Absolutely correct. The point that has been missed
in all this is that having a warning device fitted
breeds reliance on that warning. If you don't believe
that consult Pavlov. The problem comes when the warning
device fails because the battery is flat or the electricity
can't bridge the air gap. Can you not hear the plaintive
cry 'Well I thought it was working, the warning did
not sound' or perhaps worse, 'Spinning, I can't have
been, there was no warning buzzer' There is no substitute
for paying attention, concentration and above all airmanship.
Does anyone want to rely on a microswitch cost a few
pence to keep them alive?

At 13:00 16 March 2004, Pete Zeugma wrote:
.......Because it breeds relience on some gadget, rather
than making a simple sequence of checks as instinctive
and natural as breathing.

I got into the habit long ago of leaving my last check,
the airbrakes, to last. I call cable on, and in response
to 'brakes closed and locked' I open them and close
them, and to the resounding thud of the overlock engaging
I say '...and locked!'
Thats how I was taught at our club.

............Probably the only alarm I would fit would
be to alert you that the undercarridge lever has been
moved off detent when on the ground. There is always
some idiot who will fiddle with your glider when parked
up, but then the canopy lock solved that one.

At 12:06 16 March 2004, Uri Saovray wrote:
Pete,
Of course you are right about airmanship, etc. Same
goes for almost
any other warning system. The fact is that this has
happened too many
times, and I have seen it happening to people who's
airmanship I DO
respect.
So IMHO, the next question is: If it's cheap and simple
enough, why
not???
Uri

Pete Zeugma wrote in message news:...
At 19:12 15 March 2004, Bruce Greeff wrote:
I'm so tight in my Cirrus I can inadvertently open
the airbrakes by moving my
left arm back.

sure you're not over the max loading of it to then?
ever thought of checking it more often since you know
that you can open it so easily, or even having the
overlock adjusted a bit tighter than your fit!