I flew with Power Flarm brick for the first time on Sunday. I flew with two other PF gliders.

I did not see light leaks on the external display. I found the PF alert volume to be more than adequate... down right frightening in fact. The alert volume for transponders was much lower and I think only a single beep. My Butterfly display is at the top of my panel and the red ring for transponder alerts got my attention.

Overall, I thought the PF was fun to fly with because I could more easily track the other gliders. Without exception, PF "saw" gliders long before I did and was very useful for visually finding other gliders.

I think PF will be great in situations where I can't see others. Potential collisions with head on, behind, above and below traffic will almost surely be reduced with PF.

In thermalling situations where I can see other gliders I'm less convinced of PF's utility. Eyes outside the cockpit are still the best device. I did have one alarm while thermalling and it happened as I was leaving a situation I didn't like. I got out before I thought there was a collision risk, but there was no doubt that such a risk was developing. It seems like the alert was about right were I not already monitoring the risk.

I don't know how PF will behave in a real gaggle. I think it will be really loud in the cockpit.

I'm looking forward to flying more with PF. I'm glad to have a PCAS for transponders at last. I abandoned the purchase of Zaon because PF has been coming for years. I'm glad it's here. The PCAS alerts seemed to work well for me, but it was a light traffic day.

I did find the range for picking up other gliders to be wildly variable. It was beyond 6km at times and at other times it was within 1km. I will say neither of the other gliders ever snuck up on me. I flew at least half of the flight with only one other glider and did see the range variability then.

I am frustrated with the lack of support for this product. This forum is the best, and only, source of information. The powerflarm.us site adds little if any value to the paper documentation provided with the unit.

I fly an LS4a and have a TT21.