Gee - I'm sorry that I'm not a responsible individual according to your
definition.Â* When you couch your arguments with negative adjectives to
describe people who don't agree with you, you lose all credibility.

On 10/3/2018 12:16 PM, Magnetar wrote:
Just to be clear, the FFVV (now FFVP) never mandated anything. It is asked for any pilot to be responsible and use Flarm to be visible to other pilots when flying the Alps. It is therefore common practice to use this tool and nobody in a sane condition would fly there without it. Like having anti-collision decals on your glider to be more visible against a snow cap for instance. You won't be fined if you don't have it, you would just be a complete jerk.

When you are flying the Parcours with probably several dozens of gliders in the vicinity, it is a VERY useful tool to avoid crashing into one another and look for potential collision hazards in the right direction. It would require superhuman capabilities to do this without this tool.
Now, it doesn't stop people from being complete a-holes and charge against other gliders just to get in a thermal or avoid deviating from their 'best energy' routes. Not everybody is a gentleman.

Flying is a privilege that should be preserved, the safer it gets, the more enjoyable it will be. Cameras, Flarms, ADS-B, etc... it's up to every pilot to be responsible in which tool they use to make themselves (and thus the others) safe.

--
Dan, 5J