Contests the end-all?

On May 19, 8:52*pm, Grider Pirate wrote:
On May 19, 2:40*pm, "Morgans" wrote:



As a student pilot, thinking more about gliders lately, I started reading
this group. *I can't help but notice that talk of contests seems to dominate
the subjects here.

I think I would enjoy gliders just for the fun of flying, and seeing what
you could do individually, and for the beauty of silent flight. *Is it so
necessary to fly in contests to have fun?

How many people here just fly gliders without flying contests?

Role-Call?

Fly mostly in contests -

Fly occasionally in contests -

Never fly in contests -

Where do you all stand? *Curious, I guess.
--
Jim in NC

I haven't flown in a contest.....yet. *I likely will some day. *For
now, I fly XC for fun.
I upload my flights to the OLC, but that's not like a 'live' contest.

but its still a contest. If I would've gone straight on on my gold
distance flight instead of dumping into an airport with 1500 feet left
i may have won the day not only in the US but in the World as well!
The mystery of not knowing who you are competing against or what kind
of weather they have encourages you to fly as far as possible!

I got into soaring before knowing anything about the contests, and
while I'm now a poster boy contest junkie, I love it any time I can
(1) get in the air, and (2) do some cross country.

So the answer is (E) all of the above.

El Tuno

On May 19, 8:03*pm, Tony wrote:
On May 19, 8:52*pm, Grider Pirate wrote:



On May 19, 2:40*pm, "Morgans" wrote:

As a student pilot, thinking more about gliders lately, I started reading
this group. *I can't help but notice that talk of contests seems to dominate
the subjects here.

I think I would enjoy gliders just for the fun of flying, and seeing what
you could do individually, and for the beauty of silent flight. *Is it so
necessary to fly in contests to have fun?

How many people here just fly gliders without flying contests?

Role-Call?

Fly mostly in contests -

Fly occasionally in contests -

Never fly in contests -

Where do you all stand? *Curious, I guess.
--
Jim in NC

I haven't flown in a contest.....yet. *I likely will some day. *For
now, I fly XC for fun.
I upload my flights to the OLC, but that's not like a 'live' contest.

but its still a contest. *If I would've gone straight on on my gold
distance flight instead of dumping into an airport with 1500 feet left
i may have won the day not only in the US but in the World as well!
The mystery of not knowing who you are competing against or what kind
of weather they have encourages you to fly as far as possible!

But...it is not a contest in light of a level playing field. I fly
from Moriarty, where we arguably have some of the best soaring
conditions in the world. If I fly 500k from New Mexico on one of our
great days and someone else does 350k from Harris Hill, who won? I may
be more towards the top of the list, but the pilot from Harris Hill
may be much better, so OLC as a contest must be taken with a grain of
salt. The OLC is great though, and has probably done more for XC
soaring than anything else in the past 20 years. It is great fun!

On 5/19/2010 4:40 PM, Morgans wrote:
As a student pilot, thinking more about gliders lately, I started reading
this group. I can't help but notice that talk of contests seems to dominate
the subjects here.

I think I would enjoy gliders just for the fun of flying, and seeing what
you could do individually, and for the beauty of silent flight. Is it so
necessary to fly in contests to have fun?

How many people here just fly gliders without flying contests?

Role-Call?

Fly mostly in contests -

Fly occasionally in contests -

Never fly in contests -

Where do you all stand? Curious, I guess.

There are a lot of pilots who enter their flights into the On-line
Contest (see
http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0...2010&c=US&sc=).

You can compete with everyone in the world, every day you fly. Clubs
can compete against each other for total points, etc.......

You don't have to go anywhere or do anything special. All you need is a
flight recorder and an internet connection.

--
Mike Schumann

On Wed, 19 May 2010 23:46:39 -0500, Mike Schumann
wrote:


You can compete with everyone in the world, every day you fly. Clubs
can compete against each other for total points, etc.......

