On Dec 16, 8:22*am, MickiMinner wrote:
I apologize in advance for the long post, but I need to put forth some
arguments here!

*P.S. does everyone in the USA know that when the SSA was formed in
1932, that the ONLY reason for the charter was to RACE gliders? *Back
in 1932, that was the only reason for the formation of the
Association. *Things may have changed in the last few years, but we
should not ignore our history.

Since I was involved with all of the contests in Region 9, and the
formation of a couple of "new" sites to hold contests in Region 9, I
HAVE to comment. *We are fortunate in Region 9, as there are too many
clubs/sites wanting to hold contests. *There is no way that there is
enough people for ALL of the places that wanted to hold sanctioned
contests in Region 9 this year. *The 15 meter nationals are being run
with a regional, to ensure that we get enough turn-out to afford tow
pilots and the like, Parowan organizers wanted to run a contest
(haven't seen anything yet), and the Tucson club wanted to run another
contest like last year. *Other regions may not have enough contests,
but Region 9 is fortunate to have such GREAT soaring. *The
recommendation (not the final word from the SSA or otherwise) that the
club in Tucson wait a year before holding another contest. *It was a
recommendation that was also given to other clubs after running their
first contest.

1. *You don't want the club members to feel pushed out by all the
contestants and priorities that a contest will impose. *There were a
few comments from club members at 2 of the above-mentioned sites, but
Tucson in particular has an ACTIVE great cross country school/
training, part of the active and growing ASA (Arizona Soaring
Association) and some of the old-time members of the club don't like
contests, don't like youth, and you have to be respectful to ALL
members of the club, when you have a GREAT racing site like Tucson.
That club is actually one of the premier soaring sites and facilities
that I have ever seen.

2. *In the Southwest, you have a problem being able to afford the Tow
Pilots. *Because they have to travel such great distances to get
there, and then because of the density altitudes, the mountain ranges,
etc., You also have a problem getting tow Pilots that have good safety
records, good planes and practiced at towing. *The major problem is
that the best tow pilots are towing for their clubs, and the clubs
aren't willing to give up their pilots or planes for a week of a
contest and lose the business at their local clubs! *Most of the good
soaring sites in Region 9 have to have the gliders towed out to almost
beyond glide back to the airport, because of geographical terrain.

3. *You have to find people willing to be contest managers. *The
contest management job is a non-paid, non-appreciated difficult job to
do. *Most of the people in the SSA racing committee (with the few
exceptions of Garrett and Karl, both of whom leave the details to
their wives) have or understand the management of a contest. * Each
location in Region 9, *have been training new contest managers, and
training scorers. *Racing is definitely on the upswing in Region 9,
and not decreasing as in other regions. *I also have an "issue" with
the racing committee that makes new rules and then doesn't officially
inform any of the contests managers (who are almost NEVER racing
pilots) of any new rules changes, even when they already have contests
sanctioned. That is another discussion for another time and place.

4. *A lot of pilots give LOTS of reasons why they don't want to fly in
contests, and the number one reason that I hear, is that I am not a
competitive type, and I won't endanger myself or my ship by flying in
a contest. *Whether that is valid or not is a different discussion for
a different time. *The only people that I hear complain about the
costs of contests are the people that actually alread fly in the
contests, and then I always ask them to review the Profit/Loss
statements that contest managers are required to give out to each
contestant. *No one has ever come back with anything after actually
reading the profit/loss statements. *I did have one pilot in the last
5 years, ask me about an item on the P/L statement, but that resulted
in a change in the way one line item was reported, and the pilot
offered to help with that line item the next year. *God Bless pilots
who read the numbers! *(He is one of my favorites). *If people
complain about costs at my contests, they can always ask for the
budget before hand, as I prepare budgets before I send in a sanction
request. *My average profit for a sanctioned contest in Region 9, is
about $500 dollars. *Obviously, I manage contests for the love of the
pilots within my region and even then, I mostly donate my share of
the *company profits to the Bultman Fund, Juniors, and US teams.

5. *All of the regional contests in Region 9 DO have instructional
classes (bless Karl Streideick for starting that tradition at
Parowan). *They are very well attended and many pilots look forward to
them. *At the Tucson club, we had a lot of the club members who were
not racing attend the classes. *It is a WONDERFUL way to share
knowledge and love the sport with everyone. *Last year, I had several
club members that weren't racing tell me how much they learned and
enjoyed from the great class leaders. THANK YOU to Billy Hill for
arranging the classes!

the Tucson Soaring Club has worked hard to come up with a plan that
would entice many people, without the restrictions of the contests as
they were known at the time of planning. *(another issue with the race
committee, is that the lead time for approval is WAY too short) *Most
people NEED at least a year to get vacation time to get to a contest.
Hence the new rules of regionals that can be run in successive
weekends. *However, the successive weekends don't help much when
Region 9 is so huge, that it takes a day's drive to get to each
contest sites, and that's only if you are a local.

Having an "OLC Cross Country Camp" solves a lot of problems with
having an SSA sanctioned contest:
1. *Every pilot can soar to the level that they are comfortable with
based on their own levels of achievement
2. *You don't have to compete with other's in different ships within
the same class, unless you want to
3. *You can review the area, and decide what terrain you are most
comfortable with, AND you talk to the other pilots on the radio to see
what is happening on the other side of the same contest area
4. *You can try out stuff you learn in the classes that are held every
morning and stretch your knowledge, without jeopardizing your position
in the "rankings", (pardon the pun) that rankle pilots who are not
competitive, but can't stand seeing experiments based on newly gained
knowledge drop them to the bottom of the list.
5. *OLC is fun, because you can compare it to your own past history,
even if you are in a new location
6. *OLC is fun, because you can compare your flights to everyone in
the world, not just within the state/contest or club.

Another advantage to this type of contest/cross country/OLC/camp, is
that you can practice landing-out. *The skill and experience with
landing out is SO important that pilots really should NOT race in an
SSA sanctioned contest without experience at land outs. *A lot of
clubs will not allow pilots to practice their land outs, so then how
is a pilot to practice that? *this is a great place with no stress
added to the procedure (more than the normal drat and durn, I can't
make it frustration).

I am a whole hearted supporter of this idea that the Tucson Club came
up with. *It is not a replacement to SSA sanctioned contests, it is a
way to gather pilots, have training, fun, and race. *Of course, if
everyone in the neighboring regions want to come to one of the 4-5
planned SSA sanctioned contests in Region 9, we would WELCOME them
with open arms. *Soaring in this area is INCREDIBLE...Every state
within Region 9 has some of the best soaring in the country (Wyoming,
Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico). *If you want to fly in a
"sanctioned" contest, we have plenty of those too.....but this OLC one
should be lots of FUN too.

Besides, the best two OLC clubs in the entire World all seem to be in
Region 9! *I love the rivalry between Albq. and Tucson! *All the
rivalry can't be anything but GOOD for the sport.

Micki

Micki:

You filled in a lot of the details and arguments that I left out.
Would you like to come and run it for us?

Mike