US Competition Rules

Hello Racers:
The rules for the 2010 racing season have been posted at SSA.org/
sailplane racing/rules&process.
New this year is that the appendix to the rules now contains diagrams
illustrating key concepts related to starts, finishes, safety
finishes, tasks and turnpoints. Careful review of these is highly
recommended, especially for pilots new to racing. Many thanks for John
Godfrey and John Seaborn for this useful addition.

Also new this year is the approval of the flyWithCE gps recorder for
use in competition. Pilots planning to use this recorder should
carefully read rules (and appendix notes for) 6.7.3.1 and 6.7.7.
Good luck to all and have a safe and FUN season.
For the Rules Committtee
UH
Chair

Also many thanks to Aland Adams for doing the technical development to
enable adding the diagrams.

Great news! I think the recorder development will help many people get
into their first contest that can't justify a $1,000 logger for their
Ka-6 or 1-35.

On Feb 22, 2:15Â*pm, wrote:
Hello Racers:
The rules for the 2010 racing season have been posted at SSA.org/
sailplane racing/rules&process.

Thanks for posting. I had a quick review of the changed FAI regional
rules and am very confused by this one:

"10.8.5.1.3 ‡ Maximum Start Height shall be specified and labeled as
MSL.."

MSH has always been the difference in elevation between the home
airport and the top of the start cylinder and 10.8.5.1 makes it clear
this has not changed. For a home airport with an elevation of 5,000
ft MSL and an MSH of 5,000ft the top of the start cylinder is 10,000
ft MSL.

Saying the MSH is 5000ft MSL is not valid. Saying the MSH is 10,000ft
MSL is not valid.

Statements that are valid a

"Maximum Start Height is 5,000 ft."

"MSH is 5,000 ft"

"The top of the start cylinder is 10,000 ft MSL"

Why does the rule say "Maximum Start Height shall be specified and
labeled as MSL" ? It appears to be a meaningless statement that only
adds to the confusion of MSH definition.

How would MSH be specified under this rule for the scenario outlined
above?


Andy

Andy,

Where are you getting your definition of MSH?

While this may have been clear to you it certianly wasn't clear to
everyone.

This rule just standardizes how we say it and makes sense in that the
MSH number you are given is the number you read on your Altimeter.

Perhaps I am missing an official definition of MSH, if so then the
rules may need to be fixed to be consistant.

Brian

On Feb 22, 4:25*pm, Brian wrote:
Andy,

Where are you getting your definition of MSH?

"10.8.5.1 Each task shall include a Maximum Start Height (MSH)
above the home field. This height shall not be less than 3500' AGL nor
more than 10000' AGL."

Note that MSH is defined as height above the home field, not an MSL
altitude.

For the new rule to make any sense the terminology "Maximum Start
HEIGHT" would need to be abandoned and a new term "Maximum Start
ALTITUDE" would need to be used in its place.

It would be proper and consistent to define Maximum Start Altitude as
10,000 ft MSL in my scenario above.

Andy

On Feb 22, 6:48*pm, Andy wrote:
On Feb 22, 4:25*pm, Brian wrote:

Andy,

Where are you getting your definition of MSH?

"10.8.5.1 Each task shall include a Maximum Start Height (MSH)
above the home field. This height shall not be less than 3500' AGL nor
more than 10000' AGL."

Note that MSH is defined as height above the home field, not an MSL
altitude.

For the new rule to make any sense the terminology "Maximum Start
HEIGHT" would need to be abandoned and a new term "Maximum Start
ALTITUDE" would need to be used in its place.

It would be proper and consistent to define Maximum Start Altitude as
10,000 ft MSL in my scenario above.

Andy

I think the point of the new rule is that the CD shall give the pilots
the "MSH" as an MSL altitude. I.e. your task sheet says "10,000 MSL"

-T8

On Feb 22, 4:48*pm, Andy wrote:
On Feb 22, 4:25*pm, Brian wrote:

Andy,

Where are you getting your definition of MSH?

"10.8.5.1 Each task shall include a Maximum Start Height (MSH)
above the home field. This height shall not be less than 3500' AGL nor
more than 10000' AGL."

Note that MSH is defined as height above the home field, not an MSL
altitude.

For the new rule to make any sense the terminology "Maximum Start
HEIGHT" would need to be abandoned and a new term "Maximum Start
ALTITUDE" would need to be used in its place.

It would be proper and consistent to define Maximum Start Altitude as
10,000 ft MSL in my scenario above.

Andy

Thanks Andy,

I looked at that rule as well, But it is not a definition of MSH it is
only guidence, actually a requirement of what the MSH altitude will
be with reference to the ground.

It makes sense to publish MSH number referenced to MSL, but there is
no way to write rule 10.8.5.1 with reference to MSL as each site is
obviously different.

Brian

On Feb 22, 7:57*pm, Brian wrote:
On Feb 22, 4:48*pm, Andy wrote:





On Feb 22, 4:25*pm, Brian wrote:

Andy,

Where are you getting your definition of MSH?

"10.8.5.1 Each task shall include a Maximum Start Height (MSH)
above the home field. This height shall not be less than 3500' AGL nor
more than 10000' AGL."

Note that MSH is defined as height above the home field, not an MSL
altitude.

For the new rule to make any sense the terminology "Maximum Start
HEIGHT" would need to be abandoned and a new term "Maximum Start
ALTITUDE" would need to be used in its place.

It would be proper and consistent to define Maximum Start Altitude as
10,000 ft MSL in my scenario above.

Andy

Thanks Andy,

I looked at that rule as well, But it is not a definition of MSH it is
only guidence, actually a requirement of *what the MSH altitude will
be with reference to the ground.

It makes sense to publish MSH number referenced to MSL, but there is
no way to write rule 10.8.5.1 *with reference to MSL as each site is
obviously different.

Brian- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

There was a concious decision not to change MSH in rules as it also
then affects scoring equations and the scoring program.
We don't think the contestants will be confused, especially since they
now have "pictures". Hopefully it will also lead to fewer arithmetic
errors and associated penalties.
Ray Lovingood wins the prize for finding the hidden typo in 2:27. .
Now the rest of you can go nuts trying to find it.
Cheers
UH
UH

Just to expand a little on UH...

The CD will decide on a start height -- 3500 or more AGL, 10,000 or
less AGL, 500 feet below the clouds or tops of dry thermals, thinking
about how long it takes late starters to climb, etc.

The CD will then do the heavy math to translate this height to MSL and
he'll announce a MSL start top with nice big even numbers. Now you
look at your MSL altimeter and know if you're over the top or not. No
more trying to decide if you're over or under 6342 feet MSL because
the airport was at 1342.

This should avoid addition mistakes (which I have made too), start
gates with weird MSL heights, endless radio calls to the advisers
asking MSL or AGL altitudes and so forth. It should also avoid
confusion we had last year with scorers and winscore getting confused
with each other over MSL/AGL

Same on finishing. The CD will decide a decent height for airport,
traffic, terrain, and announce a MSL height so it's easy and quick to
see if you're over or under.

John Cochrane BB