reducing risks of mid-airs
Fuji Abound on page one had excellent tips for avoiding mid-airs.
LOOKOUT LOOKOUT LOOKOUT! That's number one lesson, and every other lesson thereafter at our gliding club, if Blogs tries to start a turn without a proper scan, we block the controls.
Too many gadgets in the cockpit. Helicopter flew over our wire launch at 600 feet AGL, apologised later because his head was inside, consulting his moving map!
So PLAN your flight, fly your plan, spend less time looking inside.
To avoid that swarm of gliders going cross country this past weekend, keep track of the weather. If the weather is c...p, gliders won't be going cross country, they may be practicing takeoffs, landings, circuits at the local sites. But on a day with cu all over the sky, gliders are everywhere and anywhere, all white, sometimes in gaggles, sometimes flying in a competition that has been NOTAMed. In which case up to 50 gliders may be following the designated triangular course. Usually working the height band from 2,000' to near cloud base. Under 2,000' we get nervous and start looking for a field.
Unfortunately there are choke points where controlled air space forces GA and gliders into fairly narrow corridors. Special care here, please.
If you can wear a parachute, do so. And know how to use it. You never know, it might save your life.