Killing the flagman at US Contest

It hasn't happened yet, but we are going to kill or maim the flagman if we don't change our ways. It's just a matter of time.

This has become my personal pet peeve. Over the years, I have personally observed a lot of gliders drop a wing and veer off the runway. And admittedly a number of times my observation was from the driver's seat. My own launching technique is better now so my odds of staying on the runway are not as bad as they used to be. Yet, I know it can happen again. It can happen to anyone.

The matter of how to avoid wing drop is not what this writing is about. That's for another thread. This is about the fact that it does happen. This thread is about a potentially serious consequence when it does. Having a serious veer off the runway is an uncommon event for sure. It's one of those things where all goes well so often that it's easy to be neglectful of the low probability yet high consequence risk scenario that plays out at every contest launch.

We were all trained that there should be a safety cone in front of the glider when we launch. That being a zone in which there are no people or objects that have the potential to convert an embarrassing non-event into a small or large catastrophe. At US contests this important need for a safety cone is routinely overlooked. The flagman stands and does his work in a dangerous location in front of the launch.

Our contest flagmen are volunteers. I, for one, am very appreciative of all of the contest volunteers. Without the dedicated work of the volunteers, contests wouldn't happen. Certainly, there is a high obligation to not put volunteers at risk.

The manner by which a glider can come off the runway varies dramatically. Often, the affected pilot is faced with a real dilemma that plays out in a matter of seconds. A wing is low, perhaps dragging on the runway. He believes he can lift the down wing if he simply persists a bit and waits for airspeed to come up. In the mean time he's beginning to veer. If he releases early, the matter is low energy and low consequence. If he holds on for a little longer, he thinks he can raise the wing yet his speed is increasing and the potential for adverse consequences increase perhaps with the square of velocity. Should the pilot fail to get to the release quickly enough and the wing stays low, the resulting veer will be high energy. The veer off the runway can occur at speeds that can do real damage. I've seen it happen.

In my, thus far, unsuccessful efforts to change contest practice in this regard, I've spoken to several different contest operations managers and I've also spoken to flagmen about the issue. I'm routinely pooh-poohed. The flagman will tell me that he can run out of the way if a wing is coming at him. One flagman told me that he can jump over the wing if he needs to. But wait a minute... what if the wing that is coming at him is coming at 30 or 40 MPH? What if it happens to be the high wing that is coming at him or the fuselage?

What I observe at contests is that wing drops are sufficiently rare that the flagman always becomes complacent (assuming he or she is aware of the hazard in the first place). As the towplane and glider roar by, he'll be sipping from his water bottle while maybe sauntering a few step out of the way.

If it were the case that our flagmen were selected for sprinting ability and if their practice was to swing the flag then immediately begin sprinting for the sidelines then perhaps the present hazard wouldn't be. Yet, that is never what happens. Requiring a sprint from the flagman at every launch would be an unreasonable expectation for sure. At any rate, few would have the endurance strength and athleticism to do 30 to 50 successive 25 yard sprints in launch time summer heat.

It isn't as if there is no alternative to using a flagman for launch control. There is an alternative that works extremely well and puts no one at risk in the safety cone. The launch controller stands aside the sailplane with a handheld radio as the glider is being hooked up and readied for launch.. The launch controller gives particular radio commands to take up slack and then a particular distinctive word sequence command to commence the launch. Barb Smith, who's served as operations manager at a few Parowan contests in recent years, seems to have pioneered this method. This is really a very good scheme. There is no double communication required. The launch controller is in a position to easily observe the towline slack and also very well observe the readiness of the wing runner, the glider and the glider pilot too.

I urge that we adopt the radio method of launch control at US contests. Let's not wait until we've killed the flagman.