Oh Bruno. Really?

First, last I checked, Nephi is not the center of the gliding universe.

I'm calling attention to ALL other US contests and specifically citing my experiences from the 15/Open/Standard Class Nationals (a week ago) in Cordele which was my first experience with rampant (50%) use of Stealth Mode and/or total dis-installation of the PowerFlarm device from competitors gliders (in several cases).

I continue to commend the Nephi club for requiring Flarm but the trend here in the USA is to kill PowerFlarm via the entirely false narrative that the technology is being used only for competition leaching despite zero proof or evidence. There have also been two SSA votes regarding Stealth Mode proposals which were shot down harshly by the US pilots. Ultimately, the anti-flarm "flat-earthers" have gone forward with Stealth Mode despite those SSA votes and despite clear warnings within PowerFlarms own product documentation recommending that owners DO NOT to use Stealth mode EVER. The US leaders are succeeding at killing Flarm despite hundreds of US pilots who made significant personal investments for community safety. Safety is still highly relevant and very important, per your boast that Nephi makes Flarm Mandatory (along with all of Europe) yet the US is doing the exact opposite…

I found the result of this policy to be eye openly dangerous on two occasions in Cordele. It was clear to me that the typical warnings had failed or happened to late for me to react to gliders I know were in Stealth Mode. I believe that this status is a big problem.

Please take a deep breath Bruno. Relax and have fun. Enjoy your video. But truth and honesty also matters. If you travel outside of Nephi, keep your head on swivel as PowerFlarm has quitely become all but useless in terms of safety in most (all) US contests moving forward, Few care. Sadly, one tragedy and this conversation will take on a very different meaning.

Meanwhile, Europe is in a different realm and has amazing continental wide sailplane tracking to boot.


On Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 10:40:47 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 8:07:11 AM UTC-6, Sean Fidler wrote:
Fantastic! Thanks for taking the time to share this video. As a US pilot, it is inspirational to see all the soaring that occurs in Europe each day and the phenomenal tracking resolution you have created. I wish we had this kind of vision and technology adoption over here.

Unfortunately, here in the USA, PowerFlarm has been (essentially) branded as meaningless for safety and some of our leaders openly argue that PowerFlarm is utilized primarily as a long range competition leeching tool. This is not supported by any facts or evidence yet they really, really want to burn the witch!

MONTY PYTHON - BURN THE WITCH - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMhU_4m-g

PowerFlarm is not mandatory (even in competition) in the US and therefore PowerFlarm has become almost useless as a safety device at our competitions (and at our popular soaring locals). By design I believe, it is rapidly dying. Several have actually uninstalled and sold their PowerFlarms. They are only $50 to rent…and our rental program is probably close to failing (if not failed already) due to the non-mandatory rule.

Oh, l almost forgot. Despite an actual US "vote" on PowerFlarm Stealth Mode being shot down (badly) twice, our leaders continue to openly encourage/allow/even promote Stealth Mode (even at our National competitions) even though the manufacturer strongly recommends against this in the product manuals (legal in our US Rules to run Stealth).

I would estimate that 50% of the PowerFlarms (maybe 60-70% adoption of the total number of competitors) most recent US Nationals were using Stealth Mode.

I think this is a very sad situation and that the Monty Python skit aptly describes the logic being used.

$50 is just not a financial obstacle for a pilot attending a national level contest.

#theworldisnotflat

Sean - please sit down, shut up, and let us enjoy this person's post and video without having to hear your lectures.

PowerFlarm was mandatory (NOT in stealth mode by the way) at the 3 US Nationals held last year in Nephi. You attended, and you know that was the case but you state publicly the opposite here. Is that dishonesty or selective memory? Please go troll some sailing forums.

Bruno - B4