Article - "you will be tempted"

A short new article, based on a safety talk I gave last year at
Uvalde. Thanks to Bruce and Anita Taylor, it's written and was
published in Gliding Australia. Common safety traps for the
competition pilot and strategies to avoid them.

Direct link:
http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...be_tempted.pdf

In the collection
http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...m#safety_rules

John Cochrane

On Monday, April 30, 2012 5:46:09 PM UTC-5, John Cochrane wrote:
A short new article, based on a safety talk I gave last year at
Uvalde. Thanks to Bruce and Anita Taylor, it's written and was
published in Gliding Australia. Common safety traps for the
competition pilot and strategies to avoid them.

Direct link:
http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...be_tempted.pdf

In the collection
http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...m#safety_rules

John Cochrane

great article John

On 4/30/2012 4:46 PM, John Cochrane wrote:
A short new article, based on a safety talk I gave last year at
Uvalde. Thanks to Bruce and Anita Taylor, it's written and was
published in Gliding Australia. Common safety traps for the
competition pilot and strategies to avoid them.

Direct link:
http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...be_tempted.pdf

In the collection
http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...m#safety_rules

John Cochrane

Thanks, John!

How a person thinks, matters.

I've never met, spoken to or corresponded with John Cochrane, but I like how
he thinks. The above-referenced article - though ostensibly 'contest oriented'
- applies to *all* soaring, not 'merely' to contests. 'It' (i.e. 'a
stupid/silly/surprise' accident) CAN happen to anyone who flies, no matter how
(in)experienced, and if any reader has ever had a flash from their brain that
"It ain't so!" take that as a warning sign your thinking at that particular
moment in time was FLAWED...and perpetuating said flaw *might* get you into
trouble some day.

Having an active imagination probably helps, too. You don't need to be on a
contest final glide to imagine what it'll be like on ANY dodgy final glide to
'suddenly' find yourself out of all chances of getting home, out of ideas,
over dodgy terrain with 'precious little' altitude and minimal kinetic energy.
Heck, imagine yourself over your home airport, dead center above the runway at
250 feet and 50 knots. What would you do THEN? (Along with many weekend
soaring pilots, I've seen [way too] many of this sort of pattern, and none
have been pretty.) "The accident happened when I ran out of altitude and ideas
at the same time..."

Focus, pre-planning, critical self-/situational-awareness are all important
elements in any sensible pilot's tool kit. Having and utilizing all of them
really doesn't diminish the joy and satisfaction obtainable from soaring. I'll
argue exactly the opposite effect is true.

How a person thinks, matters.

Have fun; fly safely. (Do you know anyone who was happy immediately AFTER
their accident or incident?)

Bob - Captain Thought Police - W.

P.S. I DO know John Seaborn, and a more sensible pilot, good person, and good
guy, I'd be hard-pressed to come up with. I expect he'll well represent - at
many levels - the U.S. in Uvalde this summer.

In article , BobW
wrote:


Having an active imagination probably helps, too. You don't need to be on a
contest final glide to imagine what it'll be like on ANY dodgy final glide to
'suddenly' find yourself out of all chances of getting home, out of ideas,
over dodgy terrain with 'precious little' altitude and minimal kinetic
energy.

Hah, an active imagination is exactly why I quit riding motorcycles
after age 25.

OOps... Sitll riding my Harley at age 64. It's only a matter of time...


"Berry" wrote in message
...
In article , BobW
wrote:


Having an active imagination probably helps, too. You don't need to be on
a
contest final glide to imagine what it'll be like on ANY dodgy final
glide to
'suddenly' find yourself out of all chances of getting home, out of
ideas,
over dodgy terrain with 'precious little' altitude and minimal kinetic
energy.

Hah, an active imagination is exactly why I quit riding motorcycles
after age 25.

On Monday, April 30, 2012 6:46:09 PM UTC-4, John Cochrane wrote:
A short new article, based on a safety talk I gave last year at
Uvalde. Thanks to Bruce and Anita Taylor, it's written and was
published in Gliding Australia. Common safety traps for the
competition pilot and strategies to avoid them.

Direct link:
http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...be_tempted.pdf

In the collection
http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...m#safety_rules

John Cochrane

Aw man - I have had my hopes dashed! I thought there WAS money and babes! ;-)

The pseudo anti new technology snippet at the end of the article is interesting. Clearly some who are competitive today are concerned and perhaps a little fearful of these potential "changes to the game." Of course, that reaction is to be expected.

Look at the Volvo ocean race (happening today in the middle of leg 6 from Brazil to Miami). The boats are in constant communication and each competitor has real time satellite tracking of all other competitors. This makes it fun for spectators and allows the race boats to constantly analyze performance, tactics and potential strategy decisions relative to key competitors.. The old days of the "random flyer" and winning (or losing) a leg by 2 days or 800 miles are basically over. This is better for the sport, its sponsors and most importantly its fans. Luck is reduced and racing is much closer.

In some ways the opposite effect (in reference to the authors fears that this tech with tighten already tight racing proximity) occurs now in the Volvo ocean race. The boats do not have to fight to stay within sight of each other in fear of losing touch. They can be comfortable 25 miles apart and track each others progress. I think much the same will happen in gliders. Gains & loses in glider racing happen much, much faster. Gliders have limited energy to spend changing their route to chase others who may appear to be performing better on another route. It would be very hard to REACT to tactical information far outside visual range. That said it would be fun to know! To put it another way, thermals come and go quickly. How much would you be willing to deviate?

Remember John Cochran's recent article on the cost of deviations at various climb rates? Would you deviate 7 miles (laterally) to a location where a pilot is (at that moment) climbing better than you are? Or would you deviate away from a pilot up course who is climbing poorly? Would you second guessing a ridge or mountain route based on location/performance data from other pilots elsewhere? Would that deviation cost more than it would gain? In most cases I would say yes. So the performance data is of minimal value in my view.

I hope this exciting new technology is not "witch" hunted. I think it would be fun to see how others are doing during the race rather than guessing. We are trying to have fun, right? As this technology becomes more affordable, along with great safety improvements, it could prove attractive to younger pilots. It also could prove a valuable learning tool for less skilled pilots. Especially in regionals.

Great article in general! But I really enjoyed John's live presentation in Uvalde which was even better due to his presentation skills while 60 pilots listened quietly just ahead of 10 days of full tilt racing. It definitely made everyone think. As a new pilot in my third ever contest, it certainly caught my attention as I had already experienced these temptations far too much.