Sigh... (USA)

Ramy wrote:

I think short of something like FLARM, the only thing which could have
prevented this would have been better situational awareness of which other
giders were working in the same area.

I can only support this. Looking out is the first thing to do. But FLARM
really can help to save your day (maybe your life). I had a near miss
yesterday. FLARM did indicate traffic right of my course. Still not seeing
the other glider, I did a left turn. In the same moment the other glider
passed me in a distance of maybe two wingspans.

These little boxes really work. Everyone who can afford a glider of some
1000 $ or ? can also afford another some 100.
Chris

On Sunday, June 10, 2012 1:43:00 PM UTC-7, Chris wrote:
Ramy wrote:

I think short of something like FLARM, the only thing which could have
prevented this would have been better situational awareness of which other
giders were working in the same area.

I can only support this. Looking out is the first thing to do. But FLARM
really can help to save your day (maybe your life). I had a near miss
yesterday. FLARM did indicate traffic right of my course. Still not seeing
the other glider, I did a left turn. In the same moment the other glider
passed me in a distance of maybe two wingspans.

These little boxes really work. Everyone who can afford a glider of some
1000 $ or ? can also afford another some 100.
Chris

Few weeks ago I had the opportunity to see how head on target looks like. I could see the other glider couple of miles away since he was banking, but once he leveled off and headed directly towards me, the wings completely disappeared and all I could see was a little dot for his cockpit. The dot was not moving and only slowly growing (at the beginning). There was no way I would have noticed this dot while scanning if he did not bank before. I did not remove my focus from the dot so not to loose sight, and asked him on the radio if he sees me at 12 o'clock. He didn't until I banked away 10-15 sec before we crossed each other. If I didnt see him we would have cleared each other by few feet since he was slightly lower. This convinced me how difficult it is to see another aircraft, especially white slick glider, which is in collision course. Sure we always easily see other aircrafts, but they are not in collision course and as such are moving targets which our eye can detect much easier, or they are banking which makes it easier to see.

I have now personally known or met 5 pilots who were involved in mid airs in the last 3 years or so. So much for the claim that it is a rare event. We are all attracted to the same small energy lines and as such the sky is not as big for us as it is for other aircrafts. This mid air happened in a small gathering with less than 6 gliders in the air, not a big contest.

Ramy

Ramy

On Jun 10, 1:43*pm, Chris wrote:
Ramy wrote:
I think short of something like FLARM, the only thing which could have
prevented this would have been better situational awareness of which other
giders were working in the same area.

I can only support this. Looking out is the first thing to do. But FLARM
really can help to save your day (maybe your life). I had a near miss
yesterday. FLARM did indicate traffic right of my course. Still not seeing
the other glider, I did a left turn. In the same moment the other glider
passed me in a distance of maybe two wingspans.

These little boxes really work. Everyone who can afford a glider of some
1000 $ or ? can also afford another some 100.
Chris

I flew my first contest last week; R8 Sports Class. Several pilots
were using the rental Flarm units and Richard at Craggy had a stand-
alone unit he brought along and I bought it. I wasn't really thinking
of installing it until after a few days of flying with the guys using
PF and hearing all the great things they were saying about it. I did
install it, it was an easy install and it looks great on the hood of
my Tetra-15. I am really happy with it, it works and I had a handful
of alerts from other sailplanes as well as from a Cessna 210 that
climbed right over the top of me by 150'; I saw him about the same
time the Flarm sounded, I'm sure he never even saw me, I've flown
Cessna's and know the over-the-nose view while climbing is nil.

I'm probably going to sound like a reformed smoker now, but I am going
to really promote the PF to all my soaring
buddies.................this thing works!

As been said befo "don't let the quest for perfection be the enemy
of the good!"

Brad
GK

Ditto.