The finish line has served us well for many years, but technology (GPS)
has rendered it an obsolete system that carries with it significant
risks. I know of 5 accidents associated with the finish gate and just
came across a 6th.

01/01/86 Alamogordo Muni, NM

Pilot attempted to make a low pass / practice finish. He remembers 120
knots at 50 feet. Has vague recollection of being pushed against the
straps and objects floating in the cockpit. Then a spinning sensation
followed by dirt in the cockpit. A borrowed Ventus destroyed, his ankle
shattered and broken bone in other foot.

Why was this pilot practicing this maneuver? Because we sanction it,
its part of what we do. It's in the rules. There's a lot of monkey-see,
monkey-do, going on here. This is what the big guys do, think I'll give
it a try. A friend of mine was at 5 feet, landing at Estrella when
suddenly he was looking in the cockpit of a 2-32 coming right down the
runway. The local ride pilot was showing his "ride". what the gig guys
do.

The scoring program uses GPS data to score the finish gate, so what
we're doing is nothing more than a "show & tell" exercise. I believe
the continued use of the finish gate puts pilots and people on the
ground at an unnecessary risk. One more personal liability law suite
and we will be hard pressed to find an insurer that is willing to cover
what we are doing. That means the end of racing. Time to clean up our
act and eliminate a known hasard. The 500 foot / 1 mile cylinder has
been 100% safe, so far. Time to make it mandatory and stop living in
the past.
JJ Sinclair