Australia is sooooo a nanny state and culture, with gross exceptions for sporting events ,of course. you can drive your F1 car at the speed of heat around albert park, but can get you family sedan impounded for a bit of a wheelie on a public road. the head copper of road traffic in Vic can preach about how bad it is to speed (in support of the revenue harvesting speed, errr sorry, 'safety' cameras) and then pass of his own speeding as being a bit of a slip attention and no biggie really, 'just a litte bit over'.
I just got back fron Europe and having flown into KL where there was a short announcement such as "drug importation is regarded as a serious offence in malaysia and is punished by a mandatory death sentence", on the way in to the UK, an announcement "due to health and quarantine requirements the aircarft will be sprayed before we arrive in London"
on arrival back into Aus is the obligatory 40 minute video about cunstoms, immigration, quarantine, passports and all other manner of tripe that made me miss the last bit of the crap movie that i was watching.
The Europeans have a much more relaxed attitude to speeding and the like. they even tolerate plane spotters muppets as a part of life's rich tapestry. I was in the office of the chief pilot of a Czech oeprator, on a privately owned rural bohemian airport, when a knock on the door and two heads, festooned with camera straps, poke around it and introduce themselves and ask to have the hangar opened so that they can note the tail numbers of some interesting aircraft that they had heard about at this airfield. our host very graciously summoned his cheif technician from poring over some ruski jet engine and tasked him to take these blokes on a guided tour, amazing..
RBAR will result in a fatality sooner or later, it is very difficult to mtigate risk greatly in this environment, unlike a race track where 2 dimensions can contain catastrophic events in most cases. add the third dimension, ballistics and very marginal protection for participants and spectators. risk Reduction is the remaining consideration and this is where the prime efforts for RBAR is directed, though it wouyld seem that more could be done. This is not such a thing as to be regarded in a blase manner, though pilot's ego's (and i know i am no exception) can lead one to make light of mistakes which can have very serious implications.
I were a ag pilot once and not without several 'close shaves' similar to that of Matty's. I did always try my best to confront the issue properly and put my hand up if it was a straight out
up on my behalf, which it usually was. With constant exposure to the high risk environment it is possible to operate with very small margins ( as ag pilopts do every day) but there must be a margin all the same, even when racing like these guys are, ignore that and you will see than 'bouncing' more often. this is not actually the way to win races as winners only are counted at the finish.
There is a limit to how many times you can 'touch the wall' and get away with it.
Don't stop RBAR, but it must, and surely is, subject to review and councelling etc by the organizers and stewards of the event.
That having been said I am sure that this will not make less people come and watch racing, a bit of inherent danger is a part of the thrill that draws crowds. occaisional incidents like this will bring the masses like a gladiator fight in the coloseum did.
It is still way safer that the Isle of Man TT races that have been on telly this week and where i saw Mike the Bike and Joey Dunlop race in the late 70's, nor did the sheer danger of the 'track' stop me from doing my best to emulate them on a 500cc triumph on 'Mad Sunday'. mea culpa. two germans killed themselves on their hondas on the mountain that day, but they just hosed the stone fences down and re-opened the road as soon as the ambo's left.
nothing wrong with blood sports, but don't pretend that it's all bright and shiney if your fliying suit has a big brown stain in the pants. F18 jockey or not, all that tax payers money that has been invested does not garantee that risks are always correctly balanced, and mistakes acknowledged. of course the press release can be very different from Matty's actual opinion on the subject. I (we) do not know the reality, only the hype.
HD
"The older I get the Better I was"