RC madness

On Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at 4:03:02 PM UTC-5, Papa3 wrote:

On Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at 1:26:07 PM UTC-5, jfitch wrote:

On Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at 8:40:49 AM UTC-8, ND wrote:
SNIP that still gives you 12 seconds to SEE AND AVOID the traffic. count out 12 seconds and think about how long that is.

Ok now think about the glider going your direction you think might be just above to your left, and the one you think might be just below to your right (they are not threats and are invisible on your tactical display due to stealth). Then get two alarms indicating closing traffic ahead at 12 and 11 seconds to impact. Start counting. You cannot make a sudden turn or swoop, you do not know where the gliders beside you are. You cannot call them, you don't know who they are. Now at 5 seconds spot the third glider also closing from ahead with the other two (warning was buried under the others). You have 5 gliders to miss and 5 seconds to sort it out. Two of them are somewhere alongside, but you don't know where. The three going the other direction are beginning to visually pick up you three and are scattering in random directions as are your two companions. Now you are getting alarms from every direction. Three people have the radio keyed and all you hear is howling. Five, four, three, two one, BANG. Still plenty of time?

With (non-stealth) Flarm, this scenario doesn't even raise your heart rate, you knew where everyone was 7 miles out, made a leisurely 3 deg course change, and don't even see them visually when they pass safely on your left. Believe me, this happens out west.


We routinely have dozens of gliders operating in the Appalachians on good ridge days. We've done this for 30 years without gliders bumping into each other left and right. It's not at all uncommon to have the scenario you describe, only instead of 1 oncoming glider it's 4 or 5. And, we've got two fewer degrees of freedom, since there's rocks and trees to one side and below.

Not making light of it, but sort of wondering how it's possible we survived at all before FLARM with no warning at all?

P3


AMEN


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