Originally Posted by
PiperCameron
With gliders it seems it's not so much the lack of radio use ..more the fact that they're very likely to randomly change direction, at high speed and with a seemingly unbelievable turn radius, whilst looking for the next thermal instead of looking out for other aircraft around them. How gliders, hang-gliders and that ilk don't have more mid-airs is beyond me.
Generally speaking what I believe keeps the collision rate down in gliding is that there is still much emphasis on head out, looking. The use of fancy electronics such as Oudies, fancy GPS mapping outputs etc has eroded this, but the emphasis remains - with variometers, Flarm and other devices using audio signals, to allow the pilot to keep head out more. Sadly it occasionally fails, and visiting or more commonly transiting power aircraft tend to add and additional layer of risk, often being unaware of sailplanes , which are hard to spot when airborne - the common all white colours don't help !