20+ members were treated to an evening where they were informed, educated and entertained by our own Neil Charles about FLARM Flight Decks and Tracklogs. This was a follow-up to a previous talk on this topic, and the interest from the members reflects the rapid growth of instruments with tracking and conspicuity capability.

Neil gave a lively and interesting presentation to clear away some of the clutter (everything seems to be called XC-something) that surrounds this subject, covering the latest hardware and software that can broadcast your location to others and receive warnings of the approach of another aircraft. We had a lively discussion around the issues of Airproxes covering some recent incidents, and the response (or lack of it) from the CAA, with a reminder that a lot of military traffic is using maps and stopwatches to navigate and can’t receive FLARM or similar signals from us. In other words, we are invisible to them if they have their heads down in the cockpit juggling map and stopwatch. Sobering thought when you’re flying in any of the RAF’s favourite low-level routes.

Thanks Neil for a great evening, this important topic will need constant re-visiting as our airspace becomes ever-busier: drone super-highways are looming over the horizon, we will need to keep a close eye on how these things will be integrated into our lives.

Here is the link to the Slide Deck

A big thanks to Barry Sayer for organising this at the Chipping Village hall on Sunday.

We had a morning and an afternoon session with Guy Richardson from Ginger Nomad who gave us all the benefit of his expertise to have a repack session.  His guidance in interpreting the sometimes unclear packing instructions and a combination of instruction and demonstration ensured that everyone was able to get their reserves ready for the new season.

Metoerro, Mereteology, Meterelegy Weather

An excellent turnout of Pilot candidates attended a presentation at the Sea View as part of our series of talks preparing members for their exam. Our own Jacob Cleverley treated us to a thoroughly-researched presentation on the complex topic of weather, or ‘met’ as real aviators call it – Jacob should know, he works with the best.

This is a demanding, complex area of theory and Jacob’s presentation cut through the dense scientific theory to make it understandable by everyone and will have given all who attended a very thorough grounding. Highlighting several of the topics, Jacob was able to give practical examples relating to local sites and his own experiences flying them. However, the old hands in the ‘naughty corner’ at the back of the room could have done without being shown what the East coast looks like from 3500’.

A big thank you from the club and especially the Pilot candidates. We look forward to reading of their successes in the near future.

Download presentation as PDF

Here is the talk given by Neil Charles for the PSC club night on the 8th November 2021.

For more details, see the Get Tracking link on Neil’s page.