Bob Dircks wrote:
What raised it in my mind recently was.....
last week when the club nats were on here at Keepit, I was sitting out
on my lawn with binoculars watching the gaggle just before the gate
opened.... I could pick out the gliders with significant markings much
easier than the all white ones, and the (small) variety of markings
helped to identify some.
I'm rather surprised that there isn't more "individual style" .........
Or is it that comp pilots want to remain inconspicuous... specially
those at the top end.... in an effort to slip away un-noticed by the
wanna-bees ?
I seem to remember that Al was in a Cirrus with significant markings.....
Bob
Reminds me of the good old days in the mid seventies when we had a
manual start gate 1,000 metres square through which every aircraft had
to fly. This necessitated positive identification of each aircraft on
it's start run, and prior to crossing through the gate.
At the world comps at Wakerie (and many of the Australian comps for some
years after), a large number of the standard class fleet were Standard
Libelles. It was often pretty hard to pick out which of the 3,4 or more
201s coming in on a start run (probably all of them at VNE) was which,
and under some conditions is was pretty well impossible to get a
positive ID on some of them.
Some of the pilots and crew did use a small identification patch (maybe
750 mm square) in a unique place under one of the wings to make it
easier for those of us spotting on the ground. Others had coloured
bands on the wingtips. Eventually we got to know those finer details,
usually in time for the last few days anyway.
I don't think anyone gave serious thought to the implications of heat
on a hot tarmac as Mike has explained. Of course it wasn't an issue at
Waikerie with the grassed TO areas, but later at Narromine, or that
memorable last day at the first Nationals at Cunderdin it certainly
would have.
I used to like working at the great complex and often frustrating start
gate system . It certainly built a great sense of team and camaraderie
amongst those who got involved in it.
regards,
Terry
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