Does USA need a Club Class?

Gotta disagree just a bit with EY.

No problem UH - disagreement is what good debate is all about. If no
one ever shared their concerns or hopes and dreams, we would all be
poorer for it.

I just wanted to chime in with some of my thoughts as I now see how
dynamic a group of pilots has been created by the creation of the Club
Class in Europe and Australia, and I, selfishly, would like to be a
part of a community like that here in the USA.

In Sports Class, while I feel invited, I also feel like I am a little
bit of a sideshow in my 1969 Libelle. I saw someone say on this thread
that if we applied "Club Class" rules to this years entries at
Parowan, we would only have 24 Club Class ships. Unless I am seriously
confused on what a "club class" ship is, I count only 6 potential
club class type entry applications by ships of no-flaps and less than
1.03 handicap!!!

I can not help but believe that many owners of "club class" type
ships are intimidated by the field of GLIDERS at Sports Nats and at the
larger Sports Regionals, rather than the field of pilots. Forexample
look at Wayne Paul's post inthis thread. I for one have analyzed things
and can not hope to be FULLY competitive at Parowan in my Std. Libelle.


Sure I can take her and I could/would do just fine. But anyone going
racing for the national team or a national title is not content with
the expectation of doing "just fine" even before the first start
takes place. So I am going to a different ship - one with a better
(i.e. more favorable handicap for the conditions I will be flying in).
IMHO, that is not "run what you brung" but I will be doing it
because that is how the game works.

If sports class were truly "fair" then I posit that a great many
more people might be interested in "running what they brung." Maybe
I am wrong, but maybe I am right. How do we know unless we try it out?

Recent history shows that you need a
LOW performance glider to excel in the Sports Class.
Why? Because it lets the guy with a 1.0 or higher handicap pick the
sweet part of the task area while the .9 guys are forced to fly out
of
the best area to use up task time. Fly upwind/downwind as is usual
when
you have a choice and Dave Stevenson will kill you every single day
in
the KA6.

No quibbling with DS as a pilot. He is a TERRIFIC pilot and great
competitor in Sports Class.

But I do quibble with a system that lets a great pilot find an
overvalued (handicap-wise) glider, and use it to bludgeon the field of
many equally talented pilots. This was seen by many of us in Sports
Class at Lubbock in 2002. I just cannot believe that DS so completely
and thoroughly outclassed the second place competitior (E9) on pilot
skills alone.

If the handicap for the Cobra was correct, then why was the handicap
immediately and greatly devalued the next year. Dave played it
correctly from the start - he worked the rules to ensure his chance
at victory. Who knows, he probably would have won with the Cobra's
handicap of 1.16 and not 1.25. But it would have been a MUCH tighter
race that I would like to have flown in.

If the general perception is out there that this can be done, then
there may also be a perception that other ships are equally
favored/disfavored. If I am an aspiring racing pilot who has any dreams
of being competitive, then I might think better of entering a contest
where I start from behind on Day1.

This "modern" pilot seemed to do OK when moving to Club at the
Worlds.

No questioning your racing skills, UH. The better pilot, flying
whatever ship, will always tend to outclass the less good pilot. But if
your ability to purchase or obtain a relatively or perceived more
competitive ship determines who will and will not race, then all racing
pilots in this country and the pilots we send to Club Worlds out of
Sports Class are the poorer for it.


The success that Tim has had proves, in my opinion, that what we have
works.


Yes it works, but could it be better for a certain portion of our
membership that would love to race but are intimidated from
participating; That portion of our membership that we pay lipservice to
wanting to attract to racing, but do very little to encourage - the
young, the new, the old on more limited means, etc.

Yes adding another class to the mix could dilute things for contest
attendance. However, anyone who thinks running even a fully subscribed
contest is lucrative or even "economic" clearly has not run one. We
need to grow the size of our pie rather than restricting any growth to
within existing boundaries. Maybe adding another class would give
incentive to actually hold more co-hosted contests for those classes
without a dedicated national - say a Junior Nationals or a Women's
Nationals.


The sad part is that not all that many serious contenders for US Team
slots are participating at the national level. I'd estimate about 6
at
Ionia last year with a couple gone to the WGC at the time. When more
top pilots realize this is a way to the "big show",the qualitiy of
the
team will improve.