You don't have to go anywhere or do anything special. All you need is a
flight recorder and an internet connection.

.... and a home airfield in one of the better weather regions.
It also helps significantly to have an 18m-class motorglider.

OLC is nice - but a competition it is not.


Cheers
Andreas

I've never flown in a contest other than as a passenger. I have to
tell you that if I had the time and money, I'd give it a shot. That
said, the overwhelming majority of glider pilots do not fly contests.
The high volume of contest related posts (and I really don't think
they dominate the group) are due to the enthusiasm of these pilots.
They love the sport and enjoy pushing their personal limits in a
competitive environment. There are pleny of pilots that enjoy floating
around the home airport simply enjoying the view. Or flying OLC. Or
taking people for rides. That's the great thing about soaring. You
find what you like and do it. Don't be intimidated by hot-shot racing
pilots looking down their noses at you. In my experience, there just
aren't that many of that type around.

On May 20, 5:48*am, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Wed, 19 May 2010 23:46:39 -0500, Mike Schumann

wrote:
You can compete with everyone in the world, every day you fly. *Clubs
can compete against each other for total points, etc.......

You don't have to go anywhere or do anything special. *All you need is a
flight recorder and an internet connection.

... and a home airfield in one of the better weather regions.
It also helps significantly to have an 18m-class motorglider.

OLC is nice - but a competition it is not.

Cheers
Andreas

some days you have good weather and some days you dont. usually i
mainly compare my flights with other guys in my club and region. but
sometimes the wind isnt blowing on the ridges and in the mountains or
there is a national holiday or lousy weather something in europe and i
manage to actually do fairly respectably. ok that has only happened
once.

i treat it as a contest against myself. challenging myself to fly as
far as I can in the given weather and performance of my ship.

On May 20, 10:11*am, Tony wrote:
On May 20, 5:48*am, Andreas Maurer wrote:



On Wed, 19 May 2010 23:46:39 -0500, Mike Schumann

wrote:
You can compete with everyone in the world, every day you fly. *Clubs
can compete against each other for total points, etc.......

You don't have to go anywhere or do anything special. *All you need is a
flight recorder and an internet connection.

... and a home airfield in one of the better weather regions.
It also helps significantly to have an 18m-class motorglider.

OLC is nice - but a competition it is not.

Cheers
Andreas

some days you have good weather and some days you dont. *usually i
mainly compare my flights with other guys in my club and region. *but
sometimes the wind isnt blowing on the ridges and in the mountains or
there is a national holiday or lousy weather something in europe and i
manage to actually do fairly respectably. ok that has only happened
once.

i treat it as a contest against myself. challenging myself to fly as
far as I can in the given weather and performance of my ship.

And of course don't forget our friend Pez...
http://www.soaravenal.com/pez.htm

Jim,

My opinion: Soaring is a skill sport. As such, the more you do it,
the better you get at it, and as in most sports, competition becomes
attractive as a way to push yourself and learn more.

I've been flying gliders for a long time, and I'm at the stage where I
prefer contest flying - with serious XC with friends a close second.
I rarely take up a club glider to just fly around the airport unless
it's for a specific reason - currency, passenger ride, aerobatics,
ets; just banging around the local thermals doesn't interest me much
anymore, I'd rather tow (love those Pawnees and Supercubs!).

That being said, I know lots of experienced pilots who are perfectly
happy to just relax in the air - and more power to them!

What bugs me is the pilots who dismiss XC and contests out of hand -
without ever trying it.

Final word on my contest philosophy - I go to races in order to fly, I
don't fly gliders in order to race. The structure and challenge of
the contest environment enhances the pleasure of the flying by giving
it purpose - and if I do good, that's fun too.

Cheers,

Kirk
66

What bugs me is the pilots who dismiss XC and contests out of hand -
without ever trying it.

ive met many pilots who have found their "happy place" in aviation and
just can't understand why anyone would do anything else. I do my best
to accept that not everyone likes the same things that I do, thank god.