Interesting thought. I would hope that others would comment as well but for me, YES.

I do waste(?) time (a quick glance) to look at and interpret the display first before looking out. For me, the "o"clock display is easy to understand from a glance. It gives me situational awareness without alot of mental processing power required. I completely understand what you are saying. Its a worthwhile point to make. Is it worth the glance?

Remember that I am trying to spend 90% + of the time (probably more like 98%) with my eyes out scanning for traffic and watching the clues develop around me (both nearby and far away). I always have a very good idea (I hope) of what is going on around me. If I hear a beep when I didn't think any gliders were around, I know there is potentially a big problem! That is the key.

With that, imagine you are flying along, unaware that another glider is around. Suddenly you get a FLARM collision warning "beep." Without looking at the Flarm display immediately, you have absolutely no idea where that warning is located. Perhaps only 10 seconds may be left before a potential collision. The threat could be coming from behind, below or directly above. It could be "head on" or from the side (either level, up or down). The only way you have any actionable intelligence with Flarm is to immediately empower yourself with the information that the Flarm is trying to communicate to you (and the other Flarm equipped pilot) "directionally" (unless you have a synthesized voice say it to you!). If you wait 5 seconds (say you can't ID any traffic), then look in to see the Flarm display directional info, the danger of that situation is now much higher.

So, if you are suggesting simply looking ahead upon hearing the Flarm audio warning in an effort to rule out the most dangerous situation for an unknown, unseen potential collision, I'm not sure I can agree that that would be the best technique.

Another "fatal" mistake I have experienced while using Flarm is to mistakenly "assume" the traffic you know about (already see) is the traffic the warning is for. I have experienced this. An instance where I have assumed the traffic at the "x" O clock is the Flarm equipped traffic the warning was for, only to realize seconds later than another, unknown glider was the collision warning. A scary, scary adrenaline fueled moment for sure. This is the danger of having many gliders flying together and only having "some" equipped with flarm.

I treat the Flarm as a "cherry on top" of a constant, nervous traffic scan. It is a system that may point out a collision that I would otherwise have not realized was coming.

As a motorcycle rider/racer in my youth, I learned to never (ever) trust any traffic or any seemingly innocent traffic situation. I basically assumed that all other drivers are going to do the exact worst thing (at the worst possible moment). I assumed that in any blind spot (say around a blind corner at a green light intersection) is a out of control semi truck going 90 mph. With motorcycles, I ultimately learned that driving on public roads is simply not worth the risk. Then I took up soaring ;-)...

Soaring is much the same thing for me as motorcycles. Flying in large groups (around airports after launch for example) is a highly unpredictable situation. I assume that everyone is unaware and going to make the turn or maneuver that makes my situation worse. I try to never be in a position where I have to fully trust the other pilot. This takes alot of discipline. The Flarm is only there to give me extra hints, above and beyond my own extreme caution. I never assume the Flarm is going to work at all. But when it does beep loudly, I quickly add what it is trying to tell me to my information bank and confirm it quickly as it "usually" provides very valuable information.

As I understand it, Flarm (generally) first warns its pilot of potential collision 10-15 seconds out. If you wait too long to confirm what its trying to tell you directionally (and don't ID the right traffic in the meantime), its value will have fallen to near zero. Yes, I know Flarm will keep beeping more aggressively as the collision gets more likely but that second beep might be 5 seconds from the first... I say take and glance early and use that information to your advantage while you still can.

Sean


On Tuesday, November 18, 2014 3:15:16 PM UTC-5, John Galloway wrote:
Do you really waste time looking at and interpreting the display first -
before you look out ahead?

At 18:32 18 November 2014, Sean Fidler wrote:
UH,
=20
I agree, FLARM warning speech synthesis is exactly how warnings
should be
c=
ommunicated to the pilots. The idea of a display is fundementally
flawed.
=
The process of 1) hear warning, 2) glance in to the display, 3)
interpret
t=
he warning then 4) look out and 5) find the traffic and 6) avoid the
traffi=
c (if necessary) is a 3+ second process at best. A quick clear audible
war=
ning (Traffic 1 o'clock, level) might save a second or more. I'm
surprised=
speech synthesis of FLARM WARNINGS are not highlighted more
distinctly in
=
the product descriptions. I was honestly unaware of it. To be frank
and
h=
onest, I can't think of a more important function in the glider
(especially=
while flying with other a good number of other gliders and towplanes,
etc)=
than very fast and very accurate FLARM collision warnings. All the
other
=
"stuff" in our gliders are just nice to have when compared to FLARM.

But this means replacing my SN-10. Maybe I can get Dave Nadler to
add
spee=
ch synthesis FLARM warnings to the SN-10 ;-)! Just kidding Dave!

Thanks again all.

Sean

On Tuesday, November 18, 2014 9:54:31 AM UTC-5,

wrote=
:
On Tuesday, November 18, 2014 8:59:18 AM UTC-5, Sean Fidler
wrote:
I have a PowerFlarm Brick which connects to the SN10, then the
SN10
sen=
ds NMEA to the Oudie. This all works very nicely but I don't like the
way
=
the Oudie displays close in Flarm warnings (essentially it doesn't). I
sim=
ply see the Flarm targets on the map view. The Oudie does not jump
to a
Fl=
arm collision screen when a warning is announced. I prefer the
simple
warn=
ing interface of the Flarm displays (balls at the "o'clocks"). Perhaps I
h=
ave the Oudie set up incorrectly? Maybe I can get Dave Nadler to add
a
Fla=
rm warning page to the SN10 ;-)? The FlarmView works well (ball at
o'clock=
s warning view) although I would personally prefer to have a display
that
i=
s neatly and cleanly installed in the open 57mm slot. Perhaps you
have a
g=
ood point on the right placement being on the top of the panel. That
would=
also give me room for something else. It would be easy to place an L
brac=
ket on the top of the panel to mount it. Thanks.
=20
I like ClearNav's "traffic 2 o'clock high" audio output. No look down
at
=
alarm, interpret, then look. Just listen and look. You aren't looking
down
=
to figure it out just when you need to find the target.=20
I don't know how many other have this, but to me, this is the way it
shou=
ld work.
FWIW
UH