contest task explanations .....

If you get time can you explaine what class to sign up for? I thought
the Sport class was for newbies, a easier task and shorter min time.
But I see lots of very experienced racing pilots signing up in the
sport class. Also the time for sports and 15 meter used the same min
time and course on your first day at Mifflin.
* *Thanks
* *Glenn

Sports is aimed at handicapped racing for a wide variety of gliders,
and as an "entry" class, especially at regionals. The task will
typically be "easier" in that the CD will usually set a shorter
distance. He will not necessarily set a shorter time. There's nothing
about being new that means you can't fly for 4 hours on a great day,
just that you are not expected to go as far in that time. The official
direction in the rules is to use as much of the soaring day as
possible, in large part because many pilots are sick of taking a week
off work and then flying for 2 hours while their OLC buddies rack up
the miles.

But the philosophy will vary from contest to contest. The rules are a
flexible tool for contest organizers to use in order to create a fair
valid and safe competition to please the assembled pilots. They are
not a mandate for every detail of how a contest should run. The real
advice is "pick your contest" more than "pick your class."

If you go to a small regional in the midwest, or a regional that
advertises a training camp for new pilots, expect shorter tasks. If
you go to one of the local, even lower-key contests (Sky Soaring in
the Chicago area is running one next weekend), expect an even lower
key atmosphere. If you choose to go to mifflin on a booming ridge day,
expect a really long task. To call anything less would be a real
disservice to the pilots who come for just that purpose.

John Cochrane

If you get time can you explaine what class to sign up for? I thought
the Sport class was for newbies, a easier task and shorter min time.
But I see lots of very experienced racing pilots signing up in the
sport class. Also the time for sports and 15 meter used the same min
time and course on your first day at Mifflin.
* *Thanks
* *Glenn

Glenn -

Sports class is not a "newbie only" class, but it's the best class for
newbies. The Sports class is likely to have slightly less-challenging
- or at least more-survivable - tasks at the regional level
(especially on marginal days). You don't have to worry about water
ballast and a couple of other nuances, so there's less to think about.
Finally, there are lower barriers to entry in terms of qualifications
and required equipment (more "off the shelf" PDA loggers are allowed,
for example).

As someone who just started flying competitions last year, the best
advice I have for you is to enter the Sports class in a regional and
then concentrate on getting yourself and your airplane prepared. The
contest strategy will make sense once you get into it. :-)

--Noel

....and now my attempt at a very brief description of the 3 major task
types in the USA (although diagrams are a lot better than words with
these) -

First rule of sailplane racing: Its all about your average speed.
You're trying to fly as fast as possible, while completing the task
you have been assigned. Another way of saying the same thing is to
say that you want to complete the task in the shortest possible time.
Remember that Speed = Distance / Time. If you take less time (or fly
farther), your average speed goes up. If you take more time to fly a
certain distance, your average speed goes down. Keep this mind, it
will come up later in this post.

-----
Assigned Task (AT):
-----
Get a list of waypoints. Fly within 1 statute mile of each one of
them, in the right order. Come home safe. Very straightforward, but
inflexible (i.e. if weather changes or if the sailplanes in the
contest have different performance levels).

-----
Turn Area Task (TAT) or Assigned Area Task (AAT):
-----
Get a list of waypoints. Each waypoint has a cylinder around it, and
each cylinder can have a different size (radius). To complete the
task, or fly into the cylinder surrounding each waypoint, in the
proper order. The trick with a TAT/AAT is that you have a minimum
time. How does this relate to the "average speed" issue I raised at
the beginning of this post? If you come home before the minimum time
elapses, the "unused minutes" are added onto your total time - thereby
lowering your average speed.

To prevent coming home early you must sometimes fly deeper into one or
more of the cylinders (maybe even to a part of a cylinder that's
farthest from all the other waypoints). The bigger cylinders give you
more options on how "deep" to fly and what course to fly (following
cloud-streets, staying away from blue holes, avoiding bad weather,
dodging hostile terrain, etc). Slower pilots or lower-performing
sailplanes can fly the entire task by just touching each cylinder,
faster pilots/sailplanes can fly deep into each cylinder in the same
amount of time - so everyone can complete the task. This allows the
TAT/AAT to accomodate a wide range of pilot skill, sailplane types,
and weather situations.

-----
Modified Assigned Task (MAT):
-----
Think of this as the "multiple-choice task". It starts off like a TAT/
AAT, but after you fly the required waypoints you have the _option_ of
flying to additional waypoints that you choose (you will have to fill
out a card while you fly or when you land, listing the waypoints that
you are claiming you flew to). The only major restriction is that you
cannot repeat the same two waypoints over and over again - you must
fly to a different waypoint, before circling back to repeat either of
the last two waypoints you've been to. Scoring is similar to a TAT/
AAT, with a minimum time. Strategy can be more complicated than the
other task types, but don't worry about strategy now. Mostly these
tasks tend to be called on marginal days, when the contest staff
aren't sure what the weather is going to be like - although they have
the potential to be used in more interesting ways.

Enjoy,

--Noel