ADS-B after the effective date
Posted: Tue Jun 02, 2020 12:58 am
I see lots of folks continuing to get ADS-B installed in their planes. There are various reasons they didn't get it done earlier, but I'm glad to see it continuing.
From the traffic standpoint I hear the naysayers with the 'see and avoid" mantra (which ADS-B augments, does not supplant). I recently did some measuring of visibility out of a DA40. Most will agree this plane is way above average in its outside visibility. Nevertheless there are still limitations. I had a near-miss years back because of these limitations. But from my measurements I conclude that from the pilot seat, assuming one is flying alone, only about 12% of the sky can be readily seen from this position. This does not consider human vision limitations and the fact you really don't look out the windows 100% of the time.
Other aircraft are much worse. For example there's this guy, flying around Puget Sound even today:
From the traffic standpoint I hear the naysayers with the 'see and avoid" mantra (which ADS-B augments, does not supplant). I recently did some measuring of visibility out of a DA40. Most will agree this plane is way above average in its outside visibility. Nevertheless there are still limitations. I had a near-miss years back because of these limitations. But from my measurements I conclude that from the pilot seat, assuming one is flying alone, only about 12% of the sky can be readily seen from this position. This does not consider human vision limitations and the fact you really don't look out the windows 100% of the time.
Other aircraft are much worse. For example there's this guy, flying around Puget Sound even today: