keskiviikko 24. tammikuuta 2018 14.57.36 UTC+2 kirjoitti:
With all respect to the many insitefull comments posted here, and acknowledging the loss of any loved one is always a tragedy, developing layer upon endless layer of rules will never end the fact that there will always be fatalities in this and every "racing" sport.

Human nature is not going to change, irregardless of legislation. Guys will push to the edge and over whatever "safety" regulation is set. Safety has only been improved in other motor based sports due to new and improved safer structures and engineering, not in new rules.

As for trying to set a hard floor for tasks, I agree with others who have commented here, what a ridiculous concept, put forth by those who have no concept of what it takes to fly ridges! As for low thermalling, whats low for a js1 is not low for a 1-26. What is low for a guy in a new-to-him ship is not low for a guy with 1,000 hours in a certain model. What is low for a guy right over a big landable field with little wind is not the same for a guy over trees in gusty wx. I absolutely can't stand when people attempt to mandate THEIR standards upon others, while missing the point that it is Decision making skills that create or obviate safety. You pick your standards and you live or die by them. I pick my standards and I live or die by them. We ALL live or die by the flight decisions we make irregardless of FAR's or contest rules.

As for GP style racing having an abhorrent safety record or not, that doesn't matter. If you don't like that style of racing, don't participate. But since your not directly involved in that form of racing, don't try to mandate your opinion of what the rules should be on those that participate and enjoy that series. I myself will never have the oportunity to participate in one, but I sure enjoy the GP concept and admire the skills that Kawa and others demonstrate. As for the accident rate being a "black eye" on the public image of soaring, are you kidding? No one cares because no one even knows what we do! We are a miniscule minority within aviation, and not even on the radar! We still are thought to land out cause the "wind quit"!


I have lost a friend in gliding competition accident, and I know people who have competed for decades losing 10-20% of their pilot friends to accidents over the years (yes it is absolutely unbelievable, but true). So I care, and I know that others do too, while you may not. No-one flies competitions making decisions whether to "live or die". We try to find out who is the best athlete without risking our lives. There are rules that dictate how we measure performance, and then there should be rules that prevent us from doing something stupid in the heat of race. If pilots are allowed to take a risk to get more points, they do it way too often, and job of rules is to make sure that no more points are given at that point. Hard floor is excellent idea, at least in flatlands. If you watch Formula 1 car racing, they have hectares of gravel around the curves in case you loose control of the car, instead of stone wall (which we quite literally have). That's because they accept that mistakes are made, and control (with rules concerning circuits) what happens if you make a mistake. In 50's drivers ended up in fireball. Our sport has not progressed much.