The near mid-air at the Region 9 contest

During the course of our regional at Moriarty we had a very close encounter....something on the order of seven feet. One of the two pilots involved made a comment on twenty three point three regarding the manner in which the other pilot had entered the thermal. That evening our CD Tom Kelly examined the flights using SeeYou and then took both pilots aside (I'm guessing he did this one at a time, but don't know for sure.) The next day Tom presented the data for all to see as a morning safety briefing. He handled this in a most professional manner. No finger pointing, no guilt trips and totally non accusatory. Just the facts as well as what he thought might have lead to the encounter and what might have precluded the incident.( It should be noted that neither pilot was FLARM equipped.) I was very proud of the manner in which brother Kelly handled the situation and would like to say "hats off to Tom Kelly." Zulu

Thanks for the report and kudus to Tom Kelly.
I dont think it matters much whose fault it was if any, what matters is why none of them was flarm equiped and why we even allow this in contests. After all, a big group of people donated money to offer rental units to those who otherwise insist they don't need it (either since they always fly alone and no one can possibly be in the same area as they do, or because they are super human who can detect any threat even from behind)

Ramy

Sounds like Tom handle things very nicely.

Ill just go ahead and say this for the record:

We must make FLARM mandatory at US contests.

IDEA: There are enough rentals to make that happen. Basically the FLARMS should be part of the entry fee. If you not have one you automatically, per a check box in the SSA contest registration (I do not have flarm), you AUTOMATICALLY must pay your $50 rental cost and automatically get one shipped to you at the contest. If you dont have your flarm installed no flying for you. That simple. The CM can then ship them all to the next contet and so on.

Painless, cheap and brilliant. Thoughts?

Back to the near collision. Could you please send the links to these flight traces OR provide the tail numbers and day of the incident? Perhaps the time in the task where the close call occurred so that we can see this ourselves on SeeYou?

Thanks in advance,

Sean

On Thursday, June 20, 2013 8:17:22 AM UTC-4, Sean F (F2) wrote:
Sounds like Tom handle things very nicely. Ill just go ahead and say this for the record: We must make FLARM mandatory at US contests. IDEA: There are enough rentals to make that happen. Basically the FLARMS should be part of the entry fee. If you not have one you automatically, per a check box in the SSA contest registration (I do not have flarm), you AUTOMATICALLY must pay your $50 rental cost and automatically get one shipped to you at the contest. If you dont have your flarm installed no flying for you. That simple. The CM can then ship them all to the next contet and so on. Painless, cheap and brilliant. Thoughts? Back to the near collision. Could you please send the links to these flight traces OR provide the tail numbers and day of the incident? Perhaps the time in the task where the close call occurred so that we can see this ourselves on SeeYou? Thanks in advance, Sean

Based upon what I read above, it sounds like at least one pilot watched the other make a poorly judged entry and followed with a comment. While Flarm has the effect of reducing surprises, it will do nothing to help with poor airmanship. This was demonstrated also at Uvalde.
UH

UH wrote: “ . . . While Flarm has the effect of reducing surprises, it will do nothing to help with poor airmanship. This was demonstrated also at Uvalde.”

Not ever?

Surely, if both gliders have Flarm and one does “poor airmanship” leading to a likely collision, both Flarms will go into alarm mode. Even the poor airman will sometimes react and do something to avoid a collision, won’t he? Not always maybe, but at least sometimes.

Chris N

I was flying nearby and heard the radio exchange. The near-collision came as a complete surprise to both pilots. The analysis by Tom at the pilots' meeting was extremely useful and helped us all understand what happened. Kudos to the two pilots for sharing their experience and log files with the rest of us.

It looks as if the thermal had two nearby cores and the two pilots were thermaling at the same altitude but separated horizontally. The pilots were aware of others in the thermal, mostly above them, but at least one of the two in this incident didn't see the other. It may not have been careless flying but bad geometry possibly created a blind spot. Flarm would absolutely have made them aware of this potential conflict. This is why I am now a convert.

This also shows the great value of pilots sharing their mistakes with us and might help explain why those who don't (and I mention no names!) end up not being quite so well-loved by their fellow contestants.

Mike

I'd like to echo what Billy and Mike said, I thought Tom and the pilots involved handled the situation really well.

On Thursday, June 20, 2013 6:17:22 AM UTC-6, Sean F (F2) wrote:
Sounds like Tom handle things very nicely.



Ill just go ahead and say this for the record:



We must make FLARM mandatory at US contests.



IDEA: There are enough rentals to make that happen. Basically the FLARMS should be part of the entry fee. If you not have one you automatically, per a check box in the SSA contest registration (I do not have flarm), you AUTOMATICALLY must pay your $50 rental cost and automatically get one shipped to you at the contest. If you dont have your flarm installed no flying for you. That simple. The CM can then ship them all to the next contet and so on.



Painless, cheap and brilliant. Thoughts?



Back to the near collision. Could you please send the links to these flight traces OR provide the tail numbers and day of the incident? Perhaps the time in the task where the close call occurred so that we can see this ourselves on SeeYou?



Thanks in advance,



Sean

Sean:

Contact Tom for that info.

We're the pilots talking to each other on the radio?

I've only flown in 1 contest, but if I recall radio "chatter" was frowned upon.

thanks,
Brad

(who has PowerFlarm and loves it)

On Thursday, June 20, 2013 12:41:41 PM UTC-4, Brad wrote:
We're the pilots talking to each other on the radio? I've only flown in 1 contest, but if I recall radio "chatter" was frowned upon. thanks, Brad (who has PowerFlarm and loves it)

You can ALWAYS make a safety call.
UH