Home › Forums › Pilot Reports › solo Friday 24th
- This topic has 17 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 1 month, 1 week ago by
Bille Floyd.
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April 25, 2026 at 12:00 PM #23764
Prefrontal and windy said the forecast. Plots said good low level convergence from surface to mid 5s.
Threw the green lammie on the truck. Not too windy, say 15 sustained. Launch into ridge lift and thermal to mid 6s and definite texture. Headed east and shadow bombed the lumberyard guys and putted down to santas where it wasnt happening. Backtracked and noticed clouds forming back at launch so headed back to scoop up some of that. Hit a ripper by the high school to 7k, The temps are percolating through the weak 6k inversion. The better clouds over at pine based at 73 or so. Wisped through a couple and saw some over the afterbay and over the landing area. Headed towards small wisps over little mtn after whiting through a couple on the way. Was going to tag the 215 / 210 but instead floated around behind the golf course wondering where the smell of grass fire was coming from while theres no smoke to be seen. I hear an odd wind noise like a expresso froth mixed with a pressure washer wand. Glanced right to see if theres something up with the glider and I spot directly below me SWA 1706, a 737. Im at 6400 or so pointing SSW straight above the stab. I say to myself, that answers that. Hmm, wonder if he even saw me. Headed back to AJX took another vault to base now at 8k and seek some sink to core in order to catch my ride back to the truck.
ADSB exchange shows the jet at 12k at the top of cajon pass, 6k passing under me. zero lateral deviance from my position. He cut the corner before HITOP to get in 4 minutes ahead of the next landing at ONT, got low enough to get on final parallel the I-10 and maintain landing separation. At his approach angle, my glider is invisible against the terrain backdrop. 34ft wide 2ft tall, gray witha gray blob suspended below. He’s at 280 mph vs my 20. Invisible.
April 28, 2026 at 8:27 AM #23773
Tom Swanson General MemberGreat report, Dan. Thanks for sharing.
April 29, 2026 at 1:34 PM #23776
Lyle Anderson Premium MemberThe co-pilot turns to the captain. “Captain, the map says this area has Hang gliders in the area..” captain replies. “What hang gliders…”
April 30, 2026 at 6:41 AM #23777Heard the sound about 5 seconds before the thing passed below. Facing south, into the wind, there was zero chance of making any evasive maneuver to get out of the way due to the fact that you cant avoid if you dont see. I had been looking very often to the north looking for them. It is a difficult task when in constant motion and restricted by the harness. We spend more time heading southerly, into the wind due to our slow flying speed. Airline traffic approached from the north. I had not considered this particular area and altitude as the flight path to ONT. Wrong again. The wingspan of the 737 is just short of 120 feet. Even with as little as 15 seconds of advance notice, it’s possible to to get out of its path. The ADS-B system is implemented but there doesnt seem to be a receiving unit fit for our use. Maybe there is a battery powered gadget.
Real time data location data streams into tracking sites in seconds. Seems like there should be an easy path to use this and transmit a heads up. That or gather the data direct and filter out all but relevant paths. Might be worth enlisting AI coding and a low power 2m alarm of sorts. I know, another idea man. Dick Heckman, an old guard USHGA FAA liaison man, who passed on back in March, brought up the topic during his decades long tenure and got me on the subject as a matter of concern after a close encounter occurred in San Diego airspace.
This was as close as Ive come to being a a splat. I no like.
April 30, 2026 at 10:25 AM #23781
Jonathan Dietch Premium MemberBuy a Stratux ADSB-in or buy the kit and assemble it then run it with the Avare app.
April 30, 2026 at 1:36 PM #23783Jonathan, do you fly with the Stratux?
Flightradar24 has instructions for a kit https://www.flightradar24.com/build-your-own
It looks like we can also broadcast since we can get around the requirement to have a registration number by using anonymous mode.
April 30, 2026 at 4:35 PM #23785Jonathan Dietch Premium MemberThank you for joining the conversation Nate. No, I don’t fly with any adsb device. I fly with an open helmet which helps me hear powered aircraft. 10 years ago I did own an adsb receiver that worked with an app on a cell phone but never took it into the air. I like to keep things fairly simple when I fly. I sold it cheap to Joe G. and never heard any more about it.
I was not aware that there is an anonymous mode for adsb out. That’s excellent news for us and for all powered air traffic. I do not write about all the close encounters I have and all the follow-up calls and emails that I do with the pilots or others involved but I have found it extremely beneficial for everyone to use the adsb exchange to look up registration numbers and then have a polite conversation with whoever is involved with the other aircraft.
