Scared of mid-airs

The events in the world have a LOT to do with luck. It is a tough thing
to accept, being taught that we are the captain of our ship, the master
of our soul. But a LOT of what happens to you is due to plain luck. If
there was ONE plane in the sky, then there could be NO MAC's. With MORE
than one plane, the chance of an MAC is now greater than zero. Such is
life...

Some might say it's madness to do a cross country from oslo to Cannes 10
days after getting the PPL, but I think that trip tought me more than I will
ever appreciate about flying. Great experience!

Good job. I encourage all pilots -- new ones and old -- to hop in the
plane and GO some place! Too danged many pilots never, ever, EVER
leave the pattern, or (at best) their neighboring $100 hamburger stop.

And then we wonder why some pilots quit flying, cuz they're "bored".
D'oh! I'd be bored, too.

Hop in the plane and fly 500 miles. Aim in whatever direction the
weather is best. Don't worry about what you'll do when you get there.
It is really, REALLY fun -- and you'll learn more about flying and
navigating while doing it.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

The zero probability event can't occur.

True. But the zero probability items are not not there. One half is
definately there, right between zero and one. The probability of
hitting it is zero.

Ok, so you caught me stretching the truth a bit. Just a bit. A wee
bit. The probability of catching me in an error is zero, but somehow
you did, thus proving my point.

Jose
--
The price of freedom is... well... freedom.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"Jose" wrote

I have decided (for now) to avoid that area until I get my instrument
rating, and can file IFR through that part....

...where you will still have to engage the Mark I eyeball.


Yeah, but the sky will not be full of VFR pilot's and it will be radar
controlled.
So I will not run the risk on flying there the odd day radar is not up for
VFR.

At least ATC will have the legal responsability to give you traffic info.
I feel it's confusing that in someparts, you get loads of traffic info,
other parts none, and nobody really tells you unless you really ask them.

I always add "request traffic information enroute" when I initially contact
ATC. That way, they will at least say "no known traffic in the area" or
something on initial contact, or "no radar cover in your area"

If I'm in A airspace flying IFR on a bright day, there's lesser chance of
hitting another light aircraft than if I'm 50 feet below A airspace with
evry other VFR plane at excactly the same altitude.

I know off course that seperation in VMC while flying IFR is also the
reponsability of the pilot, but A-class airspace has got to have more
traffic sep from ATC than G-class, I think we can agree on that.

Frode

"Jay Honeck" skrev i melding


Some might say it's madness to do a cross country from oslo to Cannes 10
days after getting the PPL, but I think that trip tought me more than I
will
ever appreciate about flying. Great experience!

Good job. I encourage all pilots -- new ones and old -- to hop in the
plane and GO some place! Too danged many pilots never, ever, EVER
leave the pattern, or (at best) their neighboring $100 hamburger stop.

And then we wonder why some pilots quit flying, cuz they're "bored".
D'oh! I'd be bored, too.

Hop in the plane and fly 500 miles. Aim in whatever direction the
weather is best. Don't worry about what you'll do when you get there.
It is really, REALLY fun -- and you'll learn more about flying and
navigating while doing it.
--


Hear hear!

Excactly what my wife and I have been doing.
On that first trip, we planned the whole thing before leaving home.

We wanted to see the Champagne district, places in Denmark, holland etc.

We saw none of the places we planned because of weather. We did see lot's of
other terrific places though!

And learned the lesson! Have an idea of where you want to end up, but be
open to change intermediate destinations because of weather.

It's more fun to fly a different course and go somewhere else than staying
for the 5th day in "no-where" because the weather 50 nm down your intended
flight is lower than your comfort range.
Off course, you'll need to buy all the maps you "might" use, as it's kind of
hard to find pilot shops with Jepp charts in Rural France, but it's worth
it!

Frode
(taking my son this year on a no-known destination thoughout Europe)

You odds of being in a head on car collision are most likely much
higher and yet you drive. Be vigilant and live.

Ron Lee

On Sat, 6 May 2006 15:28:33 +0200, "Frode Berg"
wrote in ::

I know off course that seperation in VMC while flying IFR is also the
reponsability of the pilot, but A-class airspace has got to have more
traffic sep from ATC than G-class, I think we can agree on that.

Right. In Class A airspace ATC provides separation for all.

Yes, and class A is prohibited for VFR.


Frode


"Larry Dighera" skrev i melding
...
On Sat, 6 May 2006 15:28:33 +0200, "Frode Berg"
wrote in ::

I know off course that seperation in VMC while flying IFR is also the
reponsability of the pilot, but A-class airspace has got to have more
traffic sep from ATC than G-class, I think we can agree on that.

Right. In Class A airspace ATC provides separation for all.

In a previous article, "Frode Berg" said:
Yes, and class A is prohibited for VFR.

I understand there are exceptions to that rule, especially for sailplanes
riding mountain waves.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
"Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the
usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody
thinks of complaining." -- Jef Raskin, interviewed in Doctor Dobb's Journal

Jose wrote:
The zero probability event can't occur.

True. But the zero probability items are not not there. One half is
definately there, right between zero and one. The probability of
hitting it is zero.

Your last sentence is wrong. Consider this question: for what value of N
does 1/N = 0? (Hint: "infinity" is not a number you can apply numerical
operations on and expect valid results so you can't say "infinity",
infinity is a concept whereas 1, 2, 3.14, etc. are all values you can use
for N.).

If you insist on considering infinity a number, consider the problems you
encounter - for example, what does infinity/2 evaluate to? How about
infinity/3? Or infinity/billion? Or infinity/infinity?

You are probably being confused by the statement often used in pre-calculus
that:

limit 1/N - 0 as N - infinity. The ratio 1/N is never zero, it "merely"
tends to zero for ever larger values on N.

So the probability of picking 0.5 is infinitesimally small, as Rob points
out, but not zero. It is a mathematically important distinction.