Not really trying to invite controversy, but like Sean, I also just came back from the Cordele Nationals. But I found no evidence that "PowerFlarm has been (essentially) branded as meaningless for safety". Quite the contrary, nearly everyone I spoke to had several stories about how FLARM had helped them avoid a possible collision situation and didn't want to fly without it.. Including me.

I also found no evidence that "some of our leaders openly argue that PowerFlarm is utilized primarily as a long range competition leeching tool." That it is a leeching tool is undeniable (I confess). I don't like that aspect of it but if everyone else is doing it... (yeah, I know I told my children that wasn't a good reason to do something, but this is different!) And leeching is a byproduct of the the safety aspect. If not for safety, why would anyone carry one?

In the past three years, I've flown nationals that were FLARM optional, FLARM mandatory, and Stealth FLARM mandatory. From experience, Stealth worked just fine and the majority of pilots surveyed at Elmira in 2016 were OK with Stealth. I got the safety alerts I wanted but the leeching potential was much reduced. I have no problem if someone wants to run in Stealth mode; I'll still see them in time to take action in all but the most unlikely circumstances. I shouldn't be relying on FLARM alone anyway. Frankly, the only real reason I didn't fly in Stealth mode at Cordele is because of the experience a few pilots seemed to have after Elmira of not being able to regain their previous range. It's not that anyone is going to want to follow me but if I have 7 knots cored on an average 4 knot day, I'd just as soon keep it for myself.

As for the statement that "PowerFlarm has become almost useless as a safety device at our competitions", I'm flummoxed. I know of two gliders at Cordele (of 50) that didn't have FLARM, and at least one of those was flown by a pilot who owns a PowerFLARM (several, I think) but didn't have it installed in the glider he was flying. He would have preferred that he did.

I don't know if "our rental program is probably close to failing (if not failed already)." It was never very large; I investigated it two years ago. But if that's true, I strongly suspect it's because nearly everyone who is a likely candidate for FLARM has already bought one.

FLARM is a great safety device. Those who know how frugally and carefully I invest in soaring equipment were perhaps surprised when I bought mine so quickly. After flying a single contest with it, I wanted it in the cockpit.

As far as safety goes, Sean seems to speak somewhat hypocritically. My brother bought me a SPOT tracker last year at Nephi because he wanted to know my approximate position and if I were still flying. It does a fine job of that. Yet because it doesn't meet Sean's standards for near-real-time tracking, he refers to it as "CRAP", and stated recently that "SPOT does more damage to the goal of making sailplane tracking interesting than good...and feel Spot must be eradicated from this discussion ASAP and at all costs. Spot devices are "eh" for emergency purposes, but even that statement is a stretch."

This brings to mind the old statement about the perfect being the enemy of the good. SPOT is still much better than most technologies or, for sure, nothing at all, at helping keep track of a pilot's position.

I've been guilty of being somewhat alarmist in the past on certain subjects.. But if there's resistance to buying, installing, and using FLARM, to my knowledge it's not from the competition community--pilots or leaders. Quite the contrary; I suspect contest pilots are much more likely than anyone else to have invested in it and would be VERY unhappy--for safety and leeching purposes--to see it go away.

Just my thoughts.

Chip Bearden
"JB"