Why this Trial is important – A real-life situation

Ian McFarlane of Burn Gliding Club provided this example:

“I was at Burn Gliding Club yesterday (25^th August 2022) and took a student on a winch launch sortie (we were typically gaining about 1200ft AGL in light winds). As I flew the downwind leg (in an ASK-21 Glider) I observed a small GA aircraft approximately 500ft above me crossing the airfield. As part of my downwind call I alerted the launch point team to the traffic stating my height QFE as 650ft. They had already seen the traffic themselves and were observing. My aircraft had a SkyEcho unit installed and functioning and there was another glider on the ground with SkyEcho installed too; both gliders also had Flarm installed and active. The winch driver also observed the aircraft and reported “it appeared to be below cable height”. The winch driver continued to observe the flight expecting it to descend into nearby Sherburn in Elmet but it didn’t.

I never felt that the safety of my flight was compromised – we had ample separation, but the overflying traffic came dangerously close to a potential winch launch, only recently in a stronger wind on this runway I was seeing over 1600ft on the winch launch – with a 6mm diameter steel wire!

 If we ever needed a timely example of why this trial is important, this would be it!”