I have to agree with Ryan,..................

In my own oppinion,...Many pilots develope the ability to see whats going on around them,..I do. I fly as if I'm looking ahead, below, above and behind the box all the time,.seeing whats going on around me all the time. That is something full scale military flying teaches you,...always scan the sky! I know not everyone can accomplish this ,...but it dosen't take but a glance to see where the other guy is. I have many times over the year avoided an incident by slipping out or in,..up or down a hair to give a sweeter spot to fly, if I have someone that perfers the same "box" elements as I do,..make adjustments. Wheather it was IMAC, IMAA, Fun Flys or recently pattern,.etc. The odd's of colliding are very rare, but on occassion it does happen. I too would rather bail out as Mike indicated earlier than take the risk of loosing a plane or having one damaged so bad,.. it becomes a risk to the other pilots on the ground.

Ultimately,..there still is no really fool proof way of avoiding a mid-air,.....you TIC,..you YAC,....the majority of the times your lucky if it comes to that. I hold my line,..if it comes to a major correction,..so be it, get past it or take the down grade. And with pattern or anything else,..you can tell if the other guy likes the same line and altitude as you,..move in or move out,...move up or move down,..it just takes a few glances and stay there. Yeah,...you may give something up that round,....atleast you go on to finish the contest.

What will happen,..will happen and one one can predict it!

Happy flying,

Bill Holsten