Romney Causes Cancer

[nathanm]

Pilots?

Professional plane spotter, so the other end.

[Red Arrow]

Pilots?

All kinds of links if you google "Mode S Transponder"

Here's about the first one I found.  It's easier for you to read about it than to try and explain it here.

Be sure, it will cost more money.  Benefits will depend on how crowded the airspace is in a particular area.

[Hoss]

All kinds of links if you google "Mode S Transponder"

Here's about the first one I found.  It's easier for you to read about it than to try and explain it here.

Be sure, it will cost more money.  Benefits will depend on how crowded the airspace is in a particular area.

Yes, I know about Mode S, hence my question.  Isn't that considered passive TCAS really?  It works in the same way as TCAS but doesn't use as many interrogations?

[Red Arrow]

Professional plane spotter, so the other end.

I wish I could get paid for watching airplanes.  I do a lot of it now for free.  Judging landings (of other pilots) is frequently entertaining.  It helps to have a friend with a front row hangar at RVS.

[Hoss]

I wish I could get paid for watching airplanes.  I do a lot of it now for free.  Judging landings (of other pilots) is frequently entertaining.  It helps to have a friend with a front row hangar at RVS.

Doesn't hurt to have a friend who frequently buys blocks of hours at his local FBO for flight training/time either.  From 2002 to about 2005 I cannot tell you how many hours of right-seat time I got in a 172 with every weekend or at least every-other weekend "100 dollar hamburger" flights.

[Red Arrow]

Yes, I know about Mode S, hence my question.  Isn't that considered passive TCAS really?  It works in the same way as TCAS but doesn't use as many interrogations?

I don't think so.  I believe Mode S just provides more information about the plane being interrogated to the same interrogations as Mode A/C.  TCAS requires an interrogation device on the plane. 

There are some passive "TCAS" devices that read the replies from aircraft interrogated from a third party. 

http://www.zaon.aero/

[Hoss]

I don't think so.  I believe Mode S just provides more information about the plane being interrogated to the same interrogations as Mode A/C.  TCAS requires an interrogation device on the plane. 

There are some passive "TCAS" devices that read the replies from aircraft interrogated from a third party. 

http://www.zaon.aero/

That's what I was thinking of.  My friend thought about getting one of those when they first came out.  I asked him why...mainly because you don't need to know so much about those a/c with the TCAS modes, but more about a/c with just plain Mode A/C since they'd be a little harder to spot.

[nathanm]

I wish I could get paid for watching airplanes.

On this, we agree.  

It helps to have a friend with a front row hangar at RVS.

I bet. I'm stuck outside the fence except on the rare occasion when I'm a passenger.  

FWIW, the "new" way of doing things, ADS-B, does not require interrogations. Aircraft so equipped broadcast their position, altitude, heading, and speed once a second or so. The FAA and people with ADS-B receivers then get that information. The FAA broadcasts it back out again for other aircraft. There are apparently two different frequencies, which is why it has to be rebroadcast. Additionally, Mode A and/or C data for the area near the broadcasting aircraft are sent back out, so that the pilot with the ADS-B equipment can get a complete picture, or as complete as the controller has, anyway.

I'm not certain on the technical details, after all I just had a long conversation about it and a lot of other topics and then some light reading when I got home last night because I was interested. It seems like it would be pretty nice to have as a pilot, especially since you get a bunch of other data that the FCC broadcasts for "free." It's definitely a boon for the spotters, or at least it will be when more aircraft here in the US are equipped.

[Red Arrow]

There are apparently two different frequencies, which is why it has to be rebroadcast.

Regular Mode A/C transponders in aircraft receive interrogations on one frequency (1030 MHz) and reply on a different frequency (1090 MHz).  Ground stations are reversed, of course.

It seems like it would be pretty nice to have as a pilot, especially since you get a bunch of other data that the FCC broadcasts for "free."

Depends on what and where you are flying.  The price of avionics adds up quickly and can quickly surpass the price of the rest of the aircraft.  There are still a lot of Cubs, Champs, Taylorcraft, and more without an electrical system.  Carrying batteries for some avionics is practical but a full IFR panel in a Cub is absurd.  Busy places, even Tulsa Int'l, have equipment requirements like a regular Mode A/C transponder that aren't really needed at some place like Chandler.

It's definitely a boon for the spotters, or at least it will be when more aircraft here in the US are equipped.

You might feel a bit different about that if/when similar equipment is required in everyone's automobiles.  Hey everybody, Nathan just went to Quick Trip and then stopped by McNellies for 3 hours before going home.  Better have local law enforcement stop him for a sobriety check.  I know that recent model cars have tattle tale black boxes but I'm talking about full time reporting.

[Red Arrow]

I'm stuck outside the fence except on the rare occasion when I'm a passenger.

There is actually a nice observation area at the south end of RVS accessible to the general public.  There are a few parking spots and some picnic tables.  There is a small gazebo type stand too.  The entrance is off of 91st street, just east of Elwood.


Edit: add link to the observation area on Google maps. It's near the right side, just north of 91st.
http://goo.gl/maps/MnulT

Edit 2:
Larger view
http://goo.gl/maps/puABG

[nathanm]

You might feel a bit different about that if/when similar equipment is required in everyone's automobiles.  Hey everybody, Nathan just went to Quick Trip and then stopped by McNellies for 3 hours before going home.  Better have local law enforcement stop him for a sobriety check.  I know that recent model cars have tattle tale black boxes but I'm talking about full time reporting.

Luckily, it won't even be required for all aircraft even when the "mandate" takes effect in 2020. Only those with electrical systems operating within controlled airspace (roughly).

[Red Arrow]

Luckily, it won't even be required for all aircraft even when the "mandate" takes effect in 2020. Only those with electrical systems operating within controlled airspace (roughly).

I'll have to look at which classes of controlled airspace will require it.  There is very little uncontrolled airspace in the US.

http://www.faa.gov/library/manuals/aviation/instrument_flying_handbook/media/faa-h-8083-15a%20-%20chapter%2008.pdf

FYI, Tulsa International is Class C airspace, Riverside/Jones is Class D airspace.

[guido911]

Well well well...

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnn-fact-checks-priorities-usa-ad-blaming-mitt-romney-for-womans-death/

Those damned repubs and terrible ads...

[guido911]

This guy lost his job, lost his health insurance and lost his wife.

But you guys make fun of it.

Real classy.

See my link on this poor guy's wife dying because of Romney & Bain.

[AquaMan]

1964 was the first Presidential election that I personally remember paying attention to.  I remember the Nixon-Kennedy debates but didn't understand too much about it then.

Johnson successfully portrayed Goldwater as a war monger ready to push "the button" at any provocation.  LBJ then escalated the Viet Nam police action to the level we either remember (if we are old enough) or read about and how it practically ripped the country apart. 

It goes back farther. In the Nixon-Kennedy race it was Catholicism. I still remember vividly the chant that "the Pope will run the country". Truman was supposed to have been connected to the Kansas City mob and of course Stevenson was a closet Communist. Each of the negative, but low level, negative campaigns were related to fears the general populace held at those times.

The difference now is direct allegation vs inference or subtext. There may have been statements or policy issues back then that could be spun to infer an outcome. Thus, Goldwater's hard right anti-communist views were exploited to create a persona that was not real. The same happened to Kennedy. Johnson, not so much till 1968. 

Now they are flat out manufactured and spread on the internet with impunity. Lies are truth, wrong is right, right is wrong as long as you have enough money and your opponent cannot respond in kind.