sj
Staff member
Northwest Arkansas
There has been a lot of talk about the various competitions held around the country and their efficacy relating to actual backcountry flying. For me, the safety angle of these things is important - controlling and taking account for as much as we can with the understanding that it is still a risky activity. I refer to this as "Red Bull safe" - in that Red Bull in all of their various extreme sports events and videos strives to do everything they can to make a dangerous activity as safe as possible. Obviously, Red Bull did not invent this practice as Nascar and others have been doing it to some extent before niacin based energy drinks were on the market - they are just a good example.
Yesterday, I met with the organizers of ArkanSTOL and was very impressed with what they have done to try to make their event safe for contestants and spectators alike, building on everything they learned in their inaugural year Other STOL events have done much of the same - to varying degrees.
We often talk about the danger of these big events, yet by the end of June this year, there were sixteen accidents in the Idaho and Montana backcountry mostly due to pilot error - many in the judgement of the effect of density altitude. In my mind we all need to be striving for "red bull safe" when we fly outside of our normal comfort zone and must do everything we can do mitigate the mitigatable risks - training, proper equipment, planning, etc.
Just my thoughts for today.
sj
Yesterday, I met with the organizers of ArkanSTOL and was very impressed with what they have done to try to make their event safe for contestants and spectators alike, building on everything they learned in their inaugural year Other STOL events have done much of the same - to varying degrees.
We often talk about the danger of these big events, yet by the end of June this year, there were sixteen accidents in the Idaho and Montana backcountry mostly due to pilot error - many in the judgement of the effect of density altitude. In my mind we all need to be striving for "red bull safe" when we fly outside of our normal comfort zone and must do everything we can do mitigate the mitigatable risks - training, proper equipment, planning, etc.
Just my thoughts for today.
sj
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