[VRB_20kt]

Take great care in the circuit...
BBC News - Clacton Airfield: Landing planes came within 10ft mid-air
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-46157277

Sent from my K6000 Pro using Tapatalk

[Sjoram]

I haven't been flying for 3-4 years now, for other reasons.
But I did have what felt (to me) too close for comfort an encounter on a solo navex, though I wouldn't go as far as to describe it as remotely close to an airprox.

It was avoided by situational awareness on RT as opposed to lookout. I'd heard them report approaching the same location, same height, so I descended by a few hundred feet and saw them pass right-to-left (or left-to-right...it's a while ago!) at 12 o'clock high, close range, just as ATC called the traffic to me (Class G, Basic Service with Southend). Having listened back to my recording of the RT, a very curt call of "visual" follows from me!

Lookout was something I always struggled with and felt I wasn't that good at. Having said that, I think no matter how good your lookout, there will still be some that you miss.

I'm therefore firmly in the camp of advocating more (read better) use of RT/ATC services for situational awareness. In my opinion I've got a better chance of seeing and avoiding you if I know you're there and that I need to be looking!

Bear in mind this also comes from a (former?) student that hasn't gone past the first (dual) land-away...

[TopCat]

But I did have what felt (to me) too close for comfort an encounter on a solo navex, though I wouldn't go as far as to describe it as remotely close to an airprox.

In 26 years and about 1000 hours, I've had only two really memorable encounters.

One many years ago between OCK and BIG with zero thinking time - a massive thud of adrenaline, a hard roll and pull, and several minutes of shaking afterwards. It was head to head, very close indeed, it could easily have been all over.

A few months ago I submitted my only ever airprox over a close encounter where it would have been extremely close had I not seen the other guy at half a mile horizontally and 0 feet vertically, but then had plenty of time (by which I mean a few seconds) to turn a little and then note the reg as it passed down my left hand side about 150 yards away. He didn't see me at all.

Quite a lot of of less noteworthy late sightings over the years - a couple of hundred feet vertically, a few hundred yards horizontally at worst, and very few that close.

The bottom line is, if you see it soon enough to take evasive action, it's not dangerous. So the objective is to see more of them sooner.

Don't be looking at that moving map too much of the time.

[PeterMa]

PeterMa wrote:
If you get the chance go thermalling in a glider near a gilding club....

I knew it! The damned CAA have a club for Gold- plating regs Tell us more

Like wasp they swarm around together ... or even go thermalling in a glider with a gliding club - or if you wanted gild it - a motor glider .... but dont take lillys - that would be gilding the lilly ...

[GolfHotel]

.......

Don't be looking at that moving map too much of the time.

Obviously should you hit something it will make naff all difference if you were looking at a moving map to check your position or searching for your location on an old paper map. (obviously that takes far longer at times as well as being less accurate, but people don't seem to feel the need to point that out in the same way for some reason. )

[TopCat]

.......

Don't be looking at that moving map too much of the time.

Obviously should you hit something it will make naff all difference if you were looking at a moving map to check your position or searching for your location on an old paper map.

True!

(obviously that takes far longer at times as well as being less accurate, but people don't seem to feel the need to point that out in the same way for some reason.

This is a good point too - I agree, if you need specific information, it'll be available more quickly from the device than from the paper map - and god forbid it needs unfolding (or even worse, refolding) mid flight.

There's a subtler aspect of this, I suspect, though. Mobile devices have a tendency to suck you in, to the exclusion of the surroundings, and this seems particularly true of people young enough to have grown up with mobile phones. I doubt there's enough data on pilots' interaction with Sky Demon yet, but I will speculate that this extends to a tablet.

Here's a specific example that I've noticed over the year I've been using Sky Demon:

Suppose I need a frequency enroute... it's one tap on the ball at top left, then tap Pilot Log, then scroll down, the find the frequency from the list given.

Alternatively, it's a long tap on the airfield in question, which might require scrolling or rescaling the map first. Both of these are precise operations which need you to look down, and if the aircraft is bouncing around in turbulence this can take longer than you might think.

Now I'm pretty dexterous, but I've noticed that the seconds these take looking down - rather than out - make me feel uncomfortable, and I've returned to my old practice of writing out the frequencies I'll need on the smallish bit of paper clipped to my kneeboard. It's then much quicker then using either the paper map, or the tablet.

This is just one example, and I'm not knocking the tech - I think it's brilliant - but I do think that it's worth thinking carefully about what we do in the cockpit. It's not the same as before.

[mick w]

If you click on the Radio Tab , bottom right , all the relevant Frequencies pop up .

[GolfHotel]

You do have to remember that lookout is essential.
A lot of information is available. Your position, the airspace ahead, the profile of airspace, and radio frequency’s. The quicker and more clearly presented the better.

Although it is likely that you will be given the next frequency half the time.