[NSRCA-discussion] Mid-Air discussion

[Gray E Fowler]

As a warning system, I vote for an airhorn on the flight line, of at least 
140dB. 

Keith...midairs are just like any other aspect of this hobby, you gotta 
practice  to be good..I landed after my last one.

Of course, I probably have just cursed my soon to be painted new 
Symphony...if you believe in such things.



Gray Fowler
Senior Principal Chemical Engineer
Radomes and Specialty Apetures
Technical Staff Composites Engineering
Raytheon



"Keith Black" <tkeithblack at gmail.com> 
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09/25/2007 04:47 PM
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[NSRCA-discussion] Mid-Air discussion






Following my mid-air at the N. Dallas contest this weekend there's been an 
RCU thread started on the subject. From this discussion an interesting 
idea has evolved. For those who would like to read the thread here's the 
link: 
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_6409493/anchors_6413018/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#6413018
 
If you'd just like to hear the idea I'll paste my RCU posting below:
 
This is my third mid-air in four seasons. My first may have been avoided, 
but the last two were a complete shock to both me and my caller. In fact, 
in mid-air #2 my caller said "you're good" (meaning we were not going to 
hit). The other pilot's caller walked up to me and apologized saying that 
he told the other pilot that he was in the clear. Therefore, I don't know 
how effective a third "spotter" sitting between the lines could be.
That being said, two recent events have given me an idea of how we might 
be able to greatly improve this problem. The first light bulb was 
Vicente's suggestion of the spotter that warns the pilots. The second 
event was my walk out to pick up the fragments of my beloved Brio. As I 
was walking back I stood for a bit to observe the planes looking down the 
flight path. It was amazing how clearly you can see each plane as it moves 
in and out from the flight line. 
So here's the idea: What if we sat a spotter at the corner of the box to 
watch plane separation in the distance out dimension and then had the 
other spotter sitting between the judges (or even back under the cover) 
watching in the right to left dimension. These two spotters could use 
radios with headsets and continually talk to each other. There are many 
times that planes appear to be close to a mid-air from the flight line 
viewpoint, however, the number of times that both spotters would be 
alarmed should be fairly minimal. When this occurs the spotter could sound 
an alarm (this deserves discussion as to the details) and each pilot could 
peel off of their course. If one pilot froze the collision may still be 
avoided by just one pilot taking action. Sure, this could cause a mid-air, 
but viewing from two dimensions should help in alerting only when an 
impact is probable.
Some have stated that they've seen very few mid-airs, but my experience in 
D6 and NATS is that at least 70% (if not more) of the contests I've 
attended have had mid-airs. I'm not going to run away crying and quit the 
hobby due to this mid-air, but reducing such losses would be a benefit to 
us all!
Keith Black_______________________________________________
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