new Soaring article

Thanks John,
As expected, your soaring articles are entertaining and to quote A8,
thought provoking. I’m always a bit amused how many of us tend to
discount equipment advances as losing our soaring souls and pinning
for the romanticism of the long lost glory days, i.e. Good then Bad
now!

I originally came to this sport of sailplane soaring in late 1999
after 23 years playing in the Hang Gliding world, arguably the purest
form of human soaring. All my hang gliding XC & contest flying was
conducted without the assistance of GPS, I used a map to navigate just
like everyone else. I can honestly state that at the end of the day I
never got lost, but just as true, I didn’t always know exactly where I
was either, retrievals were often rough on everyone. These were
exciting Glory / barnstorming days to be sure but you won’t find a
single hang glider pilot today who goes XC or races in contests
wishing for the good ol days of non GPS and low tech equipment. I'd
personally today, say the same is generally true for our sport of
sailplane soaring.

I still study the maps and carry one with me (big picture visual back
up) but IMO I’m a far more well informed pilot as are my friends and
family and indeed a safer pilot due to the various electronic “gizmos”
I carry in the cockpit such as: Transponder, Spot, 302 (gps), Pcas,
PDA(s) w/ color moving maps, cell phone (shut off of course) & my
Flarm brick (as soon as it arrives in...2012, ouch!).

Not to invite rebutal, but do I recall and it’s still a faint
grumbling today how the thought of mandating a sailplane to install a
Transponder is wholly unfair, too expensive and impractical due to
battery power problems. The SSA won that ancient battle on our behalf
(thank you SSA) but can we really say that today with a straight
face…? I’m very happy, I know my family is and the 737 passengers
would feel the same way if aware, that when I see (thanks to Pcas) an
approaching- descending or climbing 300kt+ heavy make a slight
deviation in flight path because it’s seeing my 1201 squawk well in
advance. Or, If I land out or have an incident my crew or the
authorities can instantly find out using my spot tracker page
"exactly" where I am located... simply priceless!

I’m firmly in the camp that would say it was indeed glorious then but
it’s even better now, bring on the Gizmos!
Rick
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