On Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at 8:27:58 AM UTC-8, Dan Marotta wrote:
I'd like to know how not identifying a glider by call sign or climb
rate (if I understand stealth mode) degrades safety.* C'mon, people,
you sound like a bunch of evangelists.




On 12/1/2015 2:40 AM, krasw wrote:



On Tuesday, 1 December 2015 05:49:27 UTC+2, John Cochrane wrote:


The Uvalde midair resulted in a suit against organizers, and the Tonopah takeoff accident did as well.

John Cochrane BB (Signed up for Nephi, stealth off.)


What? Seriously?





--

Dan, 5J


Hey Dan,

Some context and explanation.

I can't imagine a scenario where the Flarm climb data (which is mostly hash anyway) would be helpful - but of course you never can totally predict what happens when you turn things off.

The Flarm ID (or preferably FlarmNet Contest ID which is easier and faster for pilots to remember and call) is useful in head-to-head situations - and especially head-to-head agains multiple glider "bomber formations" that happen frequently in contests where you have lift lines that concentrate traffic. It also happens ridge flying (how many times have I gone between two gliders flying ridge tasks - multiple times per day in a big contest). It's a pretty significant scenario for which there is no consistent procedure to de-conflict every variation on the theme. A radio call to something specific helps a lot: "9B will pass between 5J and XC" or "9B will pass below 5J and above XC". This is a specific and common scenario. Ask Ramy - being able to ID and call the other guy helps a lot - better than making a "roll the dice" maneuver and crossing your fingers.

No one would seriously suggest we take the flight numbers off an ATC display. "Hey everybody this is Salt Lake Center - it looks like two aircraft are about to collide on the Victor 6, ten miles east of the Ogden VOR" Yes, ATC in the national airspace typically works quite differently than Flarm in glider contests, but there is an ATC-like scenario in this case.

Normally, and with enough lead time, you can sort things out without needing to make a call - multiple converging gliders in spread formation require more lead time and an ability to coordinate in case one of the other guys does something unexpected ('cuz _I_ always do exactly what I expected me to do and _I_ never panic). ;-)

9B