RE: Risk Takers?
Diplomacy... the art of saying "nice doggie" while you look for a larger stick.
Jim, I'll have to accept at face value that DB cannot refer to specific events for liability reasons, but that still does not excuse his last three paragraphs in my book. I personally took offense to his idea of restraint as it applies to the typical AMA above average skilled pilot. I think DB needed to define "stunt" better to clarify the issue. I can see that by "stunt" he might have meant something like hovering over one's head as opposed to something like a low hover over the runway, but he really wasn't very clear what he means.
I'm still not 100% clear on what DB considered unsafe, but assuming we are talking about hovering in the pits over heads or the like, the solution is simple but will be difficult to employ. The key is to ask "Why is this going on?" Ego, national recognition, to gain sponsors, to thrill the crowd? If the crowd hated to watch the "danger" they wouldn't attend the events, or by the tapes, or pay any attention to who sponsored the risky pilots, etc. Without the demand, the pilots wouldn't bother taking the risk in most cases. It is human nature to enjoy being thrilled by an element of danger, which makes a solution difficult to employ. DB implies that the problem is with the "risk takers." I would argue that the problem is actually with the spectators and their enjoyment of watching the risky behavior. Until we as spectators change our tastes, the problem will remain. The likelihood of spectators not wanting to see the "risky" air shows, wing walkers, NASCAR crashes, WWF, etc. is about nil. So, if a "real" solution is unobtainable, the only thing the AMA can really do is separate themselves from the risk takers. This is why I still feel the AMA should privately contact the national risk takers and expressed their concerns directly to the pilots explaining how they violated the AMA safety rules with their stunt. I would ask the offending pilot to find new stunts to thrill the crowd that do not violate the safety codes. If the national pilots in question do not change their ways, I would threaten expulsion from the AMA or banning them from flying at any AMA event, etc. For most hot dog pilots, I'd think they wouldn't want to risk not being able to show off anymore at big AMA events, so they would comply. Not a perfect solution, but it is the best I can come up with at the time.