US Rules for 2011

I wrote a "contest corner" for April Soaring Magazine explaining some
of the contest rules changes for 2011. You can see it now on my
webpage,

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john.../rules_11.html

I hope this clarifies some of the things that we're trying to do this
year, and raises awareness of some of the changes. There ARE some
things you need to know!

John Cochrane

On Feb 14, 10:29*pm, John Cochrane
wrote:
I wrote a "contest corner" for April Soaring Magazine explaining some
of the contest rules changes for 2011. You can see it now on my
webpage,

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...Papers/rules_1...

I hope this clarifies some of the things that we're trying to do this
year, and raises awareness of some of the changes. There ARE some
things you need to know!

John Cochrane

John:

You've definitely addressed some of the issues that some of us have
been griping about, but I wonder if it doesn't introduce even more
rule complexity? One thing we hear from newcomers is that you never
know who has won until the scorer completes his task. Even then, we
have found mistakes to occur through the sheer complexity of
everything.

While I am looking forward to Flarm as a leeching tool, I doubt that
it will be very useful out west. I have often flown towards a couple
of rapidly-rising sailplanes to find that there is little lift beneath
them. If you don't catch the thermal main bubble out here, you're
often too late. I suspect that it won't be much of a game changer, at
least in our region.

I have never understood why Americans have been so singularly against
team flying, especially when it is an important tool used at World
competitions that puts the USA at a distinct disadvantage. I don't
know about your club, but our informal cross-country flights are very
cooperative and don't jam the radio with chatter.

Tucson Soaring Club is hosting a cross-country camp in May to
encourage and mentor new pilots and to provide a non-competitive (and
less confusing) venue than a contest. It isn't intended to replace
contests but complement them. We'll let you know how it goes.

Mike

On Feb 15, 9:00*am, Mike the Strike wrote:
On Feb 14, 10:29*pm, John Cochrane
wrote:

I wrote a "contest corner" for April Soaring Magazine explaining some
of the contest rules changes for 2011. You can see it now on my
webpage,

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...Papers/rules_1...

I hope this clarifies some of the things that we're trying to do this
year, and raises awareness of some of the changes. There ARE some
things you need to know!

John Cochrane

John:

You've definitely addressed some of the issues that some of us have
been griping about, but I wonder if it doesn't introduce even more
rule complexity? *One thing we hear from newcomers is that you never
know who has won until the scorer completes his task. *Even then, we
have found mistakes to occur through the sheer complexity of
everything.

While I am looking forward to Flarm as a leeching tool, I doubt that
it will be very useful out west. *I have often flown towards a couple
of rapidly-rising sailplanes to find that there is little lift beneath
them. *If you don't catch the thermal main bubble out here, you're
often too late. *I suspect that it won't be much of a game changer, at
least in our region.

I have never understood why Americans have been so singularly against
team flying, especially when it is an important tool used at World
competitions that puts the USA at a distinct disadvantage. *I don't
know about your club, but our informal cross-country flights are very
cooperative and don't jam the radio with chatter.

Tucson Soaring Club is hosting a cross-country camp in May to
encourage and mentor new pilots and to provide a non-competitive (and
less confusing) venue than a contest. *It isn't intended to replace
contests but complement them. *We'll let you know how it goes.

Mike

Scoring complexity and obscurity is on the agenda. No change for this
year, but the stew is simmering
John Cochrane

On Feb 15, 8:29*am, John Cochrane
wrote:
On Feb 15, 9:00*am, Mike the Strike wrote:



On Feb 14, 10:29*pm, John Cochrane
wrote:

I wrote a "contest corner" for April Soaring Magazine explaining some
of the contest rules changes for 2011. You can see it now on my
webpage,

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...Papers/rules_1....

I hope this clarifies some of the things that we're trying to do this
year, and raises awareness of some of the changes. There ARE some
things you need to know!

John Cochrane

John:

You've definitely addressed some of the issues that some of us have
been griping about, but I wonder if it doesn't introduce even more
rule complexity? *One thing we hear from newcomers is that you never
know who has won until the scorer completes his task. *Even then, we
have found mistakes to occur through the sheer complexity of
everything.

While I am looking forward to Flarm as a leeching tool, I doubt that
it will be very useful out west. *I have often flown towards a couple
of rapidly-rising sailplanes to find that there is little lift beneath
them. *If you don't catch the thermal main bubble out here, you're
often too late. *I suspect that it won't be much of a game changer, at
least in our region.

I have never understood why Americans have been so singularly against
team flying, especially when it is an important tool used at World
competitions that puts the USA at a distinct disadvantage. *I don't
know about your club, but our informal cross-country flights are very
cooperative and don't jam the radio with chatter.

Tucson Soaring Club is hosting a cross-country camp in May to
encourage and mentor new pilots and to provide a non-competitive (and
less confusing) venue than a contest. *It isn't intended to replace
contests but complement them. *We'll let you know how it goes.

Mike

Scoring complexity and obscurity is on the agenda. No change for this
year, but the stew is simmering
John Cochrane

John thanks for the summary. I am looking at this from the scorers
stand point as I will be scoring the 15 meter Nationals and the
regional competition that will be running along side it. Can you shed
any light on how WinScore will be changed to handle multiple sets of
handicaps? We will set it up similar to when we combine standard, 15m
and 18m ships in a single class?

Thanks in advance and looking forward to meeting you in Logan this
year!

