I know I don't live in the US and I am unlikely to
ever enter a contest there but changing a task while
the gliders are airborne? As a well known person from
your country once screamed, 'You cannot be serious!!'

We do produce multiple tasks here but never ever change
a task once launching has started unless we get everyone
back on the ground to do it.
Scary.


At 01:12 10 January 2006, wrote:
Before I bother Uncle Hank, I have a question for the
racing sages on
RAS:

Does anyone else think the practice of changing tasks
after launch is a
bit dangerous? At the last regional I was in there
were several days
that the task was significantly changed after the start
of the launch -
different turnpoints, different type of task (AST to
AAT), different
task times. And of course, the change was not announced
until
everybody was airborne and gaggled up in somewhat weak
conditions. So
now you have 30 - odd gliders, milling around in close
proximity, and
trying to write down a new task, then having to enter
it into their
flight computer and/or PDA. Whoo boy, that's a lot
of fun!

Now I understand the need occasionally to change a
task at the last
moment (I've CD'd local contests..), but I thought
that was what the
AAT was for - to be used if the weather was iffy.

But here is my gentle suggestion for CD's out there
- if you think you
might need to change the task at the last moment, come
up with
alternate A, B, and C tasks before takeoff so the pilots
already have
the task in the cockpit when the change is announced
(and can preload
several tasks in some of the computers). A less ideal
option is to
make the original task one that can be easily changed
inflight (MAT
with deletable turnpoints, or different size AAT areas,
for example).

A nice advantage of changing to an already selected
and distributed
task is that the task change can be announced as soon
as it is made -
'15 meter, change to the B task', repeated as required
to cover gliders
in the process of launching, then confirmed with a
roll call after the
last launch.

Comments?

KIrk
66