I agree that pilots should keep a comfortable margin, and this is easily doable when you see people in front of you who stop climbing. When you're in the lead gaggle and the stakes are high however, this is something that can happen, whether it is in a thermal or in a blue convergence as Luc mentions below.
Vertical buffers for airspaces and apply similar rules than those used for cloud flying
Discipline
Paragliding XC
What do we want ?
A better way to handle airspaces with a vertical ceiling that pilots fly under during competitions.
I've had a similar issue twice during competitions in Colombia this winter :
There is a relatively low imposed altitude ceiling over the whole competition area and strong thermals (2400m in Roldanillo in this case).
As the leading gaggle cannot see the airmass, it tries to leave thermals with enough margin to not exceed the imposed ceiling. If the margin wasn't big enough, ten or more pilots are now climbing at three to five meters per second and are all about to get severely penalized. The only solution, for all of them, is to go into a deep spiral right away or violate the airspace.
In my case, spiraling down hard, barely losing any altitude and seeing other pilots doing the same less than fifty meters away from me wasn't a pleasant experience and was really dangerous. I'd like to avoid encountering these kinds of situations in future events.
Note: The ceiling mentioned here is typically the floor of the actual airspace, but for us pilots it feels more like a ceiling, hence the use of the term.
I've had a similar issue twice during competitions in Colombia this winter :
There is a relatively low imposed altitude ceiling over the whole competition area and strong thermals (2400m in Roldanillo in this case).
As the leading gaggle cannot see the airmass, it tries to leave thermals with enough margin to not exceed the imposed ceiling. If the margin wasn't big enough, ten or more pilots are now climbing at three to five meters per second and are all about to get severely penalized. The only solution, for all of them, is to go into a deep spiral right away or violate the airspace.
In my case, spiraling down hard, barely losing any altitude and seeing other pilots doing the same less than fifty meters away from me wasn't a pleasant experience and was really dangerous. I'd like to avoid encountering these kinds of situations in future events.
Note: The ceiling mentioned here is typically the floor of the actual airspace, but for us pilots it feels more like a ceiling, hence the use of the term.
How do we achieve that ?
I believe a really simple solution can be discussed and implemented : add a vertical buffer to avoid actually infringing airspace ceilings and apply the same rules as those used for cloud flying.
Similarly to when a pilot is being unexpectedly sucked into a cloud, a pilot not being able to avoid climbing into the buffer could keep flying straight until it becomes safe to descend and lose the advantage he gained by getting too high.
Losing the advantage would be very similar again. Go off the task route, ensure there are no pilots directly below you and spiral down below the ceiling.
I believe that this could work really well as the altitude of the buffer is known by everyone who attended the briefing and can be checked on instruments whereas for all cloud flying incidents, the actual height of the cloudbase must be discussed, proven with video etc...
I also believe this could solve similar issues happening before the start and would leave pilots a bit of time to lose altitude.
One downside is that in an area where the airspace is already limited, the buffer would bring the ceiling down even more. For example, in my example regarding Roldanillo, a 100m buffer would have brought the actual ceiling to only 2300m.
Fifty or one hundred meters seems reasonable and it could vary. If the actual airspace is infringed, the same penalties as today can be applied. To implement this, competition organizers would simply have to tweak airspace files so that some airspaces are N meters lower.
On top of all this, it could ensure that most competition organizers use airspace buffers and that actual airspaces are not infringed as often.
Similarly to when a pilot is being unexpectedly sucked into a cloud, a pilot not being able to avoid climbing into the buffer could keep flying straight until it becomes safe to descend and lose the advantage he gained by getting too high.
Losing the advantage would be very similar again. Go off the task route, ensure there are no pilots directly below you and spiral down below the ceiling.
I believe that this could work really well as the altitude of the buffer is known by everyone who attended the briefing and can be checked on instruments whereas for all cloud flying incidents, the actual height of the cloudbase must be discussed, proven with video etc...
I also believe this could solve similar issues happening before the start and would leave pilots a bit of time to lose altitude.
One downside is that in an area where the airspace is already limited, the buffer would bring the ceiling down even more. For example, in my example regarding Roldanillo, a 100m buffer would have brought the actual ceiling to only 2300m.
Fifty or one hundred meters seems reasonable and it could vary. If the actual airspace is infringed, the same penalties as today can be applied. To implement this, competition organizers would simply have to tweak airspace files so that some airspaces are N meters lower.
On top of all this, it could ensure that most competition organizers use airspace buffers and that actual airspaces are not infringed as often.
CIVL Delegate
If I'm not mistaken, what you propose is actually in the rule with a 100m buffer (sportive airsapce lower) to the real zone. Organisers often ignore it.
Comments
This point came up at the PWC in Turkey this year. I believe all pilots need to fly to the conditions presented.
If you are in a +8 you should not take the thermal up to within 100m of the limit. Some did and they broke airspace. Then they complained that it was dangerous to spiral down because the conditions were rough - which I agree with. But treating the symptom (people in airspace) is not the solution. The buffer you mention that should be set by the committee is what the pilots should have set themselves. I personally set - 300m below the ceiling. I left early and had no altitude issues. The buffer cannot be set on the ground hours before the task - it must be dynamically assessed throughout the race and adjusted accordingly. Racing isn't just a measure of speed but of full spectrum captaincy - which includes airspace anticipation for wind/lift etc.