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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>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: <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></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>If you'd just like to hear the idea I'll paste my
RCU posting below:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><FONT face=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.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><FONT face=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. </FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><FONT face=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.</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><FONT face=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!</FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><FONT face=Calibri>Keith
Black</FONT></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>