FLARM in Stealth Mode at US 15M/Standard Nationals - Loved It!

At 02:15 08 August 2015, Papa3 wrote:
I agree - lots of good discussion. =20

I would again emphasize though that nobody has yet put the effort into
buil=
ding a true Tactical Leeching Tool. Flarm just provides data and a
collisi=
on warning algorithm which seems to work extremely well for the purpose
for=
which it was designed. I have been truly impressed at how few spurious
wa=
rnings I have gotten in either unrestricted or stealth mode. As a safety
to=
ol, I love it. =20

But, please consider what folks could do IF they put their minds to it.
V=
isualizing and presenting the Flarm data for tactical advantage has
hardly
=
been tapped at all. Imagine a filtering algorithm that takes in Flarm
dat=
a from a bunch of gliders. It figures out if this is a "gaggle"
(defined
=
by at least 2 gliders circling for at least 30 seconds and climbing, for
ex=
ample). Now, imagine that it smooths the climb data from the gliders
th=
at are identified as Gaggle A with an indication of average climb rate
(30
=
second, 60 second, duration of climb) as selected by the user. Imagine
t=
hat another gaggle (Gaggle B) nearby is similarly filtered and
displayed.
=
Color coding is applied with strongest average climbs in Green and
decreas=
ing in size and intensity with weaker climbs. Also, the user can set
aler=
ts to indicate if specific targets are in Gaggle A or Gaggle B. Okay,
Gag=
gle A is clearly averaging a better climb, and as a bonus P7 is part of
the=
group. This is not 10 years out sort of stuff. I've already written
spe=
cs for several of these examples. =20

I suspect that the reason a lot of folks are finding Flarm of limited
tacti=
cal value right now is largely unfamiliarity with the tool combined with
Us=
er Interfaces which are not yet optimized for competition. My Flarm
routin=
ely provides 7.5km to 8km range, which is basically a corridor 15km wide
(l=
eft and right). And contrary to statements made in this thread, many
the=
rmals are relatively persistent and regenerative. All you have to do
to
=
see this in action is to download competition files from a recent contest
a=
nd replay the flights in maggot race mode on SeeYou. If you synchronize
o=
n start time, you can see gliders converging on exactly the same spot
often=
times 10-15 minutes apart when you shift back to real-time. So,
having
=
a choice of 2 gaggles displayed each of which is only 3 miles away and
KNOW=
ING which gaggle is the stronger climb is a very real tactical advantage.

=
Similar examples apply to the pre-start, straight glides, etc.=20

Of course, if everyone has it, then maybe the playing field is again
level.=
Except that instead of looking out the window and eyeballing other
glider=
s to figure out which group is climbing better relative to you, you'll be
z=
ooming in the gain on your Leeching Window. Sort of like good weather
rad=
ar operators today who know how to identify the really ugly cells vs. the
m=
ore benign cells. Maybe that's the exciting next frontier? =20

P3


Astute thinking. Flying the computers is the problem for me.