Marc Ramsey wrote:
Bruce wrote:

Here a top pilot has effectively told us how he got into a very
dangerous situation - partly because of a rule designed to ensure his
safety. We should learn from it. Bottom line is to keep the pint of
blue muck between your ears on-line. I try to continuously evaluate my
decisions to see if they are deteriorating. If so - why am I getting
tired or dehydrated, or not concentrating. I don't fly contests but I
can see how a hard race could get you into a bad decision making mode
- irrespecive of the rules to protect you.


No, this isn't really an argument about rules or safety, it is an
argument about philosophy and ego. I agree fully with Casey and
everyone else that you can't "legislate good judgment". What we have
here, however, is the last vestiges of procedures that made some sense
when there was actual gate crews sitting on the ground and timing the
gliders as they finish. Well, we've been doing GPS finishes for several
years, yet some folks still need the rush of making that final red line
dive through the finish gate, despite the fact that it serves no
function that I can see other than stroking some egos. It's sort of
like when I was a kid, and thought it was cool to drive my Alfa at 120
MPH on empty highways in the middle of the night. It was a rush, but it
was also a pointless, stupid thing to do, even if I never managed to
kill myself or anyone else.

I've flown in enough contests to know that those few minutes after the
finish are when I'm going to be the least attentive to what is going on
around me, and I suspect there are quite a few other pilots in the same
state. Throw in a little dehydration, plus some bad luck, and the scene
ain't going to be pretty. I, for one, would rather blunder around for
the last few minutes of the flight at 60 knots and 500 feet, than 120
knots and 100 feet...

Marc


Hi Marc

No disagreement - just the observation that rules are not going to stop you, or
me or anyone else occasionally doing something stupid. Humans do that - we find
all sorts of reasons after the fact, but the fact remains.