Proposed 2005 Rules On SRA Site

ELT's have nothing to do with safety. If safety is a concern, consider
making BRS's mandatory; then imagine what would happen to contest
participation..........I'd have less competitors to worry about.

"Marc Ramsey" wrote in message
om...
Did anyone even bother to contemplate the effect the 2006 mandatory ELT
rule would have on US contest participation? I am a casual contest
pilot, normally flying in only one or two a year. If the rule comes
down, I won't be happy about it, but I probably will scrape together the
money. But, it isn't someone like me you have to worry about.

What it's going to do is kill off a lot of the regional contests out
here are the west coast (and probably elsewhere). The pilots who are
already hooked on contests will pay the price. Those who participate
even less frequently than I, or who just want to try it out (and may
eventually get hooked) will hem and haw about getting an ELT, and then
simply won't show up. You'll also lose most of the entrants that fly
club ships in Sports Class. I'd guess that at least half of the
entrants in the 2004 Region 11 FAI contest would not have participated
if ELTs had been required. I'd also guess that the Region 11 Sports
Class contest would cease to exist if the ELT rule was in place.

I, too, have sat around in a gliderport office late into the evening
waiting (in vain) for a missing pilot to show up alive. I understand
the desire to reduce this burden on contest officials in the future.
But, if the result of this seemingly sensible rule is a significant
reduction in the number of people participating in US contests, is it
really worth the cost?

Marc

Very selfish, Bob. It has plenty to do with safety. Just not yours.
Have you ever been involved in a search and rescue? See my previous
posts.

Bob,

here's a snip from a thread back in June of last year:

A couple of years ago I agreed with your position without reservation.
However, I've had a change of heart... and so with it the ex-smoker's
compulsion to overreact to those that still fume. My rationalizations
were not about choice, rather practicality. The 406 units have rendered
that arguments empty.

We had an accident at our club in the mid 90s. The good news is, the
pilot survived, but with very serious injuries. But for the people who
ran through literally a mile of thickets and brambles, shredding their
own skin, he might have died of his injuries. That one had nothing to
do with ELTs. But it demonstrated to me just how motivated some people
become when lives are at stake. I would hate that my negligence led to
someone's injury or death whose only concern was to save me.

Chris OCallaghan Jun 17 2004, 11:19 am show options
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.soaring
From: (Chris OCallaghan) - Find messages by
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Date: 17 Jun 2004 11:19:50 -0700
Local: Thurs, Jun 17 2004 11:19 am
Subject: ELT Mandatory ?
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This morning CNN reported the drownings of 4 people. A small child
fell into a fountain. A rescuer followed her immediately. As did
another. And another. All were killed by a circulation pump that
pinned them to the bottom.

This is a cautionary tale. Some, like the previous poster, would say
the moral is "Look before your leap." Others might recognize that it
is in our primal nature to risk our lives to save others.

The lesson I've learned is that while I may be harwired to demonstrate
bravado through lack of concern for my own welfare, I should at the
very least consider those who are hardwired to respond to any call for
help. And a glider which doesn't return home carries with it an
implied call for help.

Joseph Campbell discussed this "need to help," even at risk to one's
own well-being, in The Hero with a Thousand Faces and The Power of
Myth. Both are interesting reads -- and emphasize just how dear such
people really are.