Contest participation

On Monday, February 1, 2016 at 5:52:55 PM UTC-5, wrote:
I think the bar is quite high to become a REGULAR contest participant. Fans of Cosmos may recall Carl Sagan's explanation of the Drake equation that posits the possibility of life on other planets. I propose a Contest Pilot Drake equation whe

A = Probability that a glider pilot has reasonable cross country proficiency

B = Probability that 'A' pilots have access to their own glider either owned or borrowed

C= Probability that B pilots fly the glider XC more than [pick a number....20?] times a year

D= Probability that C pilots have enough vacation to attend 3 contests a year

E= Probability that D pilots have enough money to attend 3 contests a year

F = Probability that E pilots will have family situations that allow attending 3 contests a year

G = Probability that F pilots will feel they are making enough progress after 3 seasons in a row to continue.

A * B * C * D * E * F * G * Number of active glider pilots = Number of contest pilots

There's a reason that a lot of retired people fly in contests and it's not because younger pilots lack the interest. There's personal sacrifice (even if you're single), and it's going to take you several years to get comfortable and start placing in the top half -if you're good enough to begin with. It's entirely possible that while you will improve considerably, you may not be very good at the competition level.

I'm not implying that it isn't worth the time and effort to improve. Winning isn't the only thing, and it's entirely possible that you may enjoy yourself immensely but never place particularly high on the list of finishers.. Is that worth it to you? Only you can decide, just remember that the best way to keep from getting your butt kicked in a contest is to fly in more contests.

Time is expensive. You have to not only devote time to going to contests, you have to fly an awful lot on your own time. Everyone reading this, including me, will think that's not much of a sacrifice but ask your wife what she thinks on a day when she wants you to take a kayak ride while Dr. Jack tells you it's a great day to try for your 500k. ("This sport is worse than golf -you're gone all day!") I've been accused of only wanting to spend rainy days at home during flying season. I can't imagine what would happen if I announced I was going to three contests this year. Plus, flying to get ready for them.

That's just me. Your mileage may vary, as they say. I fully expect others to disagree with my reasoning and again, don't come away thinking I'm not saying that contests aren't great. Like automotive racing, they teach even non-contest flyers a lot of valuable lessons, push things forward for everyone and add depth and texture to the sport.

But they're not for everyone. In fact, they're not for most everyone. I refer you back to the equation above. Even just dipping your toes into contest flying takes a tremendous amount of effort, time, and money. That's probably why many people try them once in a while, but never fly them regularly. And, incidentally, probably why the OLC is so popular -you can time shift your competitive days to when it is convenient for you to fly.

Wow..... I'm not a big numbers guy, but your post is GREAT!.

I have been lucky,
-I've had a great XC local base
-I've had great gliders to fly
-Local goal is, "40+ hours in the glider you're going to race for that season"
-Vacation was not usually an issue
-Money was a low issue, I usually used a tent (sometime 2, one for me, one for equipment using "2 man pop tents" at times early on)

While I have done, "Bottom of the 1st page on yearly SSA pilot rankings" at my best (a decade or so in the past), part of me say's, "What if I flew more?".

Still, excellent post.

Yes, our club has a reasonable XC bent, we even have a SSA National champ to guide us, I realize not every club/group has this.
I am VERY happy I am in this situation, wish I had better results to show it.

The restarted region one race being held on two consecutive weekends is brilliant. Get enough of those so folks don't have to travel excessively and a good chunk of the problem is solved. PS pilots will still need to stand up to their wimmen. Stand tall do not show any weakness and every good soaring day can be yours. Tell her if she wants to see you on good soaring days she can crew. The old soaring masters did it.

On Monday, February 1, 2016 at 12:47:17 PM UTC-5, John Carlyle wrote:
Since "on ramp" in regard to contests is becoming a meme, I feel the need to call BS. Where's the "on ramp" to college? Where's the "on ramp" for getting a job? Where's the "on ramp" for taking flying lessons? All of these instances require self-motivation and some initiative; they don't happen unless you do something. The same is true of contest flying.

Without starting generational war, which this may very well be part of the dilemma as well, I would argue that for those under 35, there were quite a few "on ramps" to College, jobs, and in many cases flying lessons... Not to mention if our goal is to sell and build the sport, the easiest way to fail in this endeavor is to tell people is to just spend the money, figure it out, and you might like it.

I understand that this is not how society always worked, but in many regards there were a lot less events vying for members time and money (how many forms of martial arts and after-school programs existed in 1960?). This is the exact same problem that juniors face in the highschool years, and why they simply cannot afford to spend all their time sitting around the gliderport watching old men drink.

Really? Just home before they cr a couple open a bottle. And who knows, you just might learn something while they're sober in daylight hours.

Sheesh. When did I become an old man? Seems 1 minute ago. That's the worst argument against accepting the huge generosity of those alcoholic old men I've ever heard.

On Monday, February 1, 2016 at 10:21:22 PM UTC-5, Andrew Ainslie wrote:
Really? Just home before they cr a couple open a bottle. And who knows, you just might learn something while they're sober in daylight hours.

Sheesh. When did I become an old man? Seems 1 minute ago. That's the worst argument against accepting the huge generosity of those alcoholic old men I've ever heard.

Never said it wasn't entertaining, worthwhile, or educational... just not the way the winds of change allow "kids these days" to operate and still secure strong post-secondary education.

Any time you work out how insulting your comment about drunken old farts was, just let us know.

Oh... and apologies for not spotting how utterly uninterpretabe my tiny phone keyboard plus autocorrect made my first post.

On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 1:48:15 AM UTC-8, Jim White wrote:
At 02:09 30 January 2016, Christopher Giacomo wrote:
On Friday, January 29, 2016 at 9:06:21 PM UTC-5, Christopher Giacomo
wrote:
As i was looking through the pilot rankings on the SSA website tonight,
i
counted just under 500 pilots with any registration in a contest in the
last 3 years. Wiki claims that the SSA has over 10,000 members
(understand
not all of them fly

But that still means that less than 5% of active members are even showing
up to a contest? seems strange that such a large proportion of
conversation
and emphasis on RAS is focused on such a small segment of the sport.

Gliding competition is a bit like sex. Until you have done it a couple of
times it can seem a bit intimidating. The difference is you never get too
old to compete with dignity.

You have to be less elitist and simplify the rules if you want people to
try it.

On Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 1:48:15 AM UTC-8, Jim White wrote:
At 02:09 30 January 2016, Christopher Giacomo wrote:
On Friday, January 29, 2016 at 9:06:21 PM UTC-5, Christopher Giacomo
wrote:
As i was looking through the pilot rankings on the SSA website tonight,
i
counted just under 500 pilots with any registration in a contest in the
last 3 years. Wiki claims that the SSA has over 10,000 members
(understand
not all of them fly

But that still means that less than 5% of active members are even showing
up to a contest? seems strange that such a large proportion of
conversation
and emphasis on RAS is focused on such a small segment of the sport.

Gliding competition is a bit like sex. Until you have done it a couple of
times it can seem a bit intimidating. The difference is you never get too
old to compete with dignity.

You have to be less elitist and simplify the rules if you want people to
try it.

It might be that the ratio of glider pilots who fly in contests is really much higher than many other pastimes. No research to back up the opinion, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that the percentage of bicycle enthusiasts, motorcycle enthusiasts, jet ski riders, snowboarders, skiers, surfers, automobile drivers, skateboarders, etc., who compete in any organized competition would reflect a much lower participation rate than the sport of soaring.

Or...
contact the closest contest organizer you might want to go to and offer volunteer, they almost always need launch crew. Verify it will be ok to stage your glider and launch after the contest launch, you can then fly the a task that has been assigned for the day. Treat the scorer right and he might even score it for you so you can see how you would have done.

I did this two years ago, I flew a tow plane for the launch and then, on the better soaring days, launched in my own glider after the contest launch was done.

Brian

SF's recommendations for contest beginners

1. Enter and show up. Don't over think this. If you think you want to fly a contest just do it. Everybody there remembers their fist contest and they will try to help you.

2. Establish some reasonable goals and expectations.
Goal # One: Have fun. Goal # Two: fly safe
Don't expect to win. Don't let what other people are doing lead you into what you personally consider risky behavior. If the wind is too high for you, pull your plane out of the start grid. If you don't feel good today, don't fly. Don't like the weather, don't fly. Get out on couse and don't like the way things are going, turn around and land.

3. Do things to De-stress the experience for you. Get everything working and downloaded before leaving home. Don't save money and camp on the field if you don't like camping. If you can bring a crew, bring them. Just knowing that someone is standing by to go get you when you land out really helps.

4. you are probably going to land out, know that going in and don't sweat it. Make a decision as to what altitude number you are going to use to decide when to quit competing and start landing. Don't let others stories of low saves lead you to try one.

5. When you get back and others didn't, go on retrieves. They usually always result in a good story.

SF