Brian,
Sorry you had a scary day. Sounds to me like you don't have enough club members interested in safety. I say that because it seems that neither old guy had a spotter who would assist in times of trouble. If there were 'spotters', you have a real problem that NEEDS to be addressed at your next club meeting.

Maybe we need to define the real task of a 'spotter' so that your next club meeting is not just a blood letting because some poor guy didn't have a clue what he was supposed to do or your club doesn't even bother to think about public safety.

Red Scholefield has defined the spotters task as good as I have ever seen, but here is my cut at it. There are 3 separate tasks a spotter is responsible for. First task is to insure that the runway status (is or is not clear) is always know to the pilot. Second is to try to warn the pilot when HIS aircraft is about to endanger another. Third is to warn the pilot when he is about to enter the potential flight path of another. And the last unstated job of the 'spotter' it to render aid and assistance before the pilot runs out of ideas, airspeed, and altitude.

That last sentence implies that the 'spotter' is to help Frank Flightpack get the plane onto the correct side of the pilots line by whatever means necessary. This is where a spotter really earns their 'keep'.

Your idea about an age based 'mother may I' test probably won't fly very far. However if you implement the spotter rule above some stated age, you will probably not get too much grief and you will play in a safer environment.

Good luck,

Jim Branaum
AMA 1428