Beaker
Well-Known Member
After a prolonged personal detour I am back working on CFI and am currently thinking about what to teach regarding collision avoidance and visual scanning. To me the key tools are flying by visual references in VMC, looking both ways before turning, scanning through wingtip to wingtip, using ADS-B In, flight following, and monitoring CTAF. But articles also mention that a significant number of midair collisions involve one aircraft overtaking another and recommend regularly clearing the area behind you. Sounds nice but I am wondering how that translates to real world flying. I am not sure that I have seen anyone ever actually do it, but I am working with a small sample size. To be clear, I am excluding pre-maneuver clearing turns from the discussion. I am interested in point A to point B cross countries or flying in the pattern. When and how often do you look straight back through the rear window (if so equipped), or do other special things to clear the area behind you? Or is this a case of accepted risk, where use ADS-B In and ATC to the extent possible, and trust the hypothetical non-ADS-B non-transponder guy is properly scanning ahead to avoid you?