Originally Posted by
HEATHROW DIRECTOR
<<attempt to be super safe>>
One can never, ever be "super safe".
Indeed one cannot, but the guys who 1) flew over our gliding field upwind at circuit height (more or less along the line of the winch cable), and 2) flew across the business end of the winch at less thatn 2,000'agl could certainly have been a whole lot safer. It's not as if the field is unmarked on the chart, or difficult to make out from the air.
IMHO this sort of thing is a much, much bigger threat to safety than a collection of gliders without transponders ever would be, partly because pilots displaying such a lack of awareness of where they are and what the specific hazards of a gliding site are are probably just as unaware about many other hazards.