[peterlondon]

Same exhibitors, in the same locations, very little new or inative on show.

The only busy stands seemed to be Sky Demon and Wingly, with the poor chap on the Sky Demon stand patiently explaining to an elderly gentleman that £89 was an annual subscription and that they couldn't give a rebate for the three winter months when he didn't fly and that air print is an Apple/iPad limitation and unfortunately they can't magically let him print to his old printer by connecting to a serial port.

I was hoping there might be some evidence that electronic conspicuity might be making real progress but no sign of Pilot Aware at the show (apparently it's too expensive to exhibit according to some other exhibitors) and the distributors of Flarm and Sky Echo seem to be pursuing their own paths.

I missed the seminar session on initiatives to make the UK the best country in the world for general aviation but came away thinking we might need to try harder!

[Balliol]

Not sure I saw it that way to be honest on Friday. Good presentations from CAA on EC and the range of products and capabilities on UAvionix stand was really impressive -even down to tiny little battery powered devices that even a lightweight drone can carry. Especially seeing the collision charts hotspots in some of the presentations, personally I’ve now come to the opinion that we should just stop faffing around with the discussion and hand wringing and come up with a date for mandated ADS-B carriage .

[CloudHound]

I don’t need a mandate as I’m working towards ADS-B out now. I have the appropriate transponder and GPS source (SIL-0) with an RS232 cable to join them.

I’ve got a Charge4 panel mount USB power source to fit for iPads etc., so hopefully should be good to go soon.

[Maxthelion]

When the Pilotaware guys can afford to attend a show, their stand is normally surrounded and two or three people deep all day. When Uavionix have a device that does everything a PAW does and gives ADSB-out for about £200 then I'm sure they'll have the same problem.

[Rod1]

If ADS-b is made mandatory it is likely to require at least SIL = 1.

Rod1

[Maxthelion]

What's SIL = 1?

[G-JWTP]

In very simple terms it's the quality and integrity of the ads b output/gps signal.

SIL-0 being the lowest and SIL-3 the highest.

SIL is the source integrity level.

G-JWTP.

[MichaelP]

Heard the other point of view that all this conspicuity stuff is encouraging pilots to look inside the cockpit.

How many mid air collisions occur each year?
Separate the gliders (in the same lift), from the powered aircraft. Then look at whether there is improvement with the traffic gizmos fitted, and pilots not having to spend so much time looking outside.

When I’ve operated in a busy practice area the alarm has gone off again and again, disturbing the task at hand.
Then there was the problem of pilots having their transponders on or set to alt while taxying on the ground causing a disturbance to me on final... “Traffic traffic”.

Where these things are useful is in open airspace where there’s occasional unexpected traffic.
They’re mostly a nuisance in busy airspace.

As for the show.
I agree it was a lot smaller than the last one I went to a few years ago, and so my answer to the “Are you coming again tomorrow?” question was ‘negative’.
If the entry fee was a more reasonable £10 then maybe/probably it would have been a ‘Yes’.
I did manage to achieve all the objectives of my visit, so a second journey would have been social.

[Balliol]

“How many mid air collisions occur each year?”

Too many, killing too many people of late in the UK at least.

[MichaelP]

I remember the day a Tiger Moth left here on a summer evening into the Sun, and met a Warrior just north of the M25 and not far from it’s destination.

The Warrior was returning from an IMC lesson in excellent visibility with the Sun behind.
I lost friends in both aircraft.

The collision risk in cars, and their accident rates have increased with the mobile phone, and the fitment of GPS units. There is too much distraction in the car from what is happening at 33ft/sec and even 66ft/second outside.

IMHO the best traffic awareness systems would be those that minimalise the amount of time head in cockpit.
There is already too much time head in cockpit!

In China, students were taught to play the G1000 game.
Direct to the airport, OBS the runway direction, and there’s little need to look outside.
I gave the bosses a warning about the way they were operating as my concern was for the mid air collision risk.

“Do you have the DA42 in sight?” A student was asked?
“Yes”, an Asian yes, no face loss for the controller or student, but yes is often in reality no.
The DA40 collided with the DA42, and very fortunately no one was killed when both aircraft crashed. Tough aeroplanes.
A collision avoidance system might have been effective in this situation where the student is used to looking at the screen.
But do we want all pilots to spend more time looking at the screen than looking outside?

I am very concerned about mid air collisions.
But sometimes the method of solving a problem has its own risks as well.
So we need to learn why a midair collision occured, and whether it was in part because of a distraction inside the cockpit.
You could be looking at the traffic on the display while failing to take appropriate avoiding action.

If you fly for many years you can not estimate the number of near misses you have had where neither of you saw each other... There’s a lot of luck involved too.

A motor glider and a Cessna 150 collided in a relatively remote area. All died.
Luck.
A collision avoidance system would have been an asset.

There’s a lot to consider as far as pros and cons.

[Marvin]

These were the ones electronically visible.

The audio and visual display from the V3 Buttefly unit I have mounted in the eyeline was just distracting from the noise and the constant changes in threat.

Did I see any with the Mk 1 eyeball, I leave you to judge but I landed in one piece and did consider avoiding the area all together as the picture emerged.

.......... PowerFlarm feeding a AVMAP EK V and V3 butterfly display............

[Dave Phillips]

Agreed Michael. Having the equipment is only half the story. Learning (being taught?) how to use it effectively is equally important.

I had an airprox in IMC a couple of weeks back where both of us could see each other on our TAS. So why did the other aircraft put himself in a position where I felt threatened?

[Marvin]

I visited AeroExpo on the Thu and while not packed I found it useful listening to the presentations and talking to various people on many subjects. I wasn’t there for any gadgets or a drool over any of the aircraft.

Was it worth the £20 entrance fee - only for one day just to keep abreast of what’s going on maybe.

[Straight Level]

They’re mostly a nuisance in busy airspace.

Good grief
... like car headlights are a dazzle nuisance when it gets dark

SL

[Maxthelion]

I agree with Michael, it's useful technology, but it takes discipline for it not to become your sole focus at the expense of general lookout. Once you have a way of using it worked out where it augments your lookout rather than replaces it then it's a terriffic asset.