Wholeheartedly agreed. The attempt to freeze out the top pilots from
the club class team a few years ago was riduculous. The rest of the
world sends its BEST pilots to club class worlds, why shouldn't we.
But I am still not convinced we truly send our best pilots to club
class when very few "sports" class pilots venture from East to West
Coast sites in search of the team spots, but rather most comepetitors
fly Sports Class as a warm-up for "their" nationals (i.e. Std, 15m,
Open, 18m) and when it is in their back yard.

Entries at the Sports Nats is more about the popularity of the site
than other issues, in my opinion. Have Iris and Karl run the contest,
with all they do to make it fun, and it will fill up anywhere, with
somebody crying cause they aren't good enough to get in.

Absolutely True. Good, Well-run contest at "friendly" sites will
always filled up, often with very talented pilots. Sorry for the less
well ranked pilots, but that is just the way things work. It is a
Nationals after all.

We need to not mess up what we have which is a place for everybody to
fly. As Dick Johnson calls it- the entry and exit class. Run what you
brung works and handicapping anomolies are weeded out By the RC led
by
Dave Cole.

I would never advocate "messing" anything up. Keep the Sports
Class! Don't change a thing. I like taking my Libelle to Sports Class
events where I really must tototally and completely maximize my flying
and the ship to get a good finish. I get challenged and I become a
better racing pilot for the experience. Both here and in Europe, this
is one of the only places in our sport where there can be the
confluence of newbies and the top names. Other countries run Sports and
Club Class championships - often countries much smaller than ours.
Why not us?

When we get Sports to a full contest regularly with 1/2 the field
between .95 and 1.03, we should think about creating a divided class,
but not until then.

We have a bit of a chicken or the egg problem here. I may be wrong, but
when I look at a western contest site like Parowan, and see 27's,
V2's, etc., etc. it gives me pause to bringing my Libelle. I wonder
how many other pilots are in a similar situation? If all you own is a
PW-5 or a Russia, and/or you are of limited means, then that is what
you take or you do not go - assuming you want to be
"competitive". Pilots can't have the option of Club Class until
the participation is there, but we do not have the participation, in
part I beleive, because of the current system of Sports Class. What to
do?

One more point for possible discussion:

I have heard the argument that the Open Class is kept alive here in the
US in part because of the effect shuttering the class would have on big
winged glider values. If we are willing to protect such a relatively
minor portion of our pilot's turf, then why can't we add Club Class
and immediately bolster the glider values of many more club class type
ships? Aren't owners of club class ships like mine owed a little
protection of our hopes and dreams, not to mention our glider values?
Or must I be limited to buying into "real racing" only by getting a
"new" ship? The rest of the world seems to think differently from
us here in the USA. While the rest of the world is often wrong on many
things, they might just be right on this one...

Respectfully,
EY

Just my opinion.
UH- RC Chair, WGC Club team '01, '02

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

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

Wayne Paul wrote:
I have considered entering "Sports Class" contests with my HP-14; however,
it seems like a useless effort considering the ships which I would be
competing against.

Yes, I know that entering would make me a better pilot; however, any week
dedicated to flying with other good pilots will do that.

Wayne, an HP 14 in good condition is an excellent match for Ephrata
conditions, as is any glider near a 1.00 handicap. There are plenty of
turnpoints to choose from so can usually choose a good area. Come on up
and try it! You'll learn some contest flying, something you won't learn
just from "flying with other good pilots".


--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

I would like to address the intimidation factor as it applies to new
racing pilots,ie new XC pilots who have not raced yet.

Very few pilots are being held back from entering their first contest
by not being competitive. At least not the pilots who I fly with.

They could care less about winning. They are intimidated about flying
long tasks, they don't own a GPS logger yet, they are worried about
gaggles, final glides, land-outs and complex rules.

A question, would you propose an additional club class at regionals or
a single club class national ?

Todd Smith
Grob 102
3S

A lot of good points have been stated in this thread.
I'm sure I can't add any good points, but I can add
my 2 cents worth...

I've flown in one SSA Regional contest, a couple of
GTA (Georgia-Tennessee-Alabama series) and some 'fun
flys' that were sort of run like contests. In all
cases, I was in a 'sports class' and I think the GTA
runs their series based on the sports class rules.

I know I don't have a chance of winning. Yet. But
I want to go to contests to:
1. Improve my flying
2. Meet other people
3. Have a great vacation

The main problem holding me back: Lack of vacation
time. A regional requires more than a week of vacation
time and since I'm on a new job, it takes time to build
sufficient vacation time. Here is where the GTA series
is great: They fly weekend events with the occassional
3-day fling thrown in. Unfortunately, their races
nearest to me are about 500 miles away. That's just
an awfully long way to go, especially with gas over
$2.20/gallon, for two days of flying. (I know the
Europeans are rolling their eyes over this item.)

