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Old November 18th 10, 12:20 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Paul Remde
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Posts: 1,691
Default Flarm in 2011 USA Contests

Hi Don,

I agree.

Paul Remde

"Don Johnstone" wrote in message
...
At 01:05 18 November 2010, PCool wrote:

"Don Johnstone" ha scritto nel messaggio
...
At 03:18 17 November 2010, Paul Remde wrote:
Well done.

The first is that the use of STEALTH mode degrades the performance of

an
instrument which is designed to enhance flight safety. While it is

fine
for an individual pilot to make a decision to do that I am extremely
uncomfortable with requiring someone to degrade a unit and therefore
safety. I am pretty sure that even a British court would take a very

dim
view of that were there to be an accident. Whether a court would find

me
personally liable I have no way of knowing and given the only way of
finding out I prefer to remain ignorant.


No, FLARM units are always transmitting correct position each other. Only


the PDA output is degraded.
But if you are close each other, output is no more degraded concerning
nearby traffic. It is well thought.


See http://www.flarm.com/support/Flarm_Competitions.pdf

The warnings you may receive, and the data transmitted giving others
warning are degraded, maybe not by much but they are degraded. The
document above talks about 2 seconds. Would a jury understand this? The
documentation accepts that the warnings that might be transmitted and
received are degraded with some information unavailable. While we as
glider pilots might understand that the effect is small a non glider
pilot, especially a lawyer, might argue that any degredation is
unacceptable. While individual pilots might make the decision by
themselves, mandating a requirement puts the responsibility on the
organisation/directors of competitions. Having a unit designed as a safety
aid and then deliberately restricting it is any way is not likely to win
favour in legal circles. Who is going to get sued if it all goes wrong?