Soaring Competition

These are currently fairly similar to last year's rules. We know they aren't perfect and there are some problems with them, but we hope that these will be refined between now and the competition with feedback and suggestions.

The soaring competition this year is still only a trial, to see how well it runs as a separate league, and all flights that have a trace submitted will be counted towards it, to encourage flying and hopefully make it a decent competition.

  1. One point is awarded for each minute of flight up to 70 mins
  2. Four points will be deducted for each minute of flight over 70 minutes.
  3. The lowest score which can be recorded is 0 points.
  4. Two points are awarded for each 100 feet of height gained after the launch, provided the climb is maintained for 500 feet (A climb is defined as 'maintained' provided no logged height point is lower than the closest point which precedes the current one by 30 seconds). Climbs of less than 500 feet do not gain height points.
  5. An .igc trace file must be submitted for a flight to be awarded points. It is the responsibility of each team to make sure a working barograph is carried in each scoring glider.
  6. Only the best scoring flight for each pilot will be counted on any given day
  7. Instructors may fly in scoring gliders and may verbally assist the competitor. They may not take control of the glider at any time, except for safety reasons.
  8. Should both pilots in a two-seater be potential competitors, one must be named as competitor before launch. If the P2 is named as the competitor, the above rule still applies.
  9. Any launch method may be used. The launch height should be clearly marked by a dip in the barograph trace. If no dip is recorded to verify the launch height, the first climb will not be counted.
  10. Should only two or less flights longer than 15 minutes be recorded, then the day is scrubbed by default and no scores are awarded for that day.

The rules regarding dispute resolution, safety etc. have been removed just to leave the details on how the flights are scored. Good airmanship is of course assumed!

The main problems with the rules at the moment are that private owners might not want to limit their flights to 70 minutes, although we also recognise that the 70 minute limit adds some interest and a different aspect to the flight, and works well for shared gliders with several pilots wanting to fly. Some sort of compromise between the two needs to be found.

Please send any suggestions you might have through the feedback form!