Jo Davis wrote:
I agree it is a change that brings unnecessary risk to an already
high workload situation, when ideally the focus is on looking out.
Aside from agreeing at the pilots meeting that it would bring in
unnecesary complication when the workload is already high, the general
consensus was that working sheer wave was a skill like all other
skills that are tested during competition. From memory the idea of
restricting start heights was knocked on the head very quickly during
the meeting, so it is surprising that despite that consensus it is
apparently not only being discussed again but is already written
into the rules.
The solution of having the first leg into wind is a far more elegant
solution to the issue of an 'unfair advantage' at the start - simple
and safe.
I'm afraid I can't remember the details of the pilot's meeting
discussion on this topic at Temora. I've emailed Ross asking for him to
clarify things.
However, I really don't think that requiring the first leg of a task to
be into wind is a solution as this will truly restrict task setters.
Furthermore, there is also the issue of deciding what "into wind means".
Whilst mountain wave (which is what I remember Bruce getting into at the
Kingaroy state comps a few years back and starting from over 11,000ft
whilst the rest of us blundered around at about 6,000ft) requires the
wind to be relatively constant in direction with increasing height, this
is not the case with shear wave - where there can be a significant
difference between the wind direction in the thermal boundary layer and
that part of the atmosphere in which the wave is occurring (I have seen
lenticulars at 90 degrees to the lower winds).
The task setter's job is already quite difficult and restricting them by
requiring the first leg "into wind" is, I believe, going to make it very
much more difficult.
I personally do not have a problem with allowing people to use shear
wave. I always look for it pre-start in a comp and have found it a
couple of times the but not to the extent where it was significant. If
someone finds it and uses it, that's fine by me.
The speed restriction doesn't worry me too much (it's reasonably easy to
monitor speed from the noise), but watching height does bother me as
this will require more head in cockpit time and thinking time...not good
when the sky is rather full or glass and carbon...
--
Robert Hart [EMAIL PROTECTED]
+61 (0)438 385 533 http://www.hart.wattle.id.au
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