Hi I think Brian has raised a significant point about oxygen, comps and FAI badge claims.
To those who wish us not to be 'policemen', I would make the following points:- 1) We already 'police' flights in competitions, giving zero points for flights that infringe airspace. Remember, this rule was recently applied at the women's worlds. It is also applied here in Australia. 2) To claim that we have no responsibility for ensuring that pilots in comps and badge flights obey the law is rubbish. As a comp director, I was extremely conscious of my duty to ensure that the comp was conducted safely and within the law. I would suggest that there is at the very least a moral obligation on OOs to do the same wrt badge flights. It is quite easy for an OO or comp director to check that a flight did not exceed 10,000'. If a flight DOES exceed 10,000', the onus should be placed on the claimant to show that the flight was conducted within the law (or the GFA appropriate regulations) - ie that an oxygen system was fitted and used (oxy bottles have gauges after all...). 3) If the regulation that we use oxygen above 10,000' (or any other bad law/regulation) is without basis in safety (and I would dearly love to see that argued wrt to oxygen by Mike Borgelt et al in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence) or is unenforceable, then it should be stricken out. It is a well established legal principle that bad law/regulation induces contempt for the law. 4) To claim that people regularly break one law (or regulation) is no argument for ignoring other laws (or regulations). If the VMC regulations regarding cloud are regularly broken by glider pilots and the rule is unenforceable, then perhaps we should look at changing the rule wrt gliders. We have successfully argued for waivers for gliding in a number of cases (eg transponders), perhaps we could do so for flying close to cloud. [From my experience at Caboolture, POWER pilots (including RPT aircraft transiting VMC below the controlled airspace) also REGULARLY breach the VMC regulations wrt to cloud.] 5) If people are so against 'officers of the sport' becoming policemen, then perhaps we should dispense with the DI rating, the airworthiness rating, annual flying checks - and even instructors (Mike Borgelt need not reply to that particular item). The reality is that we operate under regulations and have people designated to police these regulations because it has been found that a 'free for all' is unworkable - some people will NOT 'do the right thing' and we end up with injuries and deaths. Regulations and the enforcement thereof are therefore are necessary to protect the majority from the minority. That they should be 'good' (which must include enforceable) laws/regulations goes without saying. ======================================= What this issue comes down to is SAFETY ======================================= Whilst we are individually responsible for ensuring our safety and that of others when we fly, we also have laws and regulations that enforce a large number of aspects of safety. Oxygen usage is one of those. I *know* that I am affected by the lower partial pressure of oxygen at altitude - and that affect occurs BELOW 10,000 when spending a prolonged period above about 7000' . It was because of this that Brian and I decided to go out and buy an oxygen system for Alice. I also know, from comments from other pilots, that they believe they are immune to oxygen deprivation. I presume they are also immune to the law of gravity! When considering this issue, try asking yourself the following questions... Just how safe are YOU if you are sharing a thermal or cloud street with a person suffering from oxygen deprivation? Do you know your personal oxygen limits (and by the way, these can vary significantly from day to day, so how do you KNOW this)? We cannot police each and every flight that a glider makes to see that the pilot does not fly above 10,000' without using oxygen. However, if we police those flights that we can easily (ie with little effort on the part of our sporting organisation) police, then we will do two things:- 1) We will establish a clear message - oxygen deprivation is a safety issue: either stay below 10,000' or use oxygen. 2) Private owners and club members will move to have the gliders they own fitted with oxygen - and use it. Policing comp and badge flights for oxygen usage is very, very simple after all. It would increase the safety in our sport. What is the problem? -- Robert Hart [EMAIL PROTECTED] +61 (0)438 385 533 Brisbane, Australia http://www.hart.wattle.id.au _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
