Ten miles out he finds himself low over marginal terrain. He starts
scratching around getting lower and lower and finally picks a poor
sport to land, catches a wingtip and cartwheels in.

This person had an airport under him and for some reason he "blew it".
So what is he going to do over some wild countryside. Looks like we
now have to figure out how to disallow low "saves".

The 50' finish at the gate is a MINIMUM. The pilot chooses how low to
go. A smart pilot will find the discipline to practice until the
finish altitude/speed decision is second nature. A dumb pilot will
find many ways to hurt/kill himself no matter what restrictions we
place on the contestants.

The cylinder has some merits and so does the line. I just don't see
"safety" as one of these.

-Tom