On Fri, 21 Aug 2015 17:23:09 -0600, BobW wrote:

On 8/21/2015 3:27 PM, kirk.stant wrote:
On Friday, August 21, 2015 at 2:57:12 PM UTC-5,
wrote:

From the information I'm seeing, Flarm in a reduced capability
mode(competition mode or such)will almost certainly be in effect at
the WGC level. I'm curious as to how you will feel when your 2 friends
team fly using the capabilities of Flarm to keep track of each other,
including climb rates, without needing to talk on the radio. I, for
one, will be seriously not happy. How about weather radar? How about
near real time display of all competitors position, track, altitude,
and climb rate? How about the crew sending tactical info to the pilot?
The question becomes how far do we open the door and what are the
likely affects on our sport? UH

I think it would be fun! The more info the better, and the person/team
that uses it the best, and flies the best, will still win.

All sports change to absorb new technology - look at the America's cup
or Formula 1!

By way of Devil's advocacy...when I look at America's Cup and Formula 1,
I see two of the most expensive sports in the world; both have been that
way for "quite some time now." Arguably, each has *always* been at the
pinnacles of their respective sports' costs. You might even argue that
both today are examples of "If you build it, they will come," sorts of
sports in audience terms. How exactly might we make that work in
soaring?

FWIW, in both sports, there's far more participation in headcount terms
in the lesser expensive spectra...

With all due respect, the active participation in headcount terms is
bugger all. 20 or so drivers in F1 and under 20 yachts with crews of
around 10 in the AmCup aren't exactly large numbers of participants in
global terms. The numbers who will take the trouble to go to the track to
watch are also pretty insignificant compared to the headcount of those
whose total participation consists of vegging out in front of the goggle
box.

This is the exact opposite of soaring, where almost the entirety of
people involved in the sport are either active participants or those who
have stopped flying due to infirmity or age. We have almost no passive
spectators and I, for one, am happy with this situation because soaring,
along with ocean sailing racing and mountaineering, is one of the least
spectator-friendly sports in existence.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |