On Monday, January 27, 2014 1:09:25 AM UTC-5, wrote:
I'll ask some questions this time around: Was this kids final glide decision safe or unsafe? Is successfully pulling off this kind of low finish fun or too risky? Is it a good thing for the sport of soaring or is it a bad thing? Is it good for soaring in the USA? Is it good for growing US contest participation or bad? Etc.



Sean, I think your answer lies in another question to the community. It is,



1) Are you (a current or potential contestant) willing to execute the sort of finish shown in the videos in a contest?



2) If the answer is NO, would you accept pilots executing this sort of approach on a given day in order to earn speed points, whereas you would only earn distance points for executing a safe landout?



There is a large contingent of pilots that reasonably thinks that if you make it to the airport property, you should earn your speed points. However, for other pilots who are not willing to execute a marginal final glide like that, in some ways it is unfair to them that someone can "out-crazy" them and do better in the contest.



Consider this as well, while a pilot may answer Yes to first question I presented, maybe even a majority, it is not good for the community or the sport when someone gets killed doing this, or worse yet unexpectedly kills some poor guy on the ground while attempting this sort of final glide. As a result, I think the most prudent decision would be to have a finish that leaves abundant energy for a full pattern without attempting this sort of stuff shown in the videos, as exhilarating as it may be for some pilots. Leave the dicey final glides, VNE starts, low passes after finishes, etc to Condor.



Best Regards,

Daniel Sazhin

"A child who thinks and speaks like a man," - page 1072 of dune. no disrespect on the child part, this was simply a very eloquent post.

to comment on points one and two, i don't think people should execute low energy straight-ins, but in this specific case, the guy in the video cleary had options--Assuming he HAD scouted the area, and knew he wasn't approaching wires and fences.

Regarding the "out-crazy" part: with risk comes reward. having said that, sometimes the risk taken is too great for the reward. I am not insinuating that if you want to win you should take foolish chances; merely that sometimes the pilot who takes a chance, whether it is on a cloud, a ridge, or a final glide, gets the pay-off from taking the risk. our game is about taking chances and managing risk.

regarding a finish with abundant energy:

Most competition sailplanes do just fine as far as a pattern is concerned after a well executed low pass. if you see it going poorly, you have to change your plans. we shouldn't be afraid of them. with energy and planning there is nothing unsafe about it. does that mean lower performance gliders need more altitude? of course.


under US rules VNE starts aren't really an issue. the best answer to dicey final glides is preparation. i know you're all aware of this, but: if you you fly cross country, you need to be prepared to handle adverse situations, many of which I don't believe condor can adequately prepare one for.

gliding carries with it some amount of uncertainty. that's what keeps it fun.