On Saturday, December 5, 2015 at 11:56:12 PM UTC-5, wrote:
Since requesting input this morning from pilots who flew at Elmira, I've been misquoted, misinterpreted, and ignored. I feel like I'm married again. Just kidding!

13 of the 24 Elmira pilots who apparently voted in the pilots' poll favored mandatory stealth. That's 54%+ of those who tried it liked it enough to want it mandatory. If I were into playing statistical games, I might say this is a clear majority in favor!

Or how about this: 100% of the pilots responding to my "voting" request today who flew at Elmira favor mandatory stealth.

But I sense that facts aren't really important. Positions are so inflexible that data that support or can be manipulated into supporting a position are gleefully trumpeted. Less convenient data are ignored or dismissed with "yes, but I know better."

I didn't have a position until Elmira. I hadn't even flown with FLARM until then. I tried stealth and liked it. And after I flew another FLARM contest in the fall--without stealth--I confirmed that I liked stealth better, for all the reasons I've already listed.

A few other thoughts: People speak of the "GPS wars" as if it were a dark time in the land when ignorance and superstition ruled. I was quite vocal in opposing GPS when it first appeared, for several reasons.

Cost was the big one. The early Cambridge loggers cost in the neighborhood of $3,000, IIRC. I initially bought a consumer handheld unit for $200. When I finally was forced to buy an approved logger, the price was down to ONLY $1,200. That was still too much, especially for guys who had less than $20,000 in their whole rigs, but at least I'd helped delay things. That was really what I was after all along: just to slow things down.

I'm not a technophobe. My undergraduate degree was in engineering, I did some early coding on mainframes, I've been using PCs since the DOS days, I've been on the Internet since you had to know some Unix to set up a connection, and I've worked as an IT consultant for 16 years. One thing I sometimes have to gently counsel clients is that technology is never a goal; it's always a means to an end. Sometimes young pilots lose sight of that.

As for my passion for the "old ways", I admit that another reason for opposing GPS was that navigation used to be part of the game. There were certain pilots who could be relied upon to get lost at least once per contest. I'm not referring to you, 9B; you didn't have to confess. And BB, you don't have to confess if you don't want to.

Overnight with GPS, their placings shot up. I don't think it's simplistic to say they didn't get better; we just dumbed down the game. At that point, we probably didn't have any choice, though. GPS was widely available and the hue and cry from navigationally challenged pilots was getting pretty shrill.

Finally, I was offended, frankly, by all the talk of how GPS would improve safety by eliminating the "dangerous" high-speed start. In reality, I know of at least one pilot who nearly crashed watching his final glide unreel on the GPS screen until he was too low to find a decent field. And I suspect everyone else did what I did--eliminated the safety cushion I had dialed in to account for uncertainty of my position and just cut it even finer on final glides. I was also offended by all the talk about how GPS would make soaring more accessible and more fun, and how contest participation would surge as a result. Sure.

So, yeah, there are some parallels between FLARM stealth and GPS.

I should also speak to the comment about making soaring as safe as shuffleboard. I'm for safety as much as almost anyone. I've given myriad safety talks. 20+ years ago I paid a premium to get Gerhard Waibel's ASW 24 with its safety cockpit, then added canopy wire deflector bars, an ELT, an onboard water system and a pee system, and a 6-point harness to prevent submarining in a crash. I secured everything that could come loose. I've lost both my father and my best friend to glider crashes, plus other pilots I've known. I think I know my limits and I try to fly within them, recognizing that I sometimes make mistakes. I've eagerly welcomed the added security I believe FLARM provides and I don't believe stealth compromises that.

But...if soaring were 100% risk free, it wouldn't have the same appeal. I like knowing I can push as hard as I want, limited only by fear and my assessment of my skills. I especially like competition flying because it inspires me to push myself to do as well as I can against the best pilots. Playing shuffleboard with them just doesn't do it for me.

So, sorry. I don't have a death wish but I don't think we should try to take every bit of adventure out of competition soaring. BB probably knows where I'm going with this and it's unrelated to FLARM but I'll say it anyway: I like the finish gate and low passes. They're fun. Soaring is appealing in part because it isn't perfectly safe. So yeah, I understand why the sanitized version, dumbed down so anyone with radar can follow the fast guys around, wouldn't have the same appeal to everyone. If that's what you want, go play video games.

For the rest of you, let's see what pilots think after Nephi.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
U.S.A.

Below is what XG (Jerzy Szemplinski asked me to post. He has issues posting or RAS)

"I'm flying with Flarm in competition since 2008 including 4 Worlds.
Flarm stealth mode was never compulsory, it was pilot decision if he likes to share his info with others or not.

I don't see any reason to force everyone for stealth mode and penalize for wrong set up. It may distort final results as well because of stupid set up error. Why pilot has to land and give up points just because of stupid stealth mode rule, it is very unfair.

It puts extra load on the pilot before take off, in addition, for just failing to set Flarm mode there is penalty (contest could be lost because of this rules, nothing to do with performance of a pilot).
Why are we introducing another layer of rules on pilots and organizers with other set of rules?

No one won contest because of Flarm information, leaders are most of the time at the front or separate from the pack so who is complaining, at the same time we are giving part of safety for non existing problem as we have just 20 pilots flying per class in Nationals, at the same time we have other class flying and stealth mode makes it all more dangerous.

Because may be one pilot had chance to take advantage of Flarm information to dig out of the hole( good for him ,he didn't land out and damaged glider)
For me Flarm is important safety tool when someone follows me I can see him on the Flarm and I can be sure sure that I can turn not cutting in front of him, Because of stealth mode I had twice very close encounter during Worlds.

We don't have enough pilots to fly contests in America and we are trying to implement another layer of rules to discourage pilots from flying in contests.

The most devastating reason for pilot morale is when he/she loses points just because of stupid electronics set up and Stealth mode is another electronic trap.
I strongly oppose stealth mode as it should be left to pilot's decision.

Jerzy"