Soaring etiquette—a code of acceptable social behavior
by Gordon Buckland [email protected]
Introduction
I often find myself bubbling with thoughts and ideas about a particular subject. These days, I enjoy the benefits of technology when I can immediately record the thoughts in my iPhone before they are gone forever.
As the "RC Soaring" column's new author, I am privileged to have an opportunity to share such ideas. With so many subjects worthy of discussion, it was hard to choose the most important topic for this month. I decided to tackle a subject that may be slightly controversial, but it is one that definitely needs some discussion.
Much passion and many varying opinions are heard when an incident occurs that causes damage to our models or other property. Occasionally there is some finger-pointing and many accusations flying after the event occurs. In some cases, an incident that causes harm to others or their property may have been avoided, but generally the event was neither planned nor was there any intent on the part of the pilots involved. It was simply an accident.
What can we do to avoid accidents, and how can we practice better accident forgiveness? When a sailplane occasionally meets its maker, who pays for the damage? What if my sailplane hurts another person's property? Whose fault is a midair collision with another model? Can we blame someone? How do we avoid these potentially disastrous midair collisions? What is appropriate behavior in the event of having an incident? These were all questions on my mind, and I wanted to find answers.
Returning to the hobby
Because I had been away from the hobby for 23 years until 2009, I was unsure of what was okay and what was not. Early upon my return, I discovered that many pilots had differing opinions — and rightfully so — in a country that embraces the right to free speech and encourages debate on virtually any subject.
It is obvious that if we land (or crash) our models anywhere other than a designated landing zone, and in the process harm another person's stuff including airplanes on the ground, cars, tents, etc., then we are ultimately responsible for any damage and should offer the owner compensation.
My first lesson
Early in 2009, armed with a new radio and my first molded sailplane, my learning curve was indeed a baptism of fire. I had never used a computer radio in the 1980s and was still unfamiliar with the JR9303 flight modes. Within a couple of launches, the Onyx JW had me worried. I was wondering why it was responding so poorly to aileron inputs and seemed to be flying sluggishly.
I decided to land and see what was going on. I found the model failing to respond sufficiently. It turned on final and crashed unceremoniously into a couple of parked cars. I soon learned that pilot error was clearly to blame, because I had launched and then left the model in launch camber during the flight — a mistake I was to make a few more times in those early days.
When winch launching a modern full-house sailplane, the full length of the wing is cambered, and if left in this configuration once off tow, the model is certainly sluggish to fly — but still flyable. I just wasn't sufficiently "switched on" to recognize what the problem was before calamity struck.
I was fortunate that I didn't hit anyone and neither of the kind car owners wanted money for the dents my model incurred, but I truly valued the experience. It was my first lesson in what I have dubbed "soaring etiquette."
Incidents at an international contest
At the World F3B Championship in Laiwu, China, I witnessed two occasions where, in the heavy smog, uncontrolled models went into the ground a fair distance away over a suburban area. The local Chinese residents must have been surprised by the aerial bombardment, and they reported the alien arrivals to the local police. On both occasions, the models were recovered by the police and returned to the pilots, along with a bill for property damage. The mischief caused by the models had to be paid for, and the return of these models was contingent upon the culprits coughing up the dough. In one case it was a small sum for repairs to a resident’s roof, which was quickly paid by the pilot.
In the other case, the Chinese pilot was required to pay a rather large sum for three rabbits. Apparently, his model had taken some lives and the local property owner demanded compensation for his now-lifeless livestock.
In the event that our model crashes, accidentally causing harm to someone's property on the ground, we are responsible for making good on this damage as well as we can. Reviving bunnies from the dead isn't all that easy, but paying the farmer's price for them in this case was the minimum.
Midairs and etiquette
The question of soaring etiquette definitely came to my attention after I witnessed several midairs during local Thermal Duration contests, and saw some pilots blaming the other for accidents that destroyed both their models.
I was shocked at the passion that was exhibited by these pilots making their case. They clearly believed that they needed to blame someone else for the loss of their models. Unsure of what was appropriate, I really wanted to know what the general rule or opinion was so I could act accordingly in the inevitable event that I had such an unfortunate coming together.
In 2010 I took a poll of many prominent and contest-winning soaring pilots in the US, and also some very experienced international soaring pilots including world champions, contest organizers, and CDs. I figured that if each of these experts could provide me with an opinion on soaring etiquette, I would have a sporting rule to follow myself.
I asked two simple questions: "How do you determine whose fault a midair is?" and "Are there any circumstances that allow one pilot to fairly blame the other?" The result was an amazing consensus of opinion.
Common sense should apply in all cases of midair collisions. The moment we launch our sailplanes into air occupied by other sailplanes, we are accepting this risk of collision at our own peril.
Nobody tries deliberately to steer his or her carefully crafted Grand Esprit or $2,000 molded sailplane into another aircraft. A midair collision can happen, but it happens by accident.
The risk of collision can be reduced by every pilot practicing the "blue-sky" rule, where each pilot independently takes evading action to maintain clear, unobstructed airspace between aircraft.
If an accident does occur, it is almost never anybody’s fault. It is an accident, with blame apportioned equally to both pilots. The only exceptions (when one pilot is clearly at fault) generally agreed upon by the experts were:
- A pilot maneuvering or cutting across a landing zone area (in the wrong direction for landing) and contacting another model that is on a legitimate landing approach.
- A model loitering or thermaling in an out-of-bounds area (such as the designated launch area) and having a collision with a launching model that had a right to be there.
- At mixed flying fields, a sailplane flying in a no-fly zone and having a collision with a powered model (or vice versa).
It was generally agreed that midair collisions are part of our hobby and they are as inevitable as finding sink and landing out. We have to learn to accept them.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