Ron Gleason

On Feb 14, 11:29*pm, John Cochrane
wrote:
I wrote a "contest corner" for April Soaring Magazine explaining some
of the contest rules changes for 2011. You can see it now on my
webpage,

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...Papers/rules_1...

I hope this clarifies some of the things that we're trying to do this
year, and raises awareness of some of the changes. There ARE some
things you need to know!

John Cochrane

Thanks for the clarifications John. I'm looking forward to my first
contest this summer.

On Feb 15, 9:43*am, Ron Gleason wrote:
On Feb 15, 8:29*am, John Cochrane
wrote:



On Feb 15, 9:00*am, Mike the Strike wrote:

On Feb 14, 10:29*pm, John Cochrane
wrote:

I wrote a "contest corner" for April Soaring Magazine explaining some
of the contest rules changes for 2011. You can see it now on my
webpage,

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...Papers/rules_1...

I hope this clarifies some of the things that we're trying to do this
year, and raises awareness of some of the changes. There ARE some
things you need to know!

John Cochrane

John:

You've definitely addressed some of the issues that some of us have
been griping about, but I wonder if it doesn't introduce even more
rule complexity? *One thing we hear from newcomers is that you never
know who has won until the scorer completes his task. *Even then, we
have found mistakes to occur through the sheer complexity of
everything.

While I am looking forward to Flarm as a leeching tool, I doubt that
it will be very useful out west. *I have often flown towards a couple
of rapidly-rising sailplanes to find that there is little lift beneath
them. *If you don't catch the thermal main bubble out here, you're
often too late. *I suspect that it won't be much of a game changer, at
least in our region.

I have never understood why Americans have been so singularly against
team flying, especially when it is an important tool used at World
competitions that puts the USA at a distinct disadvantage. *I don't
know about your club, but our informal cross-country flights are very
cooperative and don't jam the radio with chatter.

Tucson Soaring Club is hosting a cross-country camp in May to
encourage and mentor new pilots and to provide a non-competitive (and
less confusing) venue than a contest. *It isn't intended to replace
contests but complement them. *We'll let you know how it goes.

Mike

Scoring complexity and obscurity is on the agenda. No change for this
year, but the stew is simmering
John Cochrane

John thanks for the summary. *I am looking at this from the scorers
stand point as I will be scoring the 15 meter Nationals and the
regional competition that will be running along side it. *Can you shed
any light on how WinScore will be changed to handle multiple sets of
handicaps? *We will set it up similar to when we combine standard, 15m
and 18m ships in a single class?

Thanks in advance and looking forward to meeting you in Logan this
year!

Ron Gleason

No, the "multiple handicapped" classes use standard handicaps, not the
fixed 2% of "combined FAI" classes. The mulitple classes are run
exactly on sports class rules, so winscore should be simple. If water
is allowed in a handicapped class, you use the scratch handcap with no
weight adjustment.

Have fun scoring, and thanks for volunteering!

John Cochrane

Thanks very much for posting this now, John. There are a lot of
changes, and I appreciate the "heads-up".

-John

On Feb 15, 12:29 am, John Cochrane
wrote:
I wrote a "contest corner" for April Soaring Magazine explaining some
of the contest rules changes for 2011. You can see it now on my
webpage,

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...Papers/rules_1...

I hope this clarifies some of the things that we're trying to do this
year, and raises awareness of some of the changes. There ARE some
things you need to know!

John Cochrane

Good stuff, thanks John!

On Memorial Day Weekend, the SGC Soaring Foundation (Region 8 -
Ephrata, WA) is going to be putting on a 3 day "contest" event called
the "Ephrata Dust Up" ( http://www.dustup.org ). Its designed to ease
newcomers into contest soaring, and provide mentor opportunities
between those folks and some of the contest gurus we have in our
Region. We intend to follow the Regionals rules as much as possible,
so some of these changes (like multiple handicap classes) are welcome
additions (i.e. we can now have a "beginner" and "advanced" class
while still ostensibly running things under Sports Class rules).

Next step: Rules simplification (where possible). Let's keep
knocking down these barriers to contest flying where practical, and
hopefully show more folks that contests are fun and exciting - not
scary or dangerous or overly-complex!

Take care,

--Noel

John -

I just saw this: http://soaringcafe.com/2011/01/us-co...ring-analysis/

If you've had a chance to see the presentation, can you explain
whether it jives with the rules changes you've written about? Do you
and Frank share the same opinion about their effects, or do you have a
different perspective?

Thanks,

--Noel


On Feb 14, 9:29*pm, John Cochrane
wrote:
I wrote a "contest corner" for April Soaring Magazine explaining some
of the contest rules changes for 2011. You can see it now on my
webpage,

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...Papers/rules_1...

I hope this clarifies some of the things that we're trying to do this
year, and raises awareness of some of the changes. There ARE some
things you need to know!

John -

I just saw this:http://soaringcafe.com/2011/01/us-co...ring-analysis/

If you've had a chance to see the presentation, can you explain
whether it jives with the rules changes you've written about? *Do you
and Frank share the same opinion about their effects, or do you have a
different perspective?

Thanks,

I haven't seen anything in Frank's presentation to disagree with. He
presents the new TAT MAT rules accurately.
The big issues is, what are the strategic implications of the day
devaluation formulas. Here Frank is ahead of me.

John Cochrane