Electronic Yaw Alarm?

Hey! Why don't we re-visit the AOA string on the side of the canopy?
Tick marks for pattern, best L/D, and stall? Bumper, can your Mk IV
Yaw string be adapted for use as a Mk IV AOA String? And put one on
each side as your heads up display for left or right patterns?

In all seriousness, too close to stall is far worse than not perfectly
coordinated. If you combine the two, well you might have a bad day.
Really don't think a new audible warning system for a skid is a good
thing.

Just throwing in another 2 cents worth.
-Steve Leonard

I think the logical evolution would be a "Takeoff Warning". It would sense
tension on the tow rope and begin yelling, "Warning! You are about to
takeoff! Any lack of skill or cunning, lapse in judgment, or poor attitude
will place you at risk of severe injury or death!"

Then any sane pilot would simply pull the release and go home safely. If
there are still those dumb enough to actually attempt to fly one of these
unsafe contraptions, an upgrade to the system could be programmed to pull
the release automatically.

C'mon people - just fly the aircraft. Competence can never be replaced by
safety devices.


"Steve Leonard" wrote in message
...
Hey! Why don't we re-visit the AOA string on the side of the canopy?
Tick marks for pattern, best L/D, and stall? Bumper, can your Mk IV
Yaw string be adapted for use as a Mk IV AOA String? And put one on
each side as your heads up display for left or right patterns?

In all seriousness, too close to stall is far worse than not perfectly
coordinated. If you combine the two, well you might have a bad day.
Really don't think a new audible warning system for a skid is a good
thing.

Just throwing in another 2 cents worth.
-Steve Leonard

On 11/10/2011 7:06 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:

C'mon people - just fly the aircraft. Competence can never be replaced
by safety devices.

Maybe not this particular device, but we all should know that statement
is very wrong, and I don't want to discourage people from thinking about
better safety devices.

Step outside this little world of soaring, and think about why the
automobile fatality rate has dropped so much over the last 50 years. The
majority of the improvement comes from safety devices like divided
highways, seat belts, crush zones, and other improvements in safety devices.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm
http://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl

On Thursday, 10 November 2011 23:26:49 UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote:

Step outside this little world of soaring, and think about why the
automobile fatality rate has dropped so much over the last 50 years. The
majority of the improvement comes from safety devices like divided
highways, seat belts, crush zones, and other improvements in safety devices.

While this is true, Eric, I wish to point out that all but one of the devices you mention are intended to save lives "during" the ensuing crash. Only the divided highway "prevents" the crash, and that by forcibly separating the traffic flow. To my knowledge there is no existing automotive device (except my wife) that screams out, "Stupid! You're going to get us killed!!"..

On a negative side of your argument, the great decrease in fatalities has been matched by a great increase in permanent life-altering injuries. I leave it to individual discretion to determine which is personally preferable.

-John

On 11/11/2011 5:50 AM, C-FFKQ (42) wrote:
On Thursday, 10 November 2011 23:26:49 UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote:

Step outside this little world of soaring, and think about why the
automobile fatality rate has dropped so much over the last 50
years. The majority of the improvement comes from safety devices
like divided highways, seat belts, crush zones, and other
improvements in safety devices.

While this is true, Eric, I wish to point out that all but one of the
devices you mention are intended to save lives "during" the ensuing
crash. Only the divided highway "prevents" the crash, and that by
forcibly separating the traffic flow. To my knowledge there is no
existing automotive device (except my wife) that screams out,
"Stupid! You're going to get us killed!!".

It wasn't intended to be a definitive list, but only to point out that
safety devices can and do save lives. If you limit it to prevention
safety devices, it's still true. In gliders, examples are auto hookups
for controls and spoilers that don't suck open.

On a negative side of your argument, the great decrease in fatalities
has been matched by a great increase in permanent life-altering
injuries. I leave it to individual discretion to determine which is
personally preferable.

Are you saying the _rate_ of "permanent life-altering injuries" is
higher now than 50 years ago? I am not aware of studies showing that is
true. What I do read about is crashes with little or no injury, that
surely would've resulted in severe injuries in autos from the 50's.

In any case, I don't think the markedly improved cockpit crash
protection from the ASW 24 on has increased the rate for gliders.
Personally, I'll always choose greater crash protection, glider or car.

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