Does USA need a Club Class?

wrote:

The challenges of handicapping rise as the performance difference
across gliders increases. The European Club Class is more restrictive
than the U.S. Sports Class. So if the intent is to use handicapping to
equalize glider performance and allow the best pilots to win, then Club
Class is better. [Of course Standard/15M/18M/Open Classes are best
because state-of-the-art gliders in each class are virtually
indistinguishable.]

Everything else is just social re-engineering: e.g., encouraging
newbies to fly contests, creating a "home" for older gliders, providing
a non-intimidating venue for the less-experienced, providing a training
ground for the next generation of FAI-Class pilots, enhancing the value
of older gliders, etc.

At this stage of my 35+ year competitive career, I own a 13-year-old,
out-of-production Standard Class glider that I've flown in four classes
(Std./15M/Open/Sports) but which, despite, its status, would be
excluded from the current Club Class. I prefer nationals vs. regionals,
shorter commutes vs. driving across the country, good weather over
poor, Charlie Spratt as CD over anyone else , camping over (horrors!)
paying for a motel, no conflicts with my kids' school [Parawon and
Caesar Creek: what on earth went through your minds this year????],
and--very important--flying against the best pilots so I can continue
to learn and improve...and, yes, feel like I've accomplished something
when I occasionally place well.

To me, selecting the U.S. Club Class team based on Sports Class
nationals placings was the best thing that ever happened to this
class...because it increased the quality of the competition. Now at
least some of our best pilots show up aiming to win, usually flying
their own gliders, of course.

Others obviously think this was the kiss of death to Sports Class by
making it more intimidating, more competitive, more serious and less
laid back, etc. We can choose to disagree. What this change didn't do
was make it necessary to own the latest glider.

Are the handicapping factors perfect? Obviously not. In particular,
different gliders will become more or less competitive depending on
soaring weather. One solution is site-adjusted handicaps, but then a
spell of unusually good or bad weather would have everyone crying.

The existing handicaps work well--especially in the reasonably narrow
band we see at the national level--and allow most of us to show up at
any contest knowing that glider performance will be far less important
than pilot skill. When I look at the last few Sports Nationals
adjusting for the factors that are important to me, this class is doing
at least as well as any other and better than most. So in the immortal
words of President Carter's budget director, Bert Lance, "If it ain't
broke, don't fix it."

There are plenty of other problems in soaring that need solving.
Fiddling with a class where the biggest objection seems to be that
there's too much room for everyone at the regional level but not enough
at the national level is an inappropriate effort, in my humble opinion.
Tinkering with a thriving class with appeal across a large spectrum of
pilots and gliders by making it more restrictive on the controversial
premise that this will increase the U.S. Club Class Team's performance
at World Championships strikes me as foolhardy even if it's true.

Hey, everyone else has an opinion on this subject; why not me?

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
Something that was pointed out to me, the seeding points. Those flying
regional sports class contests are only getting weighted with 86 points,
while everyone else (including 1-26ers and seniors) are getting 92 or 100.
If regionals sports class drivers were getting 92 points, we might see more
club class gliders actually trying to fly at Parowan this year, and some
more new pilots. The highest a regional sports class winner can currently
place on the applicant list is 34th as of this writing. The cut off at 50
is currently above 80, so placing in the top five probably isn't good
enough. However unlikely, it possible that the entire entry list could
consist of pilots that haven't flown a sports class contest as the rules
are currently written. The site is certainly attracting many, who might
pass on this contest at other locations. Then there are those that want to
race against so and so. Kind of shuts out some of the up and comers that
the sports class is supposed to be there for.

Though this thread is largely about the club class type of glider, there are
some rules that affect entry also.

Frank Whiteley

Tim......well said, and you should all take note that Tim recently won
Sports Nationals in a true Sports glider........the Libelle!!!

Brian
"Tim" wrote in message
ups.com...
You make one of my main points perfectly.

If we want to EDUCATE new, aspiring racing pilots, Sports Class is
terrific. Go ahead and hang your shingle out there - Even in an HP-14 -
which by the way was my first ship. You will learn more about flying
for performance and glider handling in one week of oragnized contest
flying than you will in many, many years of flying around the patch or
with friends, even if you are at the bottom of the score sheet.

If we want to teach new, aspiring racing pilots how to COMPETE and RACE
FOR A WIN, then Sports Class fails. You can only learn to compete and
race when you are in situations of rough equality - pilot skill and
equipment. Sports Class handicaps do not offer that rough equality to a
broad enough range of older gliders at present.

If aspiring Club Class pilots and those owning Club Class gliders think
the Sports Class handicaps are going to come to them are dreaming.
When the base-line Sports Class ship at your average Sports Nats
becomes a V2 - who do think will suffer when it comes time to "tweak"
the handicaps for better competition?

Keep the faith, if you really love to compete, take you HP to a sports
class contest and learn the skills for competing and soak in the
ambience; then, if you really are hooked on racing gliders to win, join
the bandwagon to get a class that encompasses the older, increasingly
dispossessed ships -we could use the support.

Tim McAllister "EY"
Std. Libelle

JJ.....

I think you will agree that it was an overall good contest though, and very
nice country. I for one was very impressed with the area, and I did not even
fly in it!!! Bye the way.....my kids loved the pictures of you motorhome
mural that I took, now they want one......Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!


wrote in message
oups.com...

Tim Mara wrote:
not necessarily.......it may just mean that the 50 you eliminated
will be
replaced with the 50 who don't waste their time and money to be
fodder for
the 50 with the latest and greatest ships....

That just aint so, Tim. I wish it were true, but we don't have people
wishing to race and unable to get in. Look at last years Parowan
regionals. They got only 19 total in sports and *Reverse Seeding* was
in affect, so as many as wanted could have entered, without any seeding
(not on the list = top of the entry list) Another thing, if your
proposal was in effect only 8 of the 19 would have been allowed in.

Look at Air Sailing all sports regionals, they can only gin up 5 or 6
total and they offer thermaiing camps and cross country camps ahead of
the sports contest.

It's a sign of the times, we aint getting the new blood into the sport,
much less into racing.

Thanks for the offer to fly an old wooden thing, I actually thought
about entering my Bowlus Super Albatross in Parowan, then I remembered
what it didn't have, oxygen, radio, 2- GPS's, computer. Then I
remembered the last day, last year, 100 mile final glide over hostle
territory and I asked myself, "Do you really want to do that in a
Bowlus?" Myself said, "NO".
JJ