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

On Friday, August 7, 2015 at 1:00:42 AM UTC-4, Richard wrote:
On Wednesday, August 5, 2015 at 8:08:08 AM UTC-6, 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)

The thing that amazes me most about the contest was that the organizers did not require PowerFlarm!! But if you had PowerFlarm it had to be in the stealth mode.

It appears they are much more concerned about leaching than the safety of the competitors.

Richard

you require powerflarm, then 3-4 of the people who participated safely would have had to sit out because they couldn't afford the damn thing. and that usually pertains to young competitors.

i'm not saying people are infallible to having a midair by simply keeping out a watchful eye, but the risk can certainly be effectively mitigated if everyone is looking vigilantly, and since we are all flying VFR, I don't care if you have flarm, or a transponder or god knows what, you've got to be looking. the organizers were not more concerned about leeching than safety. that's a silly presumption. the flarm in stealth mode still provides warning of impending collisions. it was an experiment, which XC talks about based on the experiences people had at PAGC.