This thread refuses to die.

So...let the 2015 Rules Committee meeting reverberate with the sound of RSG ("Return to the Start Gate")! I was somewhat tongue-in-cheek when I proposed returning to the traditional start line/gate a few days ago just to get people thinking, but why not? True, the start cylinder does spread out the field and provide more opportunities to win the start. But Sean objects to races that don't keep the competitors on the same course at about the same time so if he were intellectually honest (I'm not soliciting comments), he'd be objecting to the 5 mile cylinder, not the 2 minute rule. That latter rule was installed originally to prevent pilots from climbing up high, then diving down into the cylinder, through a gaggle, and out the side of the cylinder for a high-speed start. While Sean may be able to conserve his energy from such a redline dive for TWO MINUTES, I don't know of anyone else on this planet who can unless they have a flywheel spinning in the glider that can be engaged with a ducted fan system. And the start cylinder itself, which begs for some kind of speed limit--directly enforced or not--was implemented when GPS loggers became mandatory and we dispensed with the traditional starting line/gate.

IIRC, the loud objections to the start line/gate at that time were made in great part because they aided GPS logger proponents in their campaign to dispense with the start line/gate and film cameras altogether. It wasn't unsafe, per se. With FLARM and the ability, through GPS, to enforce rules in the gate such as "no short IP" so that all competitors are aligned in a relatively narrow corridor for their start gate runs, and given the enhanced guidance that today's flight computers could provide to deliver all pilots to the line at the optimum speed and altitude, there's no reason not to consider adopting it again.

Yes, there's a tendency to cluster on the upwind side of the starting line. And for most competitors to climb up together in the same gate thermal. And to loiter there waiting for just the right moment to start. In other words, the same things that happen now in the cylinder, although I'll admit that it's easier for a pilot to slip away and start by him- or herself from an obscure part of the cylinder. But that never happens, right? We're all a bunch of sheep, following one another in single file out of the cylinder.

Yes, leeching is a problem. It was a much bigger problem when most national contests pulled 55 to 65 contestants. The only U.S. contest I know of where that happens now is Perry. We have THREE nationals scheduled simultaneously at Nephi, UT next summer and I suspect we won't come close to filling that up. Does anyone else recall that the eventual 1986 U.S. 15 Meter champion drove to Uvalde that year ON THE WAIT LIST hoping (justifiably, it turned out) that someone would drop out so he could fly?

I frankly didn't see much leeching at Elmira: fewer participants and fewer top pilots for any leeches to latch onto. It was interesting the first few days when some of the top guys started very early and it became evident that they weren't doubling back for a second start. It evoked memories of Dick Johnson's "start early and pray for rain" strategy when he regularly headed out and flew by himself all the way around, with remarkable results.

We can make competitive soaring more expensive, more complex, and more inscrutable to and intimidating for newcomers. We can continue driving participation rates down. Or we can quit trying to tweak the rules to solve non-problems and focus on preserving what we have left and perhaps attract a few enterprising souls who don't know what they're missing. I have to say, after being out of soaring for almost 4 years, I was discouraged by the gadgets I thought I'd have to buy just to be on that level playing field: i.e., FLARM, transponder, and $3,000 to $6,000 vario/flight computer system to replace my faithful Cambridge LNAV/GPS-NAV and Glide Navigator II on an ancient Compaq 1550 (blush).

In actuality, it was sort of like when the government warns that taxes will go up 30% and it turns out it's ONLY a 15% increase. I was actually relieved that I might get away with just a FLARM device and some open-source nav software on a cheap tablet and ONLY have to spend a few thousand dollars. That's but a few semesters worth of books for my twin daughters at college. Correlation is not causation but don't pretend cost doesn't have an impact on participation. I hope it's not presumptuous to assume that the analytical types on the Rules Committee would agree that the demand for competitive soaring is not perfectly inelastic.

Think of me and people like me with older gliders [thanks to the RC for introducing handicapping to the Standard Class, BTW], limited budgets, and finite patience to read through today's Rules when you're arguing about how to make competition "perfect". I wasn't surprised when a number of folks at Elmira got confused about some of the features of the MAT task. What was interesting was the mix of relative newcomers and old timers who had the same confusion. That tells me more about the complexity of the Rules than any annual press release by the Rules Committee, whose work I respect and appreciate.

I'd love to see Andy focus his considerable analytical abilities on investigating the factors that impact contest participation rates: economics--including not just the cost of gliders and equipment and operating expenses but the role of exchange rates and the ability (as with houses) to move up the ladder by selling one's used glider for more than original price to help purchase a new one; rules complexity; proliferation of classes; trends in Europe; geographic siting; changing lifestyles and alternative uses for discretionary income and time; etc. I believe I'm on solid ground in saying that one of those factors is NOT whether the dwell time for the start cylinder should be 2 minutes or 4 1/2 minutes or 10 minutes.

With good wishes for all involved,

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
U.S.A.