Powerflarm's unknown effect on the first contests in US

On Jan 8, 5:59*am, "Paul Remde" wrote:
Hi Chris,

All I can say is that all the concerns you mention came and went in Europe
and Australia and New Zealand. *They all love FLARM now. *OK "all" may be a
bit strong, but a huge percentage of pilots seem to love it - so much so
that they would never fly in a contest without it.

Time will tell how it goes in the USA. *I suspect that a great majority of
pilots will love it.

I can't wait to fly with it. *After flying in the Sport Class Nationals last
summer in Parowan, I made a decision that I never wanted to fly in a contest
again until everyone in the contest (or nearly so) had FLARM or something
like it.

Paul Remde

"chris" wrote in message

...



I was wondering how the introduction of powerflarm will effect US
contests, especially Early in the year. *Usually changes are made
gradually, and introduced into in regionals a year before nationals.
Not so with powerflarm. *It is going to be allowed unrestricted for
nationals from the start.

From what I understand the first powerflarm units are supposed to
arrive in April. *I know new products don't always ship as scheduled.
[powerflarm is not as complex as a Dreamliner but still]. *Even if
they do ship on schedule there will just be a matter of weeks or days
for pilots to get them installed and get familiar with their
operation.

So some pilots may have them, other's won't especially early in the
year.
The Sports Class nationals are going to be in early May for example.
This seems like a great unknown as to how powerflarm will effect the
contest. *It seems that formal & informal team flying could give a
huge advantage to any group of 2+ pilots that choose to cooperate,
maybe for a few minutes, maybe the entire contest.

Without stealth mode won't all powerflarm users have an inherent
advantage in remote sensing of thermals and tracking other pilots
making team flying much simpler/inherent?

Seems like this will have to skew the results and tactics, almost like
having two classes [with & without powerflarm]. *At what point is it
unsportsman-like per the current rules, and who decides on what basis
when it appears that a team has formed?

There seem to be a lot of "known-unknowns" and "unknown-unknowns"
regarding the consequences and unintended consequences of the
introduction.

I am a big fan of the Zaon MXR - I've flown several seasons with it
and look forward to the powerflarm for expanding on it's
capabilities.
Just seems like we could be setting ourselves up for a whole contest
season of chaos and possible accusations of unsportsman-like tactics.

I'm done rambling now, any thoughts?
Chris

Of course, contest organizers can always specify Stealth Mode.
However, if this results in even a slightly increased risk of
collision because of hidden information on the position of nearby
gliders, they may best be advised to leave them in normal mode. (I,
for one, will prohibit stealth mode in any event for which I am
responsible).

I think the new technology will be great - not only do we have a
fantastic anti-collision device, we now have a remote thermal
detector!

Mike