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Old April 29th 08, 02:29 AM posted to rec.aviation.piloting,rec.aviation.soaring
Eric Greenwell
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Default Feds Want to Equipe Gliders With Transponders and Radios

WingFlaps wrote:

Only perfectly flat surfaces are more stealthy because they bounce the
radar away from the source, whereas a convex surface always bounces
some energy back (falling rapidly with distance). A concave surface
starts to act as a retroreflector. I am sure that the nicely curved
body of a high performance glass glider has a much lower radar cross
section than any aluminium GA aircraft. It's not stealth but
fiberglass is so transparent it's used for radomes.


But, gliders have been made with carbon fiber for decades now, and even
fiberglass gliders have metal parts. Do pilots in your area find ATC
(typically "approach" ATC) unable to detect ANY of your gliders?

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
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