On Wednesday, January 20, 2016 at 5:05:22 PM UTC-8, wrote:

BB finally confessed recently but 9B actually beat him to it 3+ years ago (20 Oct 2012 in "PowerFLARM leeching comments" on RAS: "On one occasion I was able to close on a group of very good pilots by about 2-3 minutes over the first 30-40 miles. They were just outside of visual range most of the time, so PF made a difference."

Chip Bearden

Good research skills Chip.

I still remember that day at Parowan. Mostly I was able to catch up by getting a better climb out the top of the start cylinder and picking my own thermals along the way. It was fun to know that I was catching up where otherwise I would have been mostly blind to the fact that I was even racing. I used the same first thermal as the leaders after the start, but don't recall gaining on them in the climb. It was a good thermal that I likely would have found flying without Flarm (or with Stealth) since we were all pretty close at the start. Most of the rest of the way we just cruised. At the first turn we went our separate ways towards the second turn and came together at the turnpoint. I'd gained a little more because I knew I'd gone a bit deeper in the first turn. It was like we were, um, racing - super enjoyable to have a sense of how I was doing along the way. Of course I gave it all away by missing a climb at the third turn and getting low at the fourth followed by an agonizing 2-knot climb while other pilots zipped home at comfortable altitudes. So much for tactical benefits, but I was sold on the idea that flying with Flarm was much more enjoyable.

9B