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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:blue'>Jay,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:blue'>I can’t count the times I’ve
seen airplanes that are flown 10 deg to each other during contests without even
trying. I think it’s just the nature of the beast. I’ve not
witnessed a midair in any of the contests I’ve been to. Yes it sucks that
we lose airplanes, but I don’t see a reason to change the way we fly to
account for a bad situation that occurs very rarely. I haven’t seen a
case where the way contests are run now that they are unsafe. It would be nice
to eliminate all possibility for midairs either by physically separating the
flight lines far enough where the two boxes don’t intersect, or by
running one line, however, I don’t see either as being feasible.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:blue'>Sorry about your loss, Keith. That Brio
sure was a beautiful airplane. I hope you get another one going soon.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:blue'>Ryan<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=blue face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:blue'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> <st1:PersonName
w:st="on">nsrca-discussion-bounces@lists.nsrca.org</st1:PersonName> [mailto:<st1:PersonName
w:st="on">nsrca-discussion-bounces@lists.nsrca.org</st1:PersonName>] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Jay Marshall<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, September 25, 2007
6:52 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> 'NSRCA Mailing List'<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [NSRCA-discussion]
Mid-Air discussion</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I’ll say again - the easiest way to
prevent mid-air collisions is to fly in different (geometric) planes. If the
flight planes are intersected 10 deg. to each other then the probability of
collision is greatly reduced.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<p><b><i><font size=4 color=navy face="Brush Script MT"><span style='font-size:
13.5pt;font-family:"Brush Script MT";color:navy;font-weight:bold;font-style:
italic'>Jay Marshall</span></font></i></b><font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'> </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>-----Original Message-----<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b> <st1:PersonName w:st="on">nsrca-discussion-bounces@lists.nsrca.org</st1:PersonName>
[mailto:<st1:PersonName w:st="on">nsrca-discussion-bounces@lists.nsrca.org</st1:PersonName>]
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Keith Black<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, September 25, 2007
5:48 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> NSRCA Mailing List<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [NSRCA-discussion]
Mid-Air discussion</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Following my mid-air at the <st1:place
w:st="on">N. Dallas</st1:place> 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: <a
href="http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_6409493/anchors_6413018/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#6413018">http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_6409493/anchors_6413018/mpage_1/key_/anchor/tm.htm#6413018</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>If you'd just like to hear the idea
I'll paste my RCU posting below:</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
10.0pt;margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Calibri'>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.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
10.0pt;margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Calibri'>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. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
10.0pt;margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Calibri'>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.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
10.0pt;margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Calibri'>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!</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
10.0pt;margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face=Calibri><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Calibri'>Keith Black</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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