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

You get the glider symbol and relative altitude. My experience was actually an aural warning first - " Traffic, one o'clock high". Because my eyes were outside the cockpit. There was no reason to look at the scope.

XC

On Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 4:28:33 PM UTC-4, wrote:
You get the glider symbol and relative altitude. My experience was actually an aural warning first - " Traffic, one o'clock high". Because my eyes were outside the cockpit. There was no reason to look at the scope.

XC

This agrees with my experience also.
"Traffic 12 o'clock high" is all I need. I had no reason to look inside at all.
UH

On Wednesday, 5 August 2015 15:08:08 UTC+1, Papa3 wrote:
The US 15M/Standard Class Nationals required FLARM to be in stealth mode for the duration of the contest. I have to say, I absolutely enjoyed the experience. FLARM became what it was always supposed to be - a collision avoidance tool - rather than a tactical leaching tool. I found that I would get alerts for gliders in the same thermal or approaching/exiting the thermal up to about 1 mile away, but no more. Not a single surprise conflict from a FLARM-equipped glider.

I wonder if others had the same positive experience. I would hope other contests would consider requiring Stealth Mode.


Erik Mann (P3)

Note that other planes will NOT have any more warning of you. This has caused issues in the UK, and as a result Stealth is no longer required for competitions.

On Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 1:23:35 PM UTC-4, 7C wrote:

Note that other planes will NOT have any more warning of you. This has caused issues in the UK, and as a result Stealth is no longer required for competitions.

Which other planes? Which "more warning"?

Please explain.

P3

Other Flarm users. If you are in Stealth you give no more warnings to other users than you receive. So non-stealth gliders will not see any more than your fellow competitors.

This has the unfortunate effect of causing gaggles to 'appear' with very little prior warning.

So... a fast moving powered aircraft that happens to have Flarm will have seconds worth of warning that you are about to collide which may not be sufficient. I'd be concerned about the liability issues if this was to happen because you had degraded your collision avoidance systems - especially in the US!

The best pilots always win, regardless of stealth mode or not.

On Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 2:00:36 PM UTC-4, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
The best pilots always win, regardless of stealth mode or not.

Could you be kind enough to elaborate on your depth of experience with and without Flarm in competition and how it has allowed you to be able to make this statement.
Thanks
UH

On Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 1:56:35 PM UTC-4, 7C wrote:
Other Flarm users. If you are in Stealth you give no more warnings to other users than you receive. So non-stealth gliders will not see any more than your fellow competitors.

This has the unfortunate effect of causing gaggles to 'appear' with very little prior warning.

So... a fast moving powered aircraft that happens to have Flarm will have seconds worth of warning that you are about to collide which may not be sufficient. I'd be concerned about the liability issues if this was to happen because you had degraded your collision avoidance systems - especially in the US!


Stealth mode doesn't change the warning mode of flarm, at all. It does change the tactical display for aircraft that are not in conflict.

A fast moving powered aircraft, properly configured, should get plenty of warning from thermaling gliders. And vice versa.

-Evan Ludeman / T8

This was my first experience with FLARM. I had prepared myself for a significant change in tactics vs. what was the norm when I last flew a nationals in 2010 but I have to say that I'm a believer now.

As has been said, FLARM in stealth mode enhanced safety without changing fundamentally the skills required to do well in a contest. Granted, on a few occasions FLARM alerted me to another glider a short distance away under the same cloud that proved to be climbing faster. But this zone of visibility was fairly small. On the other hand, I received several warnings of gliders unexpectedly coming into a thermal rapidly from an angle that were quite useful and were received in plenty of time to take action.

I was using a PowerFLARM Portable with the internal readout. I'm told that this device as well as the "core" unit can drive a FlarmView or other readout that provides more data on the gliders within range; e.g., contest ID and climb rate. That's potentially useful information. I don't know where you draw the line but even with this enhancement, FLARM like a decent compromise between the safety benefits and the degradation in skill required to fly competitively.

My decision now is whether to buy a PowerFLARM (the one I used was very generously loaned to me by fellow pilot Bill Nockles)--new or used--or the "core". Is it true that there have been multiple configurations/types of PowerFLARM portables over the past few years?

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
U.S.A.

A fast moving powered aircraft, properly configured, should get plenty of warning from thermaling gliders. And vice versa.

Warning is not what you want in that situation it is tactical awareness.

But then almost every glider pilot is convinced they are being followed so Flarm is obviously a tool to make this easier