I am a bit intimidated when I find a lot of newer gliders
as compared to my 1970 LS1-d at these events. Sure,
there may be the occassional Libelle or 1-34, but most
of the competition I've seen at the events have been
newer than mine.

While it is a little intimidating, I'm not put off
by it. I know that is just the way it is. And besides,
it gives me a good alibi for loosing! (Handicap for
my glider is 1.019)

But I must say, it would be more interesting if all
the competitors in my class had gliders of similar
vintage (or even street value?)

Back to the GTA: They run two classes: The 'A' class
for the experienced pilots and the 'B' class for the
rest. For the two events I attended, I flew in the
'B' class. They assign shorter tasks for the 'B' pilots
and usually the route stays a little closer to the
home field. To me, these are appealing features.
It lets me fly 'in the shallow part of the pool' before
I 'jump off into the deep end.'

So, I could see where a Club Class would be interesting
and I would participate, if I can ever build enough
vacation time. But, I'll be happy in the Sports Class
just the way it is. That's because I'm not a 'real'
competitor like EY. He and others like him are out
to win. I'm just out to have a good time. And having
the structure available at a contest: The CD, the
weather guesser, and all the other pilots doing the
same thing make flying a contest a whole lot more fun
and interesting than flying at the home field where
everybody seems to do their own thing.

So, I just need more vacation time and a longer spring
season.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA
LS1-d, 'W8'

the whole point is.......if you have the ship for the competitive FAI
Class..then fly in the FAI class.No one will be taking your spot there on
the grid with their Standard Cirrus or Libelle.....
I hear no one complaining that the FAI classes are over booked with K6's or
the like....
IMHO (and many others) what Club class (Sports) was intended for and should
be for, is a place for these lesser budget racers to compete on a fair and
fun playing field....
tim

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

Tim wrote:
Gotta disagree just a bit with EY.

No problem UH - disagreement is what good debate is all about. If no
one ever shared their concerns or hopes and dreams, we would all be
poorer for it.

I just wanted to chime in with some of my thoughts as I now see how
dynamic a group of pilots has been created by the creation of the
Club
Class in Europe and Australia, and I, selfishly, would like to be a
part of a community like that here in the USA.

In Sports Class, while I feel invited, I also feel like I am a little
bit of a sideshow in my 1969 Libelle. I saw someone say on this
thread
that if we applied "Club Class" rules to this years entries at
Parowan, we would only have 24 Club Class ships. Unless I am
seriously
confused on what a "club class" ship is, I count only 6 potential
club class type entry applications by ships of no-flaps and less than
1.03 handicap!!!

I can not help but believe that many owners of "club class" type
ships are intimidated by the field of GLIDERS at Sports Nats and at
the
larger Sports Regionals, rather than the field of pilots. Forexample
look at Wayne Paul's post inthis thread. I for one have analyzed
things
and can not hope to be FULLY competitive at Parowan in my Std.
Libelle.


Sure I can take her and I could/would do just fine. But anyone going
racing for the national team or a national title is not content with
the expectation of doing "just fine" even before the first start
takes place. So I am going to a different ship - one with a better
(i.e. more favorable handicap for the conditions I will be flying
in).
IMHO, that is not "run what you brung" but I will be doing it
because that is how the game works.

If sports class were truly "fair" then I posit that a great many
more people might be interested in "running what they brung." Maybe
I am wrong, but maybe I am right. How do we know unless we try it
out?

Recent history shows that you need a
LOW performance glider to excel in the Sports Class.
Why? Because it lets the guy with a 1.0 or higher handicap pick the
sweet part of the task area while the .9 guys are forced to fly out
of
the best area to use up task time. Fly upwind/downwind as is usual
when
you have a choice and Dave Stevenson will kill you every single day
in
the KA6.

No quibbling with DS as a pilot. He is a TERRIFIC pilot and great
competitor in Sports Class.

But I do quibble with a system that lets a great pilot find an
overvalued (handicap-wise) glider, and use it to bludgeon the field
of
many equally talented pilots. This was seen by many of us in Sports
Class at Lubbock in 2002. I just cannot believe that DS so completely
and thoroughly outclassed the second place competitior (E9) on pilot
skills alone.

