Peter and Mandy,
Many thanks for the web page based reports. Mountain flying is certainly a
different skill to those which we acquire flying cross country in Australia
and I expect success is much more highly dependent on local knowledge . What
you have learned this time must be of inestimable value to the Australian
team next year.
As you know, I was particularly interested in your experience with the Flarm
system. I was in Austria a couple of weeks there and my friend Fritz Romig,
whom you may have met at Waikerie, said that most private gliders there were
equipped with it and pilots believed it was very valuable in collision
avoidance.
My concern is that what appears to be a very useful adjunct to flight safety
may take a considerable time to filter through the GfA bureaucracy and that
we wait unnecessarily for a final development when it appears that a very
useful instrument is available right now. It could be made in Australia
under license by someone like Nigel Andrews of RF developments who can also
incorporate an ADS-B function or imported as is.
I analysed 3 mid airs with which I am very familiar, being in one and seeing
another as well as having substantial knowledge of the one at Waikeie
involving a tug. In mine Flarm would have almost certainly avoided an
accident as having knowledge of a following glider behind me would have
made certain I did not turn unless sure he had me in view. The one at
Horsham appeared to be caused when a glider approaching a few gliders
thermalling collided with another glider turning between him and the small
gaggle. If my summary is correct then there is a good chance this would also
be avoided with help from Flarm, but this incident is not so certain. The
third case involving the tragic death of the young woman tug pilot would
almost certainly been avoided if the 2 gliders and tug had been Flarm
equipped.
The destruction of 4 gliders and the tug in these three accidents
represented a capital loss of $300,000 and how much value can we place on
the 3 lives lost?
$300,000 represents the capital cost of fitting Flarm units to most of our
gliders and tugs at risk. I am sure insurance premiums would go down if we
could convince insurers that our risk profile had been reduced so that it
would not be unrealistic to assume a recoupment of some of the costs over
time.
Interestingly, most mid airs in Australia have not occurred at times of high
traffic density and it appears that Flarm would be particularly effective in
warning pilots of unobserved gliders in these circumstances.
We make parachutes mandatory in competitions but only half of pilots in
disabled gliders are able to deploy them in time. Below 3,000 ft. your
chances are much worse and they improve above that height. The cost of a
pararchute which only gives you a 50% chance is over $2,000 and there are
repacking costs each year. Much better to avoid the accident in the first
place. Approximately 10 % of our pilots who have flown multi class nationals
from Horsham till now have had a mid air accident.
I was hoping your overseas experience would result in a strong
reccommendation to implement the Flarm system in Australia but understand
you can only call it as you see it. The problems you mentioned such as being
able to adjust sound levels would be easy of solution. If the units are
easily upgradeable by having the software on a PROM or whatever then there
does not appear to be any reason to delay, but I know it will take a big
push to achieve anything in the short term,
A few questions.Does the unit give the distance betwen your glider and the
one perceived as a threat? A second version appears to be low in height and
wider which could be designed to fit on top of the instrument panel right in
the pilots view, is this how it is placed? Are the units free standing in
that they can be unplugged from a power source and easily moved between
gliders? The low power requirement quoted of 50 ma could probably be
adequately sourced from selfcontained rechargeable batteries. If you had
the option of flying in a competition either with or without the Flarm
system, how strongly would you reccomend to organisers that Flarm be used?
Your further comments would be most welcome.
Kind Regards,
Harry Medlicott
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.10.9/72 - Release Date: 8/14/2005
_______________________________________________
Aus-soaring mailing list
[email protected]
To check or change subscription details, visit:
http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
