Contest Safety

Why don't people in SRA and SSA get the message about contest safety?
A unnecessary loss of life because the FINISH GATE was used and not a
FINISH CYLINDER.

Charlie Spratt and the top racing pilots want the finish gate at
contests because it is so exciting! All the near misses in the pull
ups and congestion in the pattern along with rolling finishes with
landings opposite to the normal landing pattern!

Well contest organizers be ware, when the CD decides to use a start
cylinder procedure or change the task completely in the air or use the
finish gate, he makes you respondsible for the consequences! Last year
the NSF fought against the SSA attempt to force us into using a CD we
didn't agree with and lost. We are relieved that we are no longer put
in the position of being respondsible for the dictates of a CD we
believe places us in jeprody.

For those of you that like the thrill of the close calls in
competition, may luck be with you and may you all survive and not cause
the injury or loss of anothers life!

I agree.

What has surprised me most is that an announcement was made at a fairly
recent contest ( Sports Nats Lubbock 2002) that the SSA had directed him
(The CD) to use a FINISH CYLINDER in the interest of safety. I agreed.
However, since that contest it seems the SSA's support of that policy seems
to have floated away with the wind and the SSA no longer is requesting the
CD to use a FINISH CYLINDER . The geezer glide is a fine example of how
dangerous a Finish Gate can be. I have been on the ground unrigging my
glider with guys wizzing over the field from all directions. Also, that
contest is generally flown with short tasks and a lot of gliders finishing
within a few minutes. This years results two destoyed gliders and a miracle
no one was killed.

Frankly, I will probably not compete in a contest that uses a Finish Gate.
They are just plain dangerous.

Bob, we miss you and JoAnn. Many of us appreciate your dedication to the
sport of soaring

Bob Fidler
F1

"birddog bob" wrote in message
ps.com...
Why don't people in SRA and SSA get the message about contest safety?
A unnecessary loss of life because the FINISH GATE was used and not a
FINISH CYLINDER.

Charlie Spratt and the top racing pilots want the finish gate at
contests because it is so exciting! All the near misses in the pull
ups and congestion in the pattern along with rolling finishes with
landings opposite to the normal landing pattern!

Well contest organizers be ware, when the CD decides to use a start
cylinder procedure or change the task completely in the air or use the
finish gate, he makes you respondsible for the consequences! Last year
the NSF fought against the SSA attempt to force us into using a CD we
didn't agree with and lost. We are relieved that we are no longer put
in the position of being respondsible for the dictates of a CD we
believe places us in jeprody.

For those of you that like the thrill of the close calls in
competition, may luck be with you and may you all survive and not cause
the injury or loss of anothers life!

"Bob Fidler" wrote in message
...
I agree.

..... snip..... The geezer glide is a fine example of how
dangerous a Finish Gate can be. I have been on the ground unrigging my
glider with guys wizzing over the field from all directions. Also, that
contest is generally flown with short tasks and a lot of gliders finishing
within a few minutes. This years results two destoyed gliders and a
miracle
no one was killed.

These two accidents had absolutely nothing to do with the finish gate. They
both were simply landing accidents. Why do you use non finish gate
accidents to cast a shadow on the finish gate? Do you not have any relevant
info?

Duane

Were these two accidents the result of high speed finishes? I thought
one was the result of misuse of controls. Don't recall the other.

One of these two accidents was due to a poor approach to landing when
several gliders were doing high speed finishes.
The other was the result of misuse of controls when purposely landing for a
relight.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Were these two accidents the result of high speed finishes? I thought
one was the result of misuse of controls. Don't recall the other.

EXCUSE ME.........you mean to tell all of us out there that a glider pilot
landing back because he forgot to take drinking water, is the finish gates
problem! The geezer glide had one accident for that reason, and for you to
tell us otherwise is just plain wrong!!!!!


"Bob Fidler" wrote in message
...
I agree.

What has surprised me most is that an announcement was made at a fairly
recent contest ( Sports Nats Lubbock 2002) that the SSA had directed him
(The CD) to use a FINISH CYLINDER in the interest of safety. I agreed.
However, since that contest it seems the SSA's support of that policy
seems
to have floated away with the wind and the SSA no longer is requesting the
CD to use a FINISH CYLINDER . The geezer glide is a fine example of how
dangerous a Finish Gate can be. I have been on the ground unrigging my
glider with guys wizzing over the field from all directions. Also, that
contest is generally flown with short tasks and a lot of gliders finishing
within a few minutes. This years results two destoyed gliders and a
miracle
no one was killed.

Frankly, I will probably not compete in a contest that uses a Finish Gate.
They are just plain dangerous.

Bob, we miss you and JoAnn. Many of us appreciate your dedication to the
sport of soaring

Bob Fidler
F1

"birddog bob" wrote in message
ps.com...
Why don't people in SRA and SSA get the message about contest safety?
A unnecessary loss of life because the FINISH GATE was used and not a
FINISH CYLINDER.

Charlie Spratt and the top racing pilots want the finish gate at
contests because it is so exciting! All the near misses in the pull
ups and congestion in the pattern along with rolling finishes with
landings opposite to the normal landing pattern!

Well contest organizers be ware, when the CD decides to use a start
cylinder procedure or change the task completely in the air or use the
finish gate, he makes you respondsible for the consequences! Last year
the NSF fought against the SSA attempt to force us into using a CD we
didn't agree with and lost. We are relieved that we are no longer put
in the position of being respondsible for the dictates of a CD we
believe places us in jeprody.

For those of you that like the thrill of the close calls in
competition, may luck be with you and may you all survive and not cause
the injury or loss of anothers life!

A.) If people are looking for excitement of this type...go
to a demolition derby.

B.) Those pilots who feel this is their privilege
to do...are hurting the rest of the sport when avoidable
accidents occur. The entire sport.

C.) What is the point of this anyway? Is it some
sort of compensation behaviour?

As P.I.C. you are in charge of safety.

So fly safe and save a life.

Came back from a competition in France where we did line finishes at runway
entry only. Never experienced or saw a critical situation. Lots of fun.

--
Bert Willing

ASW20 "TW"


"Stewart Kissel" a écrit dans le
message de news: ...
A.) If people are looking for excitement of this type...go
to a demolition derby.

B.) Those pilots who feel this is their privilege
to do...are hurting the rest of the sport when avoidable
accidents occur. The entire sport.

C.) What is the point of this anyway? Is it some
sort of compensation behaviour?

What do you mean by a finish cylinder ? A remote finish point ?

We used a finish cylinder in a competition this summer, but the cylinder was
in the middle of our airfield and the finishes where "normal" low high
energy finishes.

If you use a remote finish cylinder, maybe you will then get low height low
energy finishes to the airfield as pilots calculate their final glides to
the remote point. Any experiences ?

Regards, Jyrki
Finland