Hi All, Probably a good time to mention a few things. The FAI are looking at approving cots devices ( which includes flarm ) for badge flying, or at least have agreed to start looking at using them - Terry Cubley attended that meeting and the minutes are on the GFA site or links to FAI.
Ozflarms were used extensively as back up loggers ( not it's primary design use ) for both the QLD State comps and the nationals - some including myself would have scored zero if we hadn't have had them. My trusty black box lost GPS lock on one day only - cause unknown but it has never happened to me in 11 years of using it! 200 ozflarms now in operation around Australia and the next 50 are pre sold when they are built - thanks largely to 2 Victorian clubs so the uptake in the Southern states has been good this year. As near as I can tell there are now 40 Non Ozflarm flarms ( i.e imports from overseas ) which could make the total real soon to nearly 300 Oz wide. Some of the G.A guys are trialing units who fly into gliding airfields so those results look promising and this Friday we will be trialing some external aerials for tugs ( on a tug ) to improve detection. Flarm Technology in Switzerland continue to improve the product mainly in the software ( Version 3.02 is the current version ) and there are now several OEM suppliers of flarm based product in Europe. As you know RF Developments uses the core technology so any improvements are passed on to our Australian customers and all units are 100% compatable. Cheers all. Nigel RF Developments Pty Ltd "A Queensland Company devoted to Research and Development in aviation electronics" Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web www.rf-developments.com Ph: (61) 7 54635670 Fax: (61) 7 54635695 **************DISCLAIMER************ The information contained in the above e-mail message or messages (which includes any attachments) is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended only for the use of the person or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the addressee any form of disclosure, copying, modification, distribution or any action taken or omitted in reliance on the information is unauthorised. If you received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your computer system network. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of nandrews Sent: Wednesday, 8 November 2006 3:24 PM To: 'Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.' Subject: E: [Aus-soaring] GPS units - opinions please... There are 17 in S.A , most of them at Gawler. Nigel -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of David Lawley Sent: Wednesday, 8 November 2006 2:32 PM To: 'Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.' Subject: RE: [Aus-soaring] GPS units - opinions please... "once you have 2 gliders with FLARM" Agreed Scott, however here in SA there are very few FLARMS I know of (in fact none: Waikerie, AUGC and Balaklava do not have them, not sure about others) and WGC has not decided to buy any as yet. Not much point in being the only glider in the state to have one eh? Hence my statement! I guess it varies from state to state, so what applies here may not be the case elsewhere, something I should perhaps have mentioned. There may be a point that most gliders have them, they then will become very useful If FLARM were to have an IGC approved logger it would really make it very worthwhile to buy though-is this possible? To avoid any confusion I do think FLARM is a great idea, and would like to see all gliders have them, however until they do it will be the glider without one that will get you if you don't continue to keep a good lookout! Regards Dave L -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Scott Penrose Sent: Wednesday, 8 November 2006 1:35 PM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] GPS units - opinions please... Some excellent advice here David, except: On 08/11/2006, at 13:11, David Lawley wrote: > A flarm alone will blow your budget, without PDA etc, and is next > to useless > for collision avoidance unless ALL other gliders have one. They are > easily > fitted with Velcro to the top of instrument panels if a temporary > setup in a > club ship is required (Plenty of this happened at the Gawler Nats last > year), needing only a 12 volt supply to function. Just statistically, once you have 2 gliders with FLARM, every extra one reduces collision risk. It is quite incorrect to say that all gliders need one to be useful. I flew this weekend in Raywood with 20 to 30 gliders. I have no idea how many had FLARM, I would guess less than 10 - and it was very successful at picking up and warning of gliders approaching that also had a FLARM - even in that very limited sense, with less than a 1/3 coverage I was getting useful and extra protection that enhanced my lookout - and not inconsiderably. Beyond just the statistics, and the extreme view that it would be useless unless ALL were fitted is the fact that all aircraft will never be fitted with the same system (well not never, but not in the next 10, probably 20 years) - e.g. Light aircraft, ultralights, balloons - so even if all gliders were fitted (and bring them on - they are an excellent addition) - you still must have lookout, and it will not be total protection, just bonus extra. Gliding Club of Victoria has now joined the ranks of other clubs to fit out the entire fleet - including tugs. Scott _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
