I have been flying my RV-7A for the past 4 years and my wife has accompanied me on a half dozen cross country flights. She is a fearful flier and is a bit stressed (doesn’t show it) when we fly and has about 50 hours in the plane. Going to new places is what helps her overcome her fears.
I have had a few close calls with airplanes over the past few years. Didn’t have to make any evasive maneuvers but would have liked to have known they were coming close well in advance. Some of these encounters occurred under radar or tower coverage.
About 6 months ago I decided to upgrade my Dynon D180 system to SkyView/Mode S ES Transponder/ADS-B Receiver so that I could have ADS-B traffic/Weather and an improved moving map. I did this so that I could see the traffic in advance.
This past weekend my wife and I went on our first long cross country from Tucson, AZ to Corona, CA. To fly safe in the western deserts and mountains I always try to fly with a road beneath me if I can. This means flying between airports and on airways most of the time. We were using flight following and handed off to a half dozen centers. I expected (as in the past) that the centers would be calling out traffic to keep us out of harm’s way. Well this was not the case. About 50% of the time they never called out the traffic.
When I decided to upgrade the system I explained to my wife why and what the ADS-B system provided. This cross country flight was her first exposure to our investment. She became an expert at looking at the SkyView screen and seeing the ADS-B traffic depicted and understanding the distance from and if it was above and below our airplane. She then would be looking in the right direction and was better at spotting the traffic them me. I actually believe it made her feel safer and kept her mind active and made her part of the flight crew rather than a passenger. There were a few times where the center never called traffic and we had to descend or change course to keep a safe distance from a head on aircraft.
The whole point of building my RV was to enjoy flying, travel to new places and have great adventures with my wife. Adding a Mode S/ES transponder and an ADS-B receiver is expensive, but for me and my wife it was money well spent.
I have had a few close calls with airplanes over the past few years. Didn’t have to make any evasive maneuvers but would have liked to have known they were coming close well in advance. Some of these encounters occurred under radar or tower coverage.
About 6 months ago I decided to upgrade my Dynon D180 system to SkyView/Mode S ES Transponder/ADS-B Receiver so that I could have ADS-B traffic/Weather and an improved moving map. I did this so that I could see the traffic in advance.
This past weekend my wife and I went on our first long cross country from Tucson, AZ to Corona, CA. To fly safe in the western deserts and mountains I always try to fly with a road beneath me if I can. This means flying between airports and on airways most of the time. We were using flight following and handed off to a half dozen centers. I expected (as in the past) that the centers would be calling out traffic to keep us out of harm’s way. Well this was not the case. About 50% of the time they never called out the traffic.
When I decided to upgrade the system I explained to my wife why and what the ADS-B system provided. This cross country flight was her first exposure to our investment. She became an expert at looking at the SkyView screen and seeing the ADS-B traffic depicted and understanding the distance from and if it was above and below our airplane. She then would be looking in the right direction and was better at spotting the traffic them me. I actually believe it made her feel safer and kept her mind active and made her part of the flight crew rather than a passenger. There were a few times where the center never called traffic and we had to descend or change course to keep a safe distance from a head on aircraft.
The whole point of building my RV was to enjoy flying, travel to new places and have great adventures with my wife. Adding a Mode S/ES transponder and an ADS-B receiver is expensive, but for me and my wife it was money well spent.
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