2014 US Modern and US Club Class Nationals - Assigned Task calledtoday! FANTASTIC!

On Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:51:24 AM UTC-4, Sean Fidler wrote:
Hank,



Clearly you don't like the Assigned Task much based on your very exciting, enthusiastic description of it. ;-) Geeze.



I see Assigned Tasking as the best thing that sailplane racing has to offer. In my experience, Assigned Tasks are far, far more fun and rewarding at all levels. They also are far too rare in the US. Ill stand on the podium for a second and explain...



GAGGLES: In regards to gaggles, even if the group starts together (not AT ALL exclusive to assigned tasks by the way), eventually the gaggle will break up. Usually along the first leg. The great thing about Assigned Tasks is that pilots actually know how they are doing relative to other competitors. In an Assigned Task you are actually racing (almost!) and not just flying cross country together (sorta) and looking forward to seeing a score calculated by a scorers computer at the end of the day (often hours after you land) to tell you what it all meant while you were flying.



Flying together during the Assigned Task is not a bad thing (for me). It's a great thing! It's called racing! Faster pilots will naturally get ahead, slower will fall behind and so on. The learning experience that happens during these rare (US) assigned tasks is extreme and highly valuable. I have learned 10x faster during Assigned Tasks vs. Area Tasks. I am also having 10x more fun! And again as the gaggle thins out along the task there is actual meaning to that pecking order that forms (see above). How fun!!!



I would argue that gaggles are actually less common in Assigned Tasks at times. Unlike wide Turn Area Tasks, you can't "cut the corner" and catch up to the gaggle in every turn area like you can in Turn Area Task. This ability to "cut the corner" (or just randomly reconnecting) actually allows the gaggle to reform again and again in Turn Area Tasks. I actually saw this happen often at Perry this spring.



In an Assigned Task trailers can only cut out a maximum of 2 miles to catch back up to the gaggle. Furthermore the leaders can (if they wish) simply turn early and eliminate the chance of trailers catching back up to them. They are only giving up 2 miles of distance. Note: I think we should remove the extra distance concept from Assigned Tasks for this reason. Assigned Tasks should be about pure speed around a simple set track, not about time or the ticky, tacky practice of adding extra distance or complex scoring programs. Assigned Tasks are simple races around a set track and should not be complex in any way.



TURN AREA TASKS ARE MORE A GAME OF CHANCE (LUCK): In general, the whole reason Turn Area Tasks were created is to account for broad handicap ranges, broad skill ranges and difficult or unpredictable weather conditions. The Assigned Area task is, by definition, a compromise and a softening of the difficulty of the Assigned Task. In a Turn Area Task, there is no need to go to any particular point, if that spot doesn't look good to you, or there is not perfect cumulus cloud gleaming above it, you can just go somewhere else that looks better. That is fundamentally less challenging! Wide radius Turn Area Tasks provide pilots a tremendous amount of choice and the ability to constantly take chances on vastly different routes to entirely different turning points. In a 20 mile radius Turn Area for example, two pilots can easily be 30+ miles in terms of where they finally choose to turn. That is not a good thing when the conditions are good. Turn Area Tasks becomes a weather guessing game. Weather by definition is not an exact science (especially on a micro scale). Choosing a path in a Turn Area Task is often a crapshoot, lets be honest.



THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME MANAGEMENT AND EXPENSIVE, COMPLEX GLIDE COMPUTERS IN TURN AREA TASKS: Unlike an Assigned Task which has no time limit, Turn Area Task (and MODIFIED Assigned Area Tasks) are almost completely focused on the pilots ability to effectively managing minimum time (or in the case of the Modified Assigned Area Task, to manage the complex process of adding on additional turnpoints AND time). Accurately estimating this time decision and returning to the finish efficiently during and Turn Area Task is extremely difficult to do well. A mistake in this KEY element can make or break your score for that day even if you flew perfectly up until that moment.. Turn Area Task always result in pilots essentially "guessing" when to turn for home many miles away. That is unless you spend 5k on a top of the line glide computer! This time challenge with Turn Area Tasks has greatly increased the importance of expensive, complex glide computers (often the single most expensive item in the glider (around $5000 USD). The Glide Computer market has become a source of great competition among the various instrument manufacturers as they develop better features, brighter screens, better software, etc. It is a clear competitive advantage to own and master an expensive full featured Glide Computer when Turn Area Contests are almost exclusive! A reliance on complex glider computers is an obstacle to new pilots.



I could go on and on...but I will stop here for now.



Sean



You make some very good points about why you like the AT better and enjoy it more.
I was asking why you think it makes for better competition.
I think there is a place for the AT and agree that task advisers should perhaps be more open minded.
Personally I don't think a high percentage of AT tasks should be mandated because it can force the task committee to call them on days when it is not the best task.
I don't dislike the AT. I simply don't believe that is as good a measure of a variety of soaring skills as other options.
I've flown a lot of tasks over the years that consisted of try to start late, catch the gaggle, stay with it because the percentages don't favor bravery, and final glide home with the group, most of whom never had to find a thermal or make a significant decision all day.
We would do well to have our task setters take the guidance in the rules addendum to heart and do a better job of calling a variety of tasks.
Wish I had been able to fly with those folks the last 2 weeks.

UH