US Club Class Participation

My first reaction to John's proposal was "No, no, don't take away my
Standard Class." My second reaction was "Sure, why not?" Way back in
1991, Karl Striedieck, Charlie Spratt, and about 10 of us showed up at
Lockhaven, PA in October for a Region 2/3 contest (it was the
precursor of the increasingly popular Region 4N contest I just
returned from at Fairfield, PA). Various gliders were flown and the
scores were handicapped. I don't know whether we were within the
rules, had a waiver, or what. John Good was there so I suspect it was
OK. The competition was fierce: Karl, John Seymour, world champion
Janusz Centka, Shempp-Hirth's Tilo Holighaus, U.S. Sports Class
Champion Dave Stevenson, et al. We had a blast and I learned a lot.
Anything that helps make competition more accessible without removing
my ability to fly whatever I bring against good pilots is OK with me,
at least at the regional level. My only suggestion would be to allow
pilots to "move up" from the Club Class to FAI Class if they wish. Not
everything more than a few years old is obsolete.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB" ("obsolete" but still going as well as anything out there)
USA

My only suggestion would be to allow
pilots to "move up" from the Club Class to FAI Class if they wish. Not
everything more than a few years old is obsolete.

That's why I think it's best to define "FAI class" as anything. Then
an ASW24, say, can choose where to fly, either with club or the big
boys.

The "FAI" class could just use the 2% handicaps now used for std/15.

John Cochrane BB

The Club Class is popular and works very well in the UK and in Europe. It
is ideal for those who can't afford the latest hot glass sailplanes but
still want to race at National and International level. The only proviso I
would make is that it only really works well if the handicap range is kept
fairly small. You would be unlikely to win in something like a K8, because
all the handicap in the World won't get you across those big gaps, or stop
you running out of day on tasks set for higher performance machines.

Most of the gliders that take part in the UK Club Class are older Standard
Class gliders that would be blown into weeds in an unhandicapped
competition against the latest generation machines. So you get gliders
such as the Standard Cirrus, Libelle, ASW19, ASW24, Grob Astir, LS7 plus a
few two seater glass trainers taking part. The Class is only defined by a
maximum handicap limit and a ban on carrying water ballast.

Derek Copeland


At 22:03 29 October 2008, wrote:
My first reaction to John's proposal was "No, no, don't take away my
Standard Class." My second reaction was "Sure, why not?" Way back in
1991, Karl Striedieck, Charlie Spratt, and about 10 of us showed up at
Lockhaven, PA in October for a Region 2/3 contest (it was the
precursor of the increasingly popular Region 4N contest I just
returned from at Fairfield, PA). Various gliders were flown and the
scores were handicapped. I don't know whether we were within the
rules, had a waiver, or what. John Good was there so I suspect it was
OK. The competition was fierce: Karl, John Seymour, world champion
Janusz Centka, Shempp-Hirth's Tilo Holighaus, U.S. Sports Class
Champion Dave Stevenson, et al. We had a blast and I learned a lot.
Anything that helps make competition more accessible without removing
my ability to fly whatever I bring against good pilots is OK with me,
at least at the regional level. My only suggestion would be to allow
pilots to "move up" from the Club Class to FAI Class if they wish. Not
everything more than a few years old is obsolete.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB" ("obsolete" but still going as well as anything out
there)
USA

At 03:00 30 October 2008, Derek Copeland wrote:

Most of the gliders that take part in the UK Club Class are older
Standard
Class gliders that would be blown into weeds in an unhandicapped
competition against the latest generation machines. So you get gliders
such as the Standard Cirrus, Libelle, ASW19, ASW24, Grob Astir, LS7 plus
a
few two seater glass trainers taking part. The Class is only defined by
a
maximum handicap limit and a ban on carrying water ballast.


Sorry, I missed out the LS4 and the DG100/101/300 series which are also
numerically quite popular Club Glass gliders.

Derek C