IDAHO FATALITY

On 8/22/2011 6:49 PM, Ramy wrote:
On Aug 22, 5:33 pm, Greg wrote:
On 8/22/2011 5:18 PM, BobW wrote:

Here's a non-rhetorical question for everyone to ponder.

Since there remains in the soaring world exactly zero functional need to
ever do a low-altitude high speed pass, and, to do so is to
intentionally take a completely avoidable risk, why ever do one?

Of course, there also is zero functional need to fly sailplanes -- those
who do it "take a completely avoidable risk." So, in the interests of
safely, should we terminate that activity?

I think pilots do low passes for the same reason they fly sailplanes --
it is fun. It all is a weighing process -- does the fun outweigh the risks?


Snip...

Greg,

I agree 100% with you there's also zero functional need to fly sailplanes,
so...fair question, "Why do it?" And I submit the question deserves a
reasonably soul-searching answer from each and every individual opting to
pursue this grand and soul-enriching sport...

However, would you not agree there's at least one huge, fundamental difference
between committing soaring and performing a low-altitude zoomie, i.e. that the
former *requires* (government-overseen) instruction before you can put
yourself or anyone else at risk, and the latter does not?

Stated another way, any soloed glider pilot can opt to self-teach zoomies,
whereas no amount of self-taught glider flying skill will get you a glider
license.

So once again I'd ask, why intentionally perform a thin-margin, zero
functional utility maneuver, whose (only) Plan B is itself, by the combination
of aerodynamics and physics, a thinnish-margin option? At least (to take one
more or less self-taught, thin-margin, common, accepted soaring activity as an
example) in ridge flying, Plan B (the turn away from the ridge) rapidly (or at
least within Joe Pilot's control, anyway) increases one's margins, if he gets
a chance to perform it. Every way I look at a zoomie, I see thin margins, high
risk, and some form of 'showing off' self-gratification. I'll delete the
'showing off' if you do your zoomies only immediately prior to your off-field
landings, of course.

I was going to say the same thing about aerobatics as well. Why do
loops and rolls and spins? Because it is fun! Contests are not the
only reason people do low passes. Just make sure you know what you are
doing and ask yourself if it worth the risk. Perhaps this discussion
will remind some people what the are the risks and next time when they
will consider a low pass they may decide that the fun does not
outweight the risk. This works for me.

Ramy,

Again, I agree. However...

Who teaches themselves low-altitude, thin margin, aerobatics in gliders?

Where's the self-taught syllabus for performing zoomies?

Why not limit ourselves to above-pattern zoomies if they're so much fun?

What is it about being near the ground that makes zoomies more fun down there
than aloft?

Why not do them before all your off-field landings if 'ground-nearness' is a
crucial element? (Heck, *there* Joe Pilot can even rationalize he gets a
better look at the landing surface beforehand.)

Do you recommend self-taught glider aerobatics even well clear of the ground?
(If you do, I'll bet you great gobs of my own money that if you told some
newbie-to-aero to "Go for it," you'd also throw out lots of caveats, ship
limitations, etc., etc., etc.)
- - - - - -

Given we DO choose to self-gratify through soaring, I submit there are certain
'generally accepted' activities 'the group as a whole' decides are generally
better off not done. These undoubtedly change over time. For one example, in
the 1930's teaching soaring via solo-only primary trainers was the norm in the
U.S. Where is that the norm today? Why isn't it? What is it about zoomies that
should make them sacrosanct against similar safety concerns?

Yeah, I admit that last question has more than a whiff of rhetoric about it,
but I do believe that the time of the zoomie has come and gone, for reasons of
potential harm to the activity we all love. For the record, I cannot off the
top of my head recollect a zoomie-related fatality (the present case, for me,
still being 'not-governmentally-unconfirmed'/speculative), but I *do* remember
at least 3 contest-related finish gate zoomies noted in "Soaring" magazine in
which elevator flutter occurred. Oddly, not one of those pilots, nor any of
the observers (if one can believe what was reported) found those incidents fun
or emulatively entertaining.

Regards,
Bob W.