Airborne Speed Trap Countermeasures - Revisited

[thx1138]

No markings were evident on the test area we used. However they would be very easy to see from the altitudes we tested. Timing is only way they can get you from the airplane.

[Shled]

To: switch262 and tx1138 and pilot anon, great effort!

Reminds me of the feeling while reading the best parts in The Driver by Alex Roy.

I look forward to more video, especially from the plane, to see how difficult it is to see VASCAR lines from different altitudes and distances. If I could find the same unit you used, for the same price ($80), I snap it up in a New York minute...

Thank you.

[brasstownbald]

No markings were evident on the test area we used. However they would be very easy to see from the altitudes we tested. Timing is only way they can get you from the airplane.

I "believe" aircraft (civilian) are required by the FAA to remain at least 2,500ft vertically from any populated places or roads. Would have to verify this. But if that wer the case... how effective would your unit be if they could get readings at 2500ft or higher? Police aircraft are "probably" exempted I would assume?

Also, I think they fly two up...meaning a pilot and co-pilot...the co-pilot does all the traffic enforcement stuff....including using high power binoculars to identify cars?

[thx1138]

In uncongested areas, only 500 ft altitude is required. We could have very easily and legally gotten a lot closer (FAR 91.119). We were in the middle of no-where. Even in a congested area, 1000ft minumums apply.

Having binoculars would have made things much easier, so I expect the spotter in a real encounter is using them.

[Lucky225]

Epic!!!!!! Good work thx!

[Lucky225]

Holy shnikes!!! I'm googling TPAS systems to check for good deals, I just found ProxAlert R5, which claims to be " Only portable to display squawk code, altitude and distance of three threats simultaneously."

HAHAHHAAHA threat mode!!!! it's like a belscort of TPAS!


EDIT: LOL @ XRS, it has arrows and bogeys and is the most expensive, the V1!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8aaPslDfWA

[thx1138]

I've been looking at this one....still a bit pricey, but one airplane ticket at +20 get pretty close to the cost
http://www.pilotshop.com/zaon-mrx-pc...=google-simple

[brasstownbald]

All this is dependent on the Police aircraft squawking normally.

Couldn't they simply turn off the transponder since they are often operating in rural areas?

[switch626]

I just got back from a ride through an airborne speed trap in Kendale Lakes.

This morning I got a n alert from Trapster that there was a speed trap in one of the areas I had been monitoring. A short while later, I heard a trucker announce some enforcement activity in the same area (still about 30 miles from me ib the turnpike).

I was intermittently tracking what seemed like several different aircraft as I approached the area. Probably 0.5 miles from the first white line I received my first audio warning. This continued the entire time I was doing the PSL over the lines.

After the lines, the chase cars began to appear. I easily saw 10 to 15 of them pulling people over.

I apologize for not having the cam with me. No footage today. The good news it the TPAS works like a charm

[switch626]

All this is dependent on the Police aircraft squawking normally.

Couldn't they simply turn off the transponder since they are often operating in rural areas?

Yes they could. It looks to me lake that is NOT normal. The pilot is taking some risk by turning off his transponder. Then other aircraft collision systems would not see him. Technically, they could even run this type of trap from an ultrlight aircraft that has no transponder.

The reality of today however, appears to be that they do run speed traps from type certified aircraft at low altitude with transponders on. This makes a collision avoidance approach a vialable option. In fact, after what I have seen today, it is a PROVEN option.

Can things still go wrong with this? Of course they can. But every other counter measure also can either fail or be defeated in some way. If you consider the impact of selective IO radar, RD malfunction, the driver ignoring an alert to a real trap; these are all failures in a perfectly well accepted by people who use them.

The important thing is that this will work most of the time. If there is anyone for whom the possibility of a ticket is completely unacceptable risk, I would highly recommend NOT SPEEDING. This can also fail however, if you miss the lonely, obscured road sign that was supposed to tell you that the PSL is not 20 MPH lower than you thought.

This question is as much a question of your personal risk tolerance as it is about the effectiveness of the countermeasure. Only you know the answer as to what you will be able to accept. For me, I don't want to speed on the Turnpike without a CAS anymore. I would feel just as naked as I do without my RD.