On Monday, February 1, 2016 at 5:52:55 PM UTC-5, wrote:
I think the bar is quite high to become a REGULAR contest participant. Fans of Cosmos may recall Carl Sagan's explanation of the Drake equation that posits the possibility of life on other planets. I propose a Contest Pilot Drake equation whe

A = Probability that a glider pilot has reasonable cross country proficiency

B = Probability that 'A' pilots have access to their own glider either owned or borrowed

C= Probability that B pilots fly the glider XC more than [pick a number....20?] times a year

D= Probability that C pilots have enough vacation to attend 3 contests a year

E= Probability that D pilots have enough money to attend 3 contests a year

F = Probability that E pilots will have family situations that allow attending 3 contests a year

G = Probability that F pilots will feel they are making enough progress after 3 seasons in a row to continue.

A * B * C * D * E * F * G * Number of active glider pilots = Number of contest pilots

There's a reason that a lot of retired people fly in contests and it's not because younger pilots lack the interest. There's personal sacrifice (even if you're single), and it's going to take you several years to get comfortable and start placing in the top half -if you're good enough to begin with. It's entirely possible that while you will improve considerably, you may not be very good at the competition level.

I'm not implying that it isn't worth the time and effort to improve. Winning isn't the only thing, and it's entirely possible that you may enjoy yourself immensely but never place particularly high on the list of finishers.. Is that worth it to you? Only you can decide, just remember that the best way to keep from getting your butt kicked in a contest is to fly in more contests.

Time is expensive. You have to not only devote time to going to contests, you have to fly an awful lot on your own time. Everyone reading this, including me, will think that's not much of a sacrifice but ask your wife what she thinks on a day when she wants you to take a kayak ride while Dr. Jack tells you it's a great day to try for your 500k. ("This sport is worse than golf -you're gone all day!") I've been accused of only wanting to spend rainy days at home during flying season. I can't imagine what would happen if I announced I was going to three contests this year. Plus, flying to get ready for them.

That's just me. Your mileage may vary, as they say. I fully expect others to disagree with my reasoning and again, don't come away thinking I'm not saying that contests aren't great. Like automotive racing, they teach even non-contest flyers a lot of valuable lessons, push things forward for everyone and add depth and texture to the sport.

But they're not for everyone. In fact, they're not for most everyone. I refer you back to the equation above. Even just dipping your toes into contest flying takes a tremendous amount of effort, time, and money. That's probably why many people try them once in a while, but never fly them regularly. And, incidentally, probably why the OLC is so popular -you can time shift your competitive days to when it is convenient for you to fly.

Wow..... I'm not a big numbers guy, but your post is GREAT!.

I have been lucky,
-I've had a great XC local base
-I've had great gliders to fly
-Local goal is, "40+ hours in the glider you're going to race for that season"
-Vacation was not usually an issue
-Money was a low issue, I usually used a tent (sometime 2, one for me, one for equipment using "2 man pop tents" at times early on)

While I have done, "Bottom of the 1st page on yearly SSA pilot rankings" at my best (a decade or so in the past), part of me say's, "What if I flew more?".

Still, excellent post.

Yes, our club has a reasonable XC bent, we even have a SSA National champ to guide us, I realize not every club/group has this.
I am VERY happy I am in this situation, wish I had better results to show it.