At 06:40 07 August 2014, Jonathon May wrote:


As a uk pilot let me put some background to this .
It's a comp that is proud of the fact that it can put 50 or 60
sailplanes
in the
air in well under a hour.
I flew there in the similar comp about 12 years ago,and while
I completed
the
week I decided that it was outside my comfort zone and have
not been back.
I was a very early user of flarm,probably because I lost 2
friends to a mid
air.
Other than including the flarm display in my scan I don't real
look at it
unless
I get a bleep .
If I am in a gaggle I reduce my cockpit scan ,because by far
the most
important thing is monitoring the rest of the circus plus the
joining
gliders
that do not alway arrive at the bottom.,some will try and
bounce the
thermal
arriving at mid hight at speed,pulling up and going back on
track .
Dangerous you say ,that's comp pilots for you.
Flarm is great for spotting the distant glider before it becomes
a problem

,once in a gaggle it's just a distraction.


Swiss FLARM have said right from the start that see and avoid
rather than FLARM is the most important safety measure in
concentric gaggles. I support nearly everything that you say
but would like to look more at your last comment about FLARM
being *just* a distraction in gaggles:

Every alert received equals one given. You are confident of
your look out in thermal gaggles so you find receiving FLARM
alerts there a distraction. Fair enough - I don't react
specifically to each individual alert in a busy gaggle either.
But are you just as confident of other pilots' look out - the ones
that you are simultaneously giving the FLARM alerts to? The
ones that may be in your blind spot? Would you prefer that
they get FLARM alerts in gaggles as a wake up call to look out
all around or do you think that they will be so distracted by
them that their see and avoid will be compromised?

I don't think there is a definite right or wrong answer but I very
much prefer to give and receive alerts to keep us all on our toes
and also to help me to fly so as not to give alerts to others.

John Galloway