On Dec 17, 9:07*am, Andy wrote:
And one last note gleaned from a contest flying camp. *Instead of
adding
a 10 minute buffer, just estimate 2 miles per minute (120mph) for
final
glide. *You're not likely to fly that fast, especially in sports class
or
on a dry day in FAI classes, so you won't come in under time. *E.g.,
you're 20 miles out, so figure 10 minutes. *If you're 15 minutes under
time,
then you should fly further and find more lift.

-- Matt

Put another way - you should add 10 minutes on top of the 2 minutes
per mile, not instead of it. For very long final legs add a bit more
than 10 minutes.

Andy

Sounds reasonable. The 2x rule of thumb was from DJ a couple of years
ago
and works pretty well for sports class. However, on my personal best
flight in sports
class I muffed up the finish time by not computing my target finish
time early
in the flight when I still had brain cells available to carry the hour
(3:45 task time).
The 10 minute buffer might have just about saved me the early finish.

-- Matt