On Jul 27, 9:56*am, "vaughn" wrote:
wrote in message

...

Radios reliable??? * Funny, my job for today *(I work for avionics
shop)

* *It so happens that I ran a radio shop for about 20 years. *I know a bit about
radios, and I stand behind my statement.

* *It's odd that the rest of the aviation world finds radios to be plenty
reliable. *If I fly my Cezzna to the local towered airport, *Part 91 requires me
to call for clearance on my "unreliable" radio. *They will also answer using
their own "unreliable" radio, even though they have a perfectly good "reliable"
light gun.

Vaughn

I'm not sure the rest of aviation finds radio's "plenty reliable". I
think the operating phrase is "convenient when they work". Even if
your radios are in great shape, just one stuck mike can render a
common frequency unusable. A few weekends ago we were 'entertained'
by an instructors patter for over an hour due to a stuck mike making
the CTAF unusable.

One spoilers-open incident I observed, I think everyone on the
airfield with access to a radio started yelling at once and so the
glider pilot heard nothing useful. (Folks, only the tow pilot is
responsible for alerting the glider pilot to the problem - everybody
else keep your fingers off the PTT switch.)

If you want to replace the rudder waggle, then some other visual
signal has to be invented. I find it hard to imagine another as
good. Maybe a big LED sign on the tugs wings flashing "SPOILERS!".