On 2/16/2012 9:55 AM, Sean Fidler wrote:
John,

I respect your concerns. I really, really do.

I'm still trying to understand why this is such an important safety
issue to you. So far, your concern seems to be based entirely on the
possibility of it happening, as you haven't shown how it would have made
contests safer in the past. It doesn't seem like it's something we need
to speculate about, with a rule that's been in force for 40 years or so.
There should be plenty of incidents to talk about if the danger is as
high as you claim.

Please humor me on these questions:

Have you ever been sucked into a cloud during a contest, or do you know
someone that has?

Was there an incident that occurred outside of contest that made you
think getting near clouds was so dangerous, you'd rather sit on the
ground than fly without an AH?

Why do you think no one teaches students about using an AH, and why the
FAA doesn't require it to get a license?

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)