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  #41  
Old 10-25-2014, 10:15 PM
Paul B Paul B is offline
 
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Interesting to hear different opinions. I am sorry if using my radio on the ground offends anyone. I really appreciate hearing clear and concise position reports, including taxi information.

My personal pet peeve: pilots who mumble or speak so quickly that I can't understand what they are saying. Position reports help no one if you can't be understood.
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  #42  
Old 10-25-2014, 11:57 PM
xblueh2o xblueh2o is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mel View Post
A friend of mine who flies for a Major Airline tells me that; "Above 10,000' we have all the lights on. Below 10,000' we turn the rest of them on!"
That's what I do.
I'll even turn the wheel well lights on if there is a lot of traffic around.
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  #43  
Old 10-26-2014, 07:15 AM
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Mel Mel is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dabney View Post
Some Pilots using the now defunct Zaon traffic device might benefit from re-reading the ops manual. The Zaon DOES NOT detect or display all transponder equipped aircraft. The only a/c it detects (and not very accurately or at all in my experience) are aircraft with an operating transponder AND that are being interrogated and relying to that interrogation. It is a passive device. Since I am at home I don't have the manual with me. But tomorrow I will post the exact language verbatim. For some reason all the pilots I have talked to with Zaon did not realize this.
I junked my Zaon because it gave many false alerts, depicted traffic in wrong position etc. I decided it did more harm than good for me prompting me to scan the sky in the wrong direction.
I fear some pilots are spending to much time looking inside the cockpit at devices which is creating an increased risk of close calls or midairs.
Not quite sure why anyone wouldn't understand this feature. It's very common in all low cost units. As you say, it's in the manual and was in all the ads. They even called it a PCAS. i.e. Passive Collision Avoidance System.
I've been flying with the MRX for quite a number of years and find it to be reliable and pretty accurate. Distance is based on transponder power and therefore shows airliners, who have higher power transponders, closer than they actually are.
It's designed to be an extra alert, and not a replacement for the Mark I eyeballs.
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Last edited by Mel : 10-26-2014 at 06:51 PM.
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  #44  
Old 10-26-2014, 08:45 AM
johnny stick johnny stick is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 301
Default Hit the nail on the head

Quote:
Originally Posted by gasman View Post
One BIG safety feature is to run with your landing light on. White airplanes are not easy to see. You can't see them one mile away, head on..... and that's only seconds before contact.

It would be much safer if everyone would run landing lights full time. But as with motorcycles and then cars, that will take a while before it is built in. Till then, we need to flip the switch to make it happen.

If nothing else..... Please turn it on within 20 miles of an airport.

b.t.w. Who was it that figured white aircraft would be easy to see in the blue/white sky?
Cant understand either why white is the predominate color of airplanes. When I hear an airplane overhead and look up, I am always amazed at how hard it is to see white airplanes. Seems to me white is the worst color in a blue sky. it maybe the best for fiberglass or on airplanes where heat is a problem. I read on these forums several years back that the cub yellow was picked by the army air corp because it was the most visible. When my RV gets flying, I think it will be yellow.
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  #45  
Old 10-26-2014, 10:29 AM
bob1393 bob1393 is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Port Orchard, Wa
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Default Visible colors

I also fly RC (radio control models) and some years ago the AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) did a study on what colors were the easiest to see in the sky. The three colors that were most visible, in order, were orange, followed by yellow, then white. This was assuming a blue sky. If you have a cloudy white sky then white does become a problem. I too plan to paint my RV12 as soon as it is finished in some kind of a yellow/white paint scheme. From my experience with RC, dark colors do not show up well in the sky.

Bob
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  #46  
Old 10-26-2014, 10:45 AM
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N941WR N941WR is offline
 
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Default Regarding paint colors...

From an old Flying magazine.
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  #47  
Old 10-26-2014, 12:34 PM
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flightlogic flightlogic is offline
 
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FAA/FCC has enough discrete frequencies available to assign to small airports. We have 760 chan radios by law. They can't be bothered. Airlines are not there so no push. Frankly the Feds couldn't care any LESS about your safety at a non tower airport. Sad but true.
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