If the handicap for the Cobra was correct, then why was the handicap
immediately and greatly devalued the next year. Dave played it
correctly from the start - he worked the rules to ensure his chance
at victory. Who knows, he probably would have won with the Cobra's
handicap of 1.16 and not 1.25. But it would have been a MUCH tighter
race that I would like to have flown in.

If the general perception is out there that this can be done, then
there may also be a perception that other ships are equally
favored/disfavored. If I am an aspiring racing pilot who has any
dreams
of being competitive, then I might think better of entering a contest
where I start from behind on Day1.

This "modern" pilot seemed to do OK when moving to Club at the
Worlds.

No questioning your racing skills, UH. The better pilot, flying
whatever ship, will always tend to outclass the less good pilot. But
if
your ability to purchase or obtain a relatively or perceived more
competitive ship determines who will and will not race, then all
racing
pilots in this country and the pilots we send to Club Worlds out of
Sports Class are the poorer for it.


The success that Tim has had proves, in my opinion, that what we
have
works.


Yes it works, but could it be better for a certain portion of our
membership that would love to race but are intimidated from
participating; That portion of our membership that we pay lipservice
to
wanting to attract to racing, but do very little to encourage - the
young, the new, the old on more limited means, etc.

Yes adding another class to the mix could dilute things for contest
attendance. However, anyone who thinks running even a fully
subscribed
contest is lucrative or even "economic" clearly has not run one. We
need to grow the size of our pie rather than restricting any growth
to
within existing boundaries. Maybe adding another class would give
incentive to actually hold more co-hosted contests for those classes
without a dedicated national - say a Junior Nationals or a Women's
Nationals.


The sad part is that not all that many serious contenders for US
Team
slots are participating at the national level. I'd estimate about 6
at
Ionia last year with a couple gone to the WGC at the time. When
more
top pilots realize this is a way to the "big show",the qualitiy of
the
team will improve.

Wholeheartedly agreed. The attempt to freeze out the top pilots from
the club class team a few years ago was riduculous. The rest of the
world sends its BEST pilots to club class worlds, why shouldn't we.
But I am still not convinced we truly send our best pilots to club
class when very few "sports" class pilots venture from East to West
Coast sites in search of the team spots, but rather most comepetitors
fly Sports Class as a warm-up for "their" nationals (i.e. Std, 15m,
Open, 18m) and when it is in their back yard.

Entries at the Sports Nats is more about the popularity of the site
than other issues, in my opinion. Have Iris and Karl run the
contest,
with all they do to make it fun, and it will fill up anywhere, with
somebody crying cause they aren't good enough to get in.

Absolutely True. Good, Well-run contest at "friendly" sites will
always filled up, often with very talented pilots. Sorry for the less
well ranked pilots, but that is just the way things work. It is a
Nationals after all.

We need to not mess up what we have which is a place for everybody
to
fly. As Dick Johnson calls it- the entry and exit class. Run what
you
brung works and handicapping anomolies are weeded out By the RC led
by
Dave Cole.

I would never advocate "messing" anything up. Keep the Sports
Class! Don't change a thing. I like taking my Libelle to Sports Class
events where I really must tototally and completely maximize my
flying
and the ship to get a good finish. I get challenged and I become a
better racing pilot for the experience. Both here and in Europe, this
is one of the only places in our sport where there can be the
confluence of newbies and the top names. Other countries run Sports
and
Club Class championships - often countries much smaller than ours.
Why not us?

When we get Sports to a full contest regularly with 1/2 the field
between .95 and 1.03, we should think about creating a divided
class,
but not until then.

We have a bit of a chicken or the egg problem here. I may be wrong,
but
when I look at a western contest site like Parowan, and see 27's,
V2's, etc., etc. it gives me pause to bringing my Libelle. I wonder
how many other pilots are in a similar situation? If all you own is a
PW-5 or a Russia, and/or you are of limited means, then that is what
you take or you do not go - assuming you want to be
"competitive". Pilots can't have the option of Club Class until
the participation is there, but we do not have the participation, in
part I beleive, because of the current system of Sports Class. What
to
do?

One more point for possible discussion:

I have heard the argument that the Open Class is kept alive here in
the
US in part because of the effect shuttering the class would have on
big
winged glider values. If we are willing to protect such a relatively
minor portion of our pilot's turf, then why can't we add Club Class
and immediately bolster the glider values of many more club class
type
ships? Aren't owners of club class ships like mine owed a little
protection of our hopes and dreams, not to mention our glider values?
Or must I be limited to buying into "real racing" only by getting a
"new" ship? The rest of the world seems to think differently from
us here in the USA. While the rest of the world is often wrong on
many
things, they might just be right on this one...

