smoke system precisely for this reason.
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  #9  
Old 04-07-2014, 07:51 AM
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DaleB DaleB is offline
 
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Location: Omaha, NE (KMLE)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LettersFromFlyoverCountry View Post
I've thought of installing a smoke system precisely for this reason.
I had never thought about installing one... but now I am. Yeah, safety, that's it. That's the ticket.
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  #10  
Old 04-07-2014, 01:07 PM
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erikpmort erikpmort is offline
 
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Location: logan, utah
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Any chance the plane behind would have any visibility issues if he flew direct in your flight path ? I'm thinking no but wanted to be courteous of others. I think it would dissipate plenty fast
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