Peter,
I visited the last Sports/Club Nationals at
Waikerie for a few days. On one day there was a
very strong wind ~30 knots or so from the WSW and
the gliders were finishing almost directly into wind.
I witnessed quite a few hasty outlandings
straight in to the roughish paddock off the end
of the airstrip and one pilot hit a bush with a
wingtip and cartwheeled the glider damaging it substantially.
I was surprised to learn that the finish was at
3km and the ground. I mentioned this to the
Contest Director to be told that "they all know what to do".
On 3rd feb 2014 I posted this at the end of a
post: "Which brings me to: why was the finish
line at the recent Waikerie Club and Sports
Nationals at 3km radius AT THE GROUND? One glider
got badly damaged where this was a likely
contributor. One suggestion I heard was 500m over
the top of the airfield would be good. 1500 feet
would be good also. Some spectator interest then too.
I haven't thought of any problems with this."
And on 15th Feb 2014 this: "How did they score
the pilots who finished at the distance but below
the minimum height? If you are going to have a
minimum height for the finish it may as well be
500M over the top (or 1500 feet) of the airfield.
Then it conforms with normal aviation practice
and when below 1500 you are no longer racing. No
low energy finishes etc. The people who get back
with less than 1500 feet are allowed to join for
a straight in or on base etc as long as they tell
everyone what is happening. It is to their
advantage to finish as high as possible though so
they won't be blazing in at Vne. Seems it would
be safer and even add some spectator interest to the finish."
I've also mentioned the stupidity that was
evident at a GP at Narromine in 2008 where a
penalty was applied if pilots did NOT do a pull
up and circuit. This was to make things more
spectacular for the spectators. It nearly was
that as I watched two very low energy circuits
which had the potential to spin in to the tie
down area right in front of the spectators. This
was organised by two people who should have known better.
If you are going to displace the finish to avoid
the immediate circuit area, displace it UPWARDS
to clear the normal powered aircraft circuit. I'm
aware that turboprops and jets use greater
heights but the thought of dozens of gliders in
the circuit usually frightens them away.
A 1500 over the top finish also means that if you
find you are falling short you will usually get
back to the airfield anyway and you have plenty
of opportunity to find another thermal at a safe
height. There would need to be a penalty scale
for arriving back under 1500 feet.
Something like 1 minute per 100 feet low or
somesuch. Pnelaties seem a little wimpish
nowadays. I note someone got a 50 point penalty
for missing the start line. Should have been no
valid start = zero points for the day.
So it seems to me we've had two gliders
substantially broken in 10 months from the 3km at
the ground remote finish and it was just luck that no real injuries occurred.
It is a REALLY bad idea to have contest rules
that cause a conflict between good safe airmanship and a higher score.
One way of avoiding reckless behaviour on the
last day would be to scrutineer the gliders after
the end of the day and add 1000 points to all
scores of pilots who still have a flyable glider.
Now I also wonder if going to the ground 3km
short of the airfield can be construed as a
"prescribed takeoff or landing procedure".
Doesn't look like it to me. In which case it
would seem to be in contravention of the CAR
about not flying below 500 feet (100feet if ridge soaring).
Mike
At 06:21 PM 24/10/2014, you wrote:
Are you suggesting Mike, that the finish line
might not be at ground level, but at some height above the ground, eg 1000ft?
That would not be hard to do with gps files, as
we have now. Then the pilots would have time
to slow down, lower the wheel and set up a landing.
On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 3:22 PM, Mike Borgelt
<<mailto:mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com>mborg...@borgeltinstruments.com>
wrote:
Gary,
Thanks.
So the finish circle was 3km radius.
What height AGL ?
Mike
At 09:30 PM 23/10/2014, you wrote:
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
        boundary="----=_NextPart_000_003E_01CFEF10.EFA13B30"
Content-Language: en-au
Hi Mike,
As no one else has responded to your quite
reasonable query, let me inform you that Jim
Crowhurst did indeed do just that. Details,
regarding how it happened, and damage sustained
to the glider are sketchy, so I suggest that you wait for the official report.
I am pleased to say that Jim did not appear to
be physically injured at all a VERY lucky man
indeed! He was at the wind up dinner, where he
was awarded the Club Class Champion trophy, as
reported in the local press article.
If you have a look at Jimâs trace, available
on Soaring Spot, I think you will be able to
very clearly see the scenario. Club Class flies
dry, and there was about a 20 kt headwind component on his final glide.
 Jim crashed within the 3 km finish circle,
and therefore got both speed and distance points for the day.
 In accordance with the rules, Jim did not
incur a points penalty for crashing.
I will make one comment DO NOT UNDER ANY
CIRCUMSTANCES THIINK THAT THIS CANNOT HAPPEN TO
YOU. The history of gliding is full of reports
of EXPERT pilots who fucked-up and ended up very dead! BEWARE, and be aware.
Â
Gary
Â
From:
<mailto:aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net>aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net
[ mailto:aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net] On Behalf Of Mike Borgelt
Sent: Thursday, 23 October 2014 10:10 AM
To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.
Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Press
Â
So did someone hit a power line?
Mike
At 06:28 PM 22/10/2014, you wrote:
This is a bit comical.
Â
<https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.goondiwindiargus.com.au/story/2642553/amazing-escape/%3Fcs%3D1451&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTE4NTMyMzQ5OTQ2Mjc4ODEyMDAyHTZiNzMyZjY2MmIzY2FiM2U6Y29tLmF1OmVuOkFV&usg=AFQjCNGOkDYHpvkZarjgCVD_905ZY7SSHA>https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.goondiwindiargus.com.au/story/2642553/amazing-escape/%3Fcs%3D1451&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTE4NTMyMzQ5OTQ2Mjc4ODEyMDAyHTZiNzMyZjY2MmIzY2FiM2U6Y29tLmF1OmVuOkFV&usg=AFQjCNGOkDYHpvkZarjgCVD_905ZY7SSHA
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