Traffic warning, aircraft following, towing gliders

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Traffic warning, aircraft following, towing gliders

Traffic warning, aircraft following, towing gliders

Author	Message
Blaufranky	B Blaufranky posted 4/15/2021 6:42:11 PM HOT Topic Details Share Topic
B Group: Forum Members Posts: 5, Visits: 4	Dear all, I am using SkyDemon with SkyEcho II, FLARM-license and iPhone as a traffic screen and I could not be happier with this setup. Works like a charm. Thank you very much. There is only one issue that I like to report for consideration: I am flying the tow-aircraft in a glider club and with SkyEcho II + FLARM I get a much better overview on where all these gliders are. But the glider behind the tow aircraft is generating multiple traffic warnings like "glider behind, following, same level". I do not want to silence these warnings, because the glider will soon be released and becomes a potential thread. Is there a work around for this issue, that I have not found so far. Or can it be considered not to warn, if a target is following constantly on "almost same distance and same level" or from ground onwards. Or more in general: an aircraft behind the own aircraft should not be a potential thread unless it gets into the half-sphere from approximately 90° ... 150° right to left or has much higher speed so that it obviously caches up. Thank you again and very best regards Frank
	Reply Like 4
efrenken	efrenken posted 4/15/2021 9:15:02 PM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 265, Visits: 3.5K	In the radar window tap on the glider you are towing and you’ll be presented a menu which gives you the opportunity to ignore all a/c or specific a/c. After the glider has been released do the same procedure to ‘un-ignore’ it. Best Eric
	Reply Like 2
Blaufranky	B Blaufranky posted 4/16/2021 6:25:38 AM Post Details Share Post
B Group: Forum Members Posts: 5, Visits: 4	Yes, ok, this method with "ignore / unignore" would work, but it is much to much head downtime in critical phases of flight. My point was: aircraft following the own aircraft on constant distance should not cause multiple warnings. These warnings bother and dilute other warnings, that are really critical.
	Reply Like 3
Tim Dawson	Tim Dawson posted 4/16/2021 9:08:02 AM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 8K, Visits: 9.1K	It would be dangerous for us to try to establish what another aircraft is doing and selectively ignore it if we think you're towing it. As Eric said, the solution is to opt to silence warnings for it. You might even be able to do this while you're still on the ground, I'm not sure.
	Reply Like 2
Blaufranky	B Blaufranky posted 4/16/2021 12:42:24 PM Post Details Share Post
B Group: Forum Members Posts: 5, Visits: 4	+x Tim Dawson - 4/16/2021 9:08:02 AM It would be dangerous for us to try to establish what another aircraft is doing and selectively ignore it if we think you're towing it. As Eric said, the solution is to opt to silence warnings for it. You might even be able to do this while you're still on the ground, I'm not sure. If my memory is correct, on the ground, there is no indicated traffic that can be "silenced" ... but I will try next time. I understand the opinion with "selective ignore" ... but seriously: warnings every 20 seconds because a known thread is following and diluting possible other warnings is dangerous either.
	Reply Like 2
Raphael_A	R Raphael_A posted 4/17/2021 3:09:01 PM Post Details Share Post
R Group: Forum Members Posts: 11, Visits: 0	When connected to Skyecho: is SD using the GPS data of Skyecho or the GPS of the iPad/iPhone?
	Reply Like 3
Sky Painter	Sky Painter posted 4/18/2021 9:58:58 AM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 626, Visits: 14K	+x Raphael_A - 4/17/2021 3:09:01 PM When connected to Skyecho: is SD using the GPS data of Skyecho or the GPS of the iPad/iPhone? When connected to SkyEcho SD uses SkyEcho as its GPS data source. Mike _________________________________________ Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 – Android 11.0 & SD 4.0.2.0 Huawei P30 – Android 11.0 & SD 4.0.2.0 PC – Windows 10 (Home Ed) Version 22H2, Build 19045.5487, SD 4.0.2.0
	Reply Like 4
Hamish Mead	Hamish Mead posted 5/9/2021 12:41:08 AM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 19, Visits: 97	Tim, I appreciate the 'selectively ignore it if we think you're towing it' approach would be dangerous. Instead, might it be possible to implement a 'selectively silenced until beyond range' approach? Here's how it might operate: SD continues to silently monitor a glider under tow for which alerts have been selectively silenced by the tug pilot, Reversion to normal alerting is automatically triggered when the glider releases, by the combined logic: - Cessation of the (silenced) alerts AND - The glider exceeding some distance from the tug beyond the length of the tow rope – such an additional test may be necessary for the logic of the first test alone to not result in a false negative; say when a glider is still under tow and performs boxing manoeuvres. (Apologies if I'm talking bollocks - my understanding of FLARM's full capabilities is limited.) If it could be made to work, it would mitigate the two safety concerns @Blaufranky raised: - The need to go 'heads-down' in order to manually un-ignore alerts following glider release, and - The distracting nature of the nuisance alerts of an otherwise known threat. As an ex-tuggy I can fully see Blaufranky's concerns.
	Reply Like 3
Tim Dawson	Tim Dawson posted 5/10/2021 9:47:48 AM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 8K, Visits: 9.1K	Yes, that could work. It would still require the tug pilot to manually silence the alerts in the first instance, though. Something like "Silence Until Parted" or similar.
	Reply Like 2
Hamish Mead	Hamish Mead posted 5/10/2021 11:25:14 AM Post Details Share Post
Group: Forum Members Posts: 19, Visits: 97	+x Tim Dawson - 5/10/2021 9:47:48 AM Yes, that could work. It would still require the tug pilot to manually silence the alerts in the first instance, though. Something like "Silence Until Parted" or similar. Sounds perfect Tim! Thinking about it, could be useful for formation flying too.
	Reply Like 5