End of Season Sunset Warning for SSA-OLC Participants

588 wrote:
Eric Greenwell wrote:

...I would be in favor of an OLC rule that requires landing by sunset
to avoid giving an advantage to the few gliders with lights,
and to discourage pilots from adding lights.

How about a limit on span? No untoward advantage must accrue to those
who do simply because they can do.

I think the span situation is adequately handled with the handicapping
system, so I don't see any need for a span limit.


I have a 36 ah battery, so I could add lights without too much
trouble, but I think the OLC would be better if I had to land before
sunset.

The OLC will only be worse if it starts to supplement official
regulations with its own restrictions. As it is, we are all wound up
because some few don't believe we should conform to the rules that
already exist.

The OLC is a contest, which is not covered by official regulations. The
OLC does incorporate, by reference, the aviation rules of the various
nations, but it also has regulations such as the handicapping rules,
that are clearly not in a country's aviation rules. This is true of any
contest; in fact, our FAI contests have a quite few restrictions on how
one is to fly during the event.

I was very excited about OLC last year. This year has been one
frustration after another, personally and nationally -- but I still like
it, and I think we are making too much out of the difficulties.

The FAA is not going to change the rules for night flight in order to
allow the OLC to conform to Eric's or Jack's preferences.

Nor do they need to. The kind of soaring flight the OLC measures is the
purview of the OLC itself.

As long as
everybody plays by the same rules, whether lights or no lights, that's
all that matters.

The details of the rules also matter, because they affect the interest
in the OLC. If the flights were not handicapped, we'd still all be
playing by the same rules, but I don't think it would as popular.

If some do fly at night, we'll soon find out what can
be accomplished by doing so. If I don't succeed at gaining the highest
OLC point total simply because I don't fly at night, I'll just have to
live with it.

One of the values of OLC is that we can all see what is possible -- what
is being done -- in other regions, in other gliders, and by other
pilots, and compare this with our own accomplishments. It is a great
motivator, and learning takes place; more flying is done; and the
overall skill level increases, as does enjoyment.

I like this part of the OLC; however, allowing night flight (for
example) does shift the focus a bit from "contest" towards "flight trace
repository". I think the popularity of the OLC stems from both aspects,
and it's worth discussing how to improve both aspects. I don't believe
it's an "either/or" choice.

Should we mandate that one may not circle to the right in a thermal? I
don't see much difference between that and making other rules that would
limit some aspects of soaring simply because there are those who don't
want to do those things themselves.

We routinely limit some aspects of soaring in our regional and national
contests. Having limits is part of what makes it a contest. Picking the
right limits to meet the goals of the contest is the tough part, and
these limits have changed over the decades.

The OLC is right to require adherence to national flight regulations;
the SSA must conform to that aspect of OLC as part of its agreement with
the organizers and to fulfill its duty to its membership and to the
aviation system in the United States. The best methods may be debatable
but not the necessity. There is no alternative.

Amen.

--
Note: email address new as of 9/4/2006
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

"Transponders in Sailplanes" on the Soaring Safety Foundation website
www.soaringsafety.org/prevention/articles.html

"A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org