Bruno Vassel's video: Gliders All Over the Sky Climbing at Over 1000 Feet Per Minute

This was the start of the task for Day 7 of the 2018 Nephi Sports Class Nationals. A couple of dozen gliders (sailplanes) have just climbed up through the top of the start gate at 12,000' and we continue to climb together circling in very strong lift up to over 17,000' before heading out on a 4 hour course that is over 400 miles long. Amazingly, gliders can fly on rising columns of air and here in Utah, we often have to work hard not to fly up into Class A airspace where airliners fly. Watch in this video as dozens of gliders fly close to each other and work hard not to run into each other. If that were to happen, it is possible for enough damage to occur to the gliders that the pilots would have to bail out and parachute to safety. In competitions like this one, all pilots are required to wear a parachute. You can also hear and see on the screen the proximity warnings from PowerFlarm which helps glider pilots to have a better idea where all the other gliders are around them as they fly. That said, it is very helpful to have these alerts, but the pilots must keep their heads up and their eyes scanning all around to not get too close to another glider. I am flying an ASW27 15 meter high performance sailplane and the camera is a simple GoPro Hero4. Fun stuff! Thanks for watching. Bruno - B4