YOU CAN’T WIN
IF YOU DON’T PLAY
Why compete?
The main reason is to improve our thermal ability and landing skill. I don’t think anybody likes to launch all day, walk long distances to pick up your plane, and repair damage. I used to fly power planes and bored a lot of holes in the sky when I finally realized I had nothing to push me to improve my flying. So now when I come home I can tell my wife “I had seven 2-minute flights” instead of “I bored 5 holes in the sky”.
Fly with a goal in mind. Even while sport flying you should try and have a goal in mind before you launch, even if it is just to get down in one piece.
Carry a stopwatch. I like to use a countdown timer to practice precision-type tasks. This is the main thing about contests that helps flyers. The goals are spelled out in advance. Not only is it you against the elements but you can see how others deal with the different conditions.
Competition goes well beyond who wins the contest. In fact, most contest fliers have no intention of winning the contest, but attend for the fun, camaraderie and practice. Competitions are great places to meet people, exchange ideas, and gain valuable flying experience.
You don't have to have the latest sailplane to enter a contest. While it’s true that high-end composites have advantages in certain conditions, any sailplane can win if flown in the right conditions at the right time. Pilot experience is more important than equipment.
Flying in any competition will teach you important lessons that will ultimately make you a better sailplane pilot, even if your main focus is sport flying. You might even find out that your plane has been flying YOU instead of YOU flying your plane.
2-meter
Hand-launch
R.E.S
Club Contest Results
Thermal duration contests
Thermal duration contests consist of two main goals: flying for a specified duration and making a precision landing.
A typical task time is 10 minutes from a winch-launch and a landing is measured in inches from a designated spot.
Each flight makes up a single round and contests can last from three to ten or more rounds at multi-day contests. Rounds are flown man-on-man or open winch.
See a description of the OVSS seeded man-on-man format here.
Unlimited
Hand-launch contests
Hand-launch contests typically consist of multiple 10-minute rounds in which the tasks are different in every round. Scores are based upon achieving the target flight times; there is no precision landing component.
Tasks can be as simple as five 2-minute flights in a 10-minute window or as complex as the “last two flights count” task that requires strategy and knowing what your opponents are doing.
Official FAI F3K rules and tasks are here (doc).
Overall points
All scores on the web are unofficial. Please attend the Year End Party for official scores.
Categories
MVSA contests are held in four major categories:
Hand-launch
Wingspan limited to 1.5m. Tasks include multiple flights of 1-5 minutes within a 10-minute round.
2-meter
Wingspan limited to 2m. Task times range from 7-12 minutes per round.
R.E.S.
No wingspan limitation but control surfaces are limited to rudder, elevator and spoilers. Task times range from 7-15 minutes per round.
Unlimited
No wingspan limitation, control surfaces usually include: rudder, elevator, ailerons and flaps. Task times range from 7-15 minutes per round.
League of Silent Flight
Another way to measure one’s progress and set personal goals is to participate in the League of Silent Flight program.
LSF was set-up “to promote a framework within which each soaring pilot may share an easy camaraderie with another while sharpening skills in a world-widee-accepted discipline of growth and achievement.”
Membership is free and five “levels” can be achieved with tasks such as precision landings, goal-and-return distance flights, duration flights (5 minutes up to 2 hours), slope flights (15 minutes up to 8 hours!) and contest flying.
More information can be found at www.silentflight.org.