Respectfully,
EY

Just my opinion.
UH- RC Chair, WGC Club team '01, '02

A lot of good points here from a guy who has thought a lot about the
subject.
As long as we keep the Sports class open to all, the possibility of a
pilot finding a "ringer" does exist, but we have worked hard to try and
prevent this.Ringers have been identified and adjusted recently and
this will continue.
I think you are making a mistake changing from the Libelle. I can't
imagine how a '27 will beat you at Parowan with equal pilots. Your 23%
advantage in selecting the best area to go( available area is square of
handicap ratio)is a big advantage. In tricky area KS glides off into
oblivion because he has to to go far enough to use up time, and you
just turn and slide on home. Just like you did to me in Elmira. I had
to extend and you didn't. Day died, you got home and I land just short.
One possibility to encourage more Club Class handicap ships is to make
team slots only available to those flying ships in that handicap range.
RC has looked at this in the past,but not adopted.
If this is seriously worthy of revisiting, it could be added to this
years pilot poll. Interested folks, contact your rules committee
representatives and we will add if there is enough interest.
I sorta agree with 1M on guys with current ships staying in the FAI
classes in regionals. The exception would be "entry and exit" folks.
That is why I do not fly Sports in regionals. I do not agree that this
is applicable to Sports Nats. Different show.
Enough blather- good discussion with less than RAS standard of insults
and name calling.
CU UH

Respectfully,
EY

Just my opinion.
UH- RC Chair, WGC Club team '01, '02

A lot of good points here from a guy who has thought a lot about the
subject.
As long as we keep the Sports class open to all, the possibility of a
pilot finding a "ringer" does exist, but we have worked hard to try and
prevent this.Ringers have been identified and adjusted recently and
this will continue.
I think you are making a mistake changing from the Libelle. I can't
imagine how a '27 will beat you at Parowan with equal pilots. Your 23%
advantage in selecting the best area to go( available area is square of
handicap ratio)is a big advantage. In tricky area KS glides off into
oblivion because he has to to go far enough to use up time, and you
just turn and slide on home. Just like you did to me in Elmira. I had
to extend and you didn't. Day died, you got home and I land just short.
One possibility to encourage more Club Class handicap ships is to make
team slots only available to those flying ships in that handicap range.
RC has looked at this in the past,but not adopted.
If this is seriously worthy of revisiting, it could be added to this
years pilot poll. Interested folks, contact your rules committee
representatives and we will add if there is enough interest.

The one and only problem with the pilots poll is that the poll will consist
of nearly all pollers being the current crop of racing pilots registered.and
most of whom will be flying current or near current racing class ships.
There is no doubt in my mind that few of these guys are going to vote
themselves out of any opportunity to fly in any contest, which is what they
would have to do to make this change.
The Poll doesn't include, what we as an organization should be trying to
attract, that being those outside that "could be" attracted to join in and
grow the ranks of the current membership. Many of these on the outside
looking in, just don't see the value of sailplane racing as it applies to
them, because, well, many don't have or can't afford what is considered to
be a competitive ship....if the sports class was aimed more at these older
ships and newer pilots I think there would be an increase in new
participation, which can't be bad for soaring as a sport inside and outside
racing.


I sorta agree with 1M on guys with current ships staying in the FAI
classes in regionals. The exception would be "entry and exit" folks.
That is why I do not fly Sports in regionals. I do not agree that this
is applicable to Sports Nats. Different show.

Decades ago, when I was "less mature" and more nimble I raced moto cross and
hare scrambles.we had in those days a novice class which basically was the
starting (entry) class. You were basically allowed to race in this class
only as long as you didn't win it.....then you were moved to the armature
class...They also adopter a senior class (exit) that allowed anyone over a
certain age to race with others among this age group....we already do this
with the very highly successful Senior Nationals.....there could be also
regional "Senior" contest.though that may already take a very large portion
of the soaring population in the USA.....which again is IMHO why we should
be doing all that is possible to attract and keep our newest (entry) pilots
interested in moving beyond club flying...racing can be and has been the
fuse for doing this in the past.

Enough blather- good discussion with less than RAS standard of insults
and name calling.
CU UH

I always enjoy friendly discussions with UH, EY and many others I consider
not only pilots with similar interests, but good friends as well...like in
any marriage, when we don't talk (argue constructively) we soon part....
tim

--
Wings & Wheels
www.wingsandwheels.com

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"