On Thu, 28 Oct 2010 12:53:32 -0700 (PDT), John Cochrane
wrote:

As the US gets ready for the arrival of flarm, a big question on many
US pilot's minds is, what about stealth mode?

This year I flew competitions in Italy, Spain and Switzerland. There
was never any requirement to select any particular Flarm setting. Most
of the pilots had in standard mode.
My impression is that this is the way to go.

Where "team flying" is accepted, the pilots regularly use Flarm
indications to be aware of the position of the partner, reducing radio
chat.

Vertical speeds as indicated for the surrounding gliders is mostly
unreliable, but you can learn to make good use of it, somehow.



Some considerations:

Sometimes my Flarm could spot gilders inside clouds (maybe only a few
hundred feet above cloudbase, not permitted by the rules. In facts,
Flarm records might help identify the "bad guys.."

A minority of pilots may possibly develop habits that I consider
wrong: turning Flarm off (or disabling the gps antenna or whatever) to
hide their position upon finding the last thermal. Flying through
clouds as Flarm doesn't indicate any traffic inside.
I believe this is a side-effect that will desappear, given enough time
and experience.

It has taken more than 5 years for Flarm to be generally well accepted
by pilots and competition pilots. A minority are still negating the
usefulness of this device, or are against requiring Flarm as mandatory
equipment (for competition).