You lost me Gary. I'm following this from a comfortable position on the couch. I wasn't there, and don't even know the pilot. But there seems to be an issue with the rules to me.
A wise man* once told me that to win, you must be able to fly the next day. Seems pretty clear for all but the last day given that points are on offer. It is not unreasonable to think that this should apply on the last day too - in my opinion. This might be controversial, but I am aware of a pilot winning the last day of a 15m class nationals, and the nationals themselves, after a midair that they flew away from (raced away from as I was told) whilst the other pilot abandoned. I can also recall some pretty optimistic flying by several pilots into the biggest storm I've ever seen at Narromine in about 2001, and ended up in extremely difficult retrieve situations due to 125-200mm of rain in the paddocks. Several were in no position to fly the next day even though a task was possible. The comp director (RIP), faced with a revolt from those who weren't ready to fly, did not set a task for three classes, but did for 18m. (Shinzo "entered" his D2 in 18m in protest as I recall). Another example of a last day skewed by poor airmanship? Those results stand. So does the Goondiwindi result. But for the future, should similar situations be allowed to be repeated? Why not have a rule that says that after landing/finishing on the last day, all gliders must be able to pass a daily inspection? As tempting as it is, I'm not going to comment on the finish arrangements, as I'm not familiar with the detail. Cheers Bruce *PS-I attribute the quote to Terry C (to my best recollection) > On 28 Oct 2014, at 10:45 pm, "Gary Stevenson" <gstev...@bigpond.com> wrote: > > Michael Texler in his post of the evening of 28 Oct, finally “Got It”. > > Tim has now amplified matters, so that to mis-quote one famous author, “even > a schoolboy can understand”. Just a preamble: the point I really want to make > is that on that last day when Jim choose to fly on, 2 pilots in Sports Class > elected to make quite routine outlandings (into the same paddock apparently), > just 7 km from home. As usual their traces are available on Soaring Spot. > Names do not need to be mentioned – just look at Sports Class, and then check > the outlandings and distances covered to pinpoint the two relevant traces. > > Tim , you are being a little bit shy in your use of the Oz vernacular. The > “Municipal Dunny Man” filled a very valuable and quite unique place in > servicing one the essential needs of communities prior to the development of > reticulated sewerage systems. So to get the language straight, let me put > “shed loads” back into its true blue and dinky di context: “shit-cart full > loads”. > > Further ; > For Australian Musical Researchers try Googling “Municipal Dunny Can”. ..... > And of course do not overlook that Australian work of great literary worth > titled “The Specialist”. For visual art buffs this work was no doubt part > inspiration for the 2006 Oz movie “Kenny”. > > Cheers, > Gary > > > From: aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net > [mailto:aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net] On Behalf Of Tim Shirley > Sent: Tuesday, 28 October 2014 8:39 PM > To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. > Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Bizarre Comp Rules... > > Hi all, > > Once again a disclaimer: I hold no relevant official position with the GFA. > I do have considerable experience as a rulemaker, as a Contest Director, as a > Scorer, and as a competition pilot. I speak only for myself. > > What follows is general clarification about competitions and rules, and is > not intended as a comment on any specific incident. > > Back when I was involved in competition rulemaking, I remember we introduced > some principles as a preamble to the rules and on checking I found that most > of them are still there: > > At all times it remains the responsibility of pilots to operate in accordance > with the GFA Manual of Standard > Procedures and all applicable laws and regulations. > Pilots are expected to conduct themselves at all times in the spirit of > these rules and in accordance with the practice of good sportsmanship. > Safety is at all times the primary consideration. If at any time a pilot > feels that the requirements of these rules compromises the safety of their > flight then they should take whatever actions are required to ensure the > safety of themselves and of other air users. This may include withdrawing > from the task or from the competition. > Pilots are required to conduct themselves in a manner that will not bring > disrepute on the Organisers, the hosting club or the GFA. > > There is nothing in the competition rules that suspends any laws. There are > no exemptions. Pilots flying in a competition are just pilots, and must obey > every requirement of the law. They remain fully responsible as Pilots in > Command for the conduct of the flight. If they choose to disobey the law or > good practice then that is entirely their responsibility. The competition is > a game. Flying is not. > > No one wants to break their glider or themselves, and the rules of the game > clearly discourage that by the simple fact that most of the time there is > another race tomorrow. You won't get any points from a hospital bed or if > your glider is in bits. On the last day, well if there was a million dollars > at stake I could imagine that the risk of rolling yourself into a ball might > be worth taking for some - but in our game why would anyone break a $100K > glider for a bottle of cheap wine and a round of applause? Or even for the > opportunity to spend shed loads of their own money representing Australia? > > If you want to know who is responsible for the safety of a flight where you > are the Pilot in Command, take a good look in a mirror. And be very sure of > what you see. > Cheers > Tim Shirley > tra dire é fare c' é mezzo il mare > On 28/10/2014 2:06 PM, Texler, Michael wrote: > The caveat should be in place that the crash was a result of your own poor > decision making. > > Now what constitutes poor decision making is a matter of opinion. > > Surely competition rules should be in place to discourage crashing: > i.e. you crash, you are out of the comp. You pack up and go home. > > > I'll leave it to others more experienced in these matters to give reasons why. > > > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
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