On Saturday, March 1, 2014 9:01:08 AM UTC-5, Robert Dunning wrote:
She was on a tight final glide flying together with another glider with a highly experienced pilot It occurs to me that being in a tight situation with a highly experienced pilot may not be a good thing. In such a situation, "flying together" may involve a bit of mentoring, which in my experience works great at altitude. But in a "tight final" situation, I would hate to be in the mind set where I am using queues from a more experienced pilot as part of my decision making. I don't know the facts about this tragic flight, but handling a sticky situation requires 100% of a pilot's skills and focus, and in a tight situation, it seems to me a teammate, mentor or protege may be more of a liability than an asset. I know little about team flying, and less about this particular accident, but I would think that extra-conservative margins would benefit team flying especially with pilots with different levels of experience. Rob

Good point Rob.
Letting an experienced pilot lead you into situations that pilot can handle but you can't is easliy done.
UH