Life's not fair! Not all of us can afford a brand new ASW 22 BL but we're
still forced to fly in competitions that allow them to enter. Sailplane
racing is largely a cheque book sport. If you can't take the heat, stay out
of the kitchen! If nothing else the guy who pitches up in a brand new ship
has a psychological edge on you if your attitude is 'It's not fair' rather
than 'New ship? Hmmm I'm still going to thrash you'.

If in the next world championship the top 10 places were all taken by a new
aircraft that cost twice as much as it's nearest competitor then it would be
the one to own and the winners would go out and get one - *engine equipped
or not*

The amount of whinging going on in this thread about perceived advantages is
quite sickening. I suspect the real winners are ROTFLAO knowing that your
cockpit decisions are clouded by your distraction from the task at hand. Go
out, fly the ship, beat the competition!

Ian

"Duane Eisenbeiss" wrote in message
news:XT9bb.530734$YN5.354624@sccrnsc01...

"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
.. .
In article e9Lab.525378$uu5.87796@sccrnsc04,
says...


These are good questions, and our idea of "fairness" continues to
evolve. The change to aerotow retrieves about 10-15 years ago is an
illustration of that.

Eric Greenwell
Richland, WA (USA)

Like I stated in my first post, I am just asking questions.

When I used the term "pure sailplane" contest I was using the term in the
"purest sense". The rules for Std, 15-M, & Open started as rules for FAI
class sailplanes. The FAI class definitions did not include engines.
Motor
gliders were/are a separate class. But through evolution, definitions are
becoming confused.

As to the aerotow retrieve, I disagree with it. I think that we should
still have the rule that "all retrieves will be by trailer". Besides the
rest issue, sometimes aerotow retrieves are available only to the pilots
with extra spending funds. It is not fair to the pilots trying to compete
on a budget.

Duane