I think there is too much FUD around Flarm (That's IBM speak for Fear
Uncertainty and Doubt)

Experience of introducing Flarm in the south African racing environment
was effectively painless. There was never a decrease in safety
attributable to Flarm.

To my knowledge there was no material increase in leeching. If you can
keep up to leech, the Flarm is unlikely to help much...
If you are close enough to the other thermal to be able to use the
information about relative climb rate - you can probably verify the
differential as effectively visually. Certainly I am not aware of anyone
gaining advantage this way.

Have contests become safer? Hard to say - but I am a lot more
comfortable with no beeps emanating from the flarm. OK - in my case that
is generally because the others are so far ahead.

And yes - mid airs, in contests and others were a significant percentage
of fatals in SA. There are at least three pilots who would still be with
us if they had Flarm working. Since Flarm became common we have not had
any. Apparently Flarm does what it says on the box - improves safety in
glider operations...

Some use it well, some don't - as with everything.

Cheers
Bruce

On 2011/01/09 4:03 AM, hretting wrote:
First, my apologies for not spelling " leech" correctly and passing it
on to you. Leeching was brought up by an earlier thread and I
responded to it.
My stand is that while you believe the two midairs would have been
prevented by FLARM....I believe that the rapid insertion of Flarm into
the contest regime will create a risk greater than the one we are
trying to reduce.
I believe to reduce that specific risk, we allow for the "Novelty"
period followed by the "Functional check-out" period before we include
it into the contest regime.
Flarm will change the "paranoia" level of the group. Not right
away.....but slowly. This is the dynamics that we must guard.
First the dip, then the spike, then the balance.

You're right about the knuckleheads not looking out.....
But I do.
R






--
Bruce Greeff
T59D #1771 & Std Cirrus #57