I am relatively new to contest flying I have been flying about 1
contest per year for the last six years mostly if 15meter and some
Sports Class Contests.

While there have been quite a few changes to the rules in the past 6
years there have really only been 3 or 4 changes that acutally affect
how I fly the contest.

1. GPS is the biggest change which has changed both the start and
finish quite a bit However the Start and Finish are an extremely small
portion of a contest flight and it is much easier that it was when
were using the Visual start finish gate. There have been (and probably
still are) a few years while we figure out the best way to utilize GPS
for the contests.

2. Only last year did the Turn points change much from the 1/4 mile to
1 mile cylinders. This makes the turnpoint easier but again is a
relatively minor change in how the flight is flown.

3. The Post Task is gone replaced with the MAT Task. I personally like
the MAT Task better and really is only a minor change

4. The Turn Area Task, The Jury is still out for me as to how well I
like this task and is acutally the biggest change is how the contest
is flown.


Still overall the contest flying is pretty much the same as it was 6
years ago. While you should be familiar with all the rules the main
points a

1. Figure out how and when to start. (keep it safe)
2. Go fast to the next Turn point (keep it safe)
3. Fly through the Turnpoint (TAT's are bit more complicated here)
(keep it safe)
4. Repeat 2&3 as necessary (keep it safe)
5. Figure out (before the flight) how to finish (keep it safe)


These are the exact same steps that I used 6 years ago to fly a
contest and it still works today. You can research the rules and and
look for ways to use them to improve your score but in the end is
usually the guy that flys the fastest that wins. Unless you finishing
in the top 10% of the Class you don't need to worry about using the
rules to your advantage anyway. You need a lot more practice learning
how to fly fast.

You will learn a lot flying a contest, even if you come if dead last
(and you probably will the 1st few times you fly one) But you might do
more x-country flying in a week than many glider pilots do all year.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL