P.J. O’Rourke once said that “The interesting thing about staring down a gun barrel is how small the hole is where the bullet comes out, yet what a big difference it would make in your social schedule”. So, the little plane icon on my moving map indicating an aircraft behind me coming up fast on the same level presented no threat on the little screen. Since I had the ADS-B IN and OUT fitted last year, courtesy of the government’s subsidy, I now have many more little icons floating about on the display to watch and enjoy. ADS-B stands for Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast. It’s a good thing. Given that I was north of Mildura, heading from Broken Hill, chances were good we were headed for the same place. That meant we might find ourselves in the same bit of airspace. The ADS-B gave their callsign, so I decided to call them up on the radio and see what their intentions were. The fact that I could see them meant they had installed ADS-B, I just wasn’t sure that they spent the extra for ADS-B in. Turned out they were sitting watching me while I sat watching them on the ADS-B. Kinda voyeuristic really. We arrived at a gentleman’s agreement that they would stay right, and I would stay left of the direct track. A little while later they passed me a couple of miles to my right within a thousand feet of my height. I looked and never saw them. It was a bright clear day. I could see the little icon on my screen but couldn’t see the aircraft – which turned out to be a largish Cessna twin when I arrived at Broken Hill. It made me wonder how many aircraft had gotten close to me over the years and I’ve never spotted them. I once had a Cessna 210 climb up right in front of me through broken cloud. I’ve had an RV8 climbing headon that I had to duck below as I came into Ballarat. They didn’t see me. But how many have I never seen? We always said that you need to keep your eyes out of the cockpit and scanning, but with ADS-B it might be the other way round – that is, when everyone has it. You can visit casa.gov.au and search “ADS-B” to apply for your rebate.
Stay safe out there and don’t forget to complete the survey about the future of SportPilot magazine – it’s your magazine so make sure you have your say while you still can.