If people want to get together to pool funds to have you or somebody build and test a sample adsb transponder device I will be happy to contribute to that. I think it would be a very worthy cause as our club is probably the most heavily traveled with commercial aircraft of any in the United States.
April 30, 2026 at 6:09 PM #23786
David Webb General MemberHere’s another one (small unit – last I checked it was receive only, but that should be adequate for early warning):
https://flywithsentry.com/mini
I believe there are a few instrument apps that provide integration with it as well.
April 30, 2026 at 7:21 PM #23788
John Benario General MemberI posted this some years back.
Or simply don’t fly there. The flight path from Hitop to Nitiy goes about 200 yards NW of launch. Lowest allowable 8100 ft, unless VFR and maintaining own terrain clearance, then lower… but by how much, depends when the gear is dropped to come down to beat UPS…
April 30, 2026 at 8:35 PM #23790Dan (and John), thanks for making us all aware that there could be fast traffic much lower than expected in that area.
You did mention flying through wisp and getting whited out. We still have to stay 500′ below clouds in Class E airspace, it may not make much of a difference with an airliner but it could with GA aircraft. We should at least be expecting small planes and helicopters in that area.
April 30, 2026 at 9:04 PM #23791So it seems there are a few options for ADS-B IN, either buy it or make it. But no real option for OUT that we can carry, or that anyone would be willing to spend the money on. I saw units for $1-3k that need installed. The SkyEcho 2 is an “Electronic Conspicuity – Portable ADS-B IN & OUT + FLARM” device approved in other countries that could soon be usable here.
There are some apps that can use an ADS-B in device that will give an audio alert (the better ones seem to be on iOS, but the better glide computers are on android baaah). The apps with audio alerts all need to be bought or have a subscription, and are generally overkill for us. I doubt most pilots would bother.
The idea of a ground station that reads data and then automatically announces approx location, speed, alt and heading of an aircraft entering the area over 2m radio isn’t impossible, but it would need a repeater to reach the pilots who would need to hear it if it was based in the LZ.
With Amazon trying to change the laws to make manned aircraft avoid their delivery drones unless they are broadcasting ADS-B, we may need a solution to be seen in the near future.
May 2, 2026 at 9:48 AM #23813Ya Nate. Cloud clearance on the H2 test. Unsure how the complainant misunderstood the conversation. Some Karens never quit carin’. I was, and am far more concerned by the aluminum enema. I had thought unpowered 103 vehicles werent allowed to use ADSB-out. AI says I’m misinformed. Looks like we need to resurrect Dick Heckman to petition for a HG class code to broadcast. Maybe the RRRG gave the big thumbs down on looking in to this as it may impart some nebulous form of potential liability. Have to ask the RRRG girl on the board. Speaking of nebulous, its hard to resist the call to embrace the tentacles of heaven. Some do, some dont, some wont, some cant.
May 2, 2026 at 12:36 PM #23814This video was informative about the ADS-B in/out :
Bille
May 2, 2026 at 1:48 PM #23815Alan Crouse
Premium MemberTL;DR
Ping2020i $2,200 plus battery for ADSB-out.
May 3, 2026 at 5:50 PM #23824Jonathan Dietch Premium MemberWhy are portable ADS-B devices not allowed?
https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/technology/equipadsb/resources/faq/#q21Portable ADS-B Out systems, also known as “suitcase” units, should not be operated (transmitting) aboard any aircraft, with the exception of TSO-C199 devices. While marketing associated with these units may imply approval for use by way of an FCC license, the FAA prohibits their use for the following reasons:
The positioning of portable, suction-cup GPS antennas associated with these units often require they be affixed to front or side windows or glare shield to obtain a usable signal. This type of antenna placement may obstruct the pilot’s view. Connecting wiring may also interfere with aircraft controls and instruments.
ADS-B Out avionics require a valid ICAO aircraft address to be transmitted to operate properly with ATC automation and other ADS-B aircraft. ICAO aircraft addresses, also known as the Mode S aircraft addresses, are assigned to an aircraft during registration and programmed into transponders and ADS-B Out avionics. ICAO aircraft addresses remain static until a change in aircraft registration or identification (N-number) occurs. Portable units require users to input the ICAO aircraft address assigned to each aircraft flown. A high number of ICAO aircraft address entry errors have occurred with this procedure, which prevent proper target correlation within ATC automation systems (target drops/traffic conflict alerts) and may impede proper functioning of airborne collision avoidance systems. These errors have resulted in increased workload and unnecessary distractions for pilots and controllers.
The positioning of an ADS-B antenna is also vital in the quality of the signal that is transmitted, and if capable, received by the ADS-B device. There have been a number of aircraft that have been identified using portable ADS-B devices with degraded performance due solely to poor antenna location. -
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