Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Another rain day
Today's flying was cancelled at the morning briefing, alas.
Here's a blowup of the signs on the bobbing head thing...
It's good to know that glider flying isn't as dangerous as being a tour guide at an oil well.
Pilots and crews took the opportunity to tour the local area. "Local" means something different in these parts. Here are the attractions:
About half the teams went to one of these places, and the other half seemed to be content visiting the Hobbs laundromat and movie theater.
Carlsbad Caverns 69 miles Lubbock WWII Museum 109 miles Roswell Flying Saucers 116 miles
A few of us drove out to inspect the condition of some of the abandoned and little-known airports around here. On the way back, Bob Epp stopped and gave us a lecture on oil wells.
Here's a blowup of the signs on the bobbing head thing...
It's good to know that glider flying isn't as dangerous as being a tour guide at an oil well.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
An inauspicious start
The first scheduled contest day was completely washed out by rain. The locals haven't seen this much rain in a long time, at least since the last glider contest.
We cancelled flying for the day - before the scheduled grid time. Despite this, a few optimists put their gliders in launch position, just in case.
And the outlook for tomorrow isn't so hot, either.
We cancelled flying for the day - before the scheduled grid time. Despite this, a few optimists put their gliders in launch position, just in case.
And the outlook for tomorrow isn't so hot, either.
Officials
The rules define certain jobs that must be filled for a contest to receive a sanction from SSA. These are the people it takes to run a contest:
The Contest Manager is the highest authority and is responsible for the smooth running of the entire competition. His or her job begins months before the contest and isn't finished until at least a month afterwards. During the meet,the CM supervises everyone else.
The Competition Director is responsible for all sporting aspects of the competition. The CD sets the tasks and assures that the contest is run fairly.
The Operations Director manages everything that happens on the ground, most notably the launches.
The Meteorologist watches the weather 24 hours a day and presents a forecast to the pilots every morning.
In addition to doing the scoring, the Scorer is generally the internet, data, and hardware guru for the contest.
The Chief Tow Pilot ensures that all the towplanes are ready each day, and represents the interests and concerns of all the tow pilots.
The Retrieve Officer makes sure that pilots who have landed out get retrieved, and verifies that everyone is accounted for at the end of the day. This job can keep you up all night.
The Task Advisors are not strictly officials. They are competitors, chosen by the CD, who have enough local knowledge and experience to advise the CD on task selection.
The Contest Committee is an independent body that adjudicates any disputes between the CD and the pilots. In a completely successful contest, the Contest Committee has nothing to do. A better name for this body would be "Jury."
Here are the volunteer officials for this contest:
The Contest Manager is the highest authority and is responsible for the smooth running of the entire competition. His or her job begins months before the contest and isn't finished until at least a month afterwards. During the meet,the CM supervises everyone else.
The Competition Director is responsible for all sporting aspects of the competition. The CD sets the tasks and assures that the contest is run fairly.
The Operations Director manages everything that happens on the ground, most notably the launches.
The Meteorologist watches the weather 24 hours a day and presents a forecast to the pilots every morning.
In addition to doing the scoring, the Scorer is generally the internet, data, and hardware guru for the contest.
The Chief Tow Pilot ensures that all the towplanes are ready each day, and represents the interests and concerns of all the tow pilots.
The Retrieve Officer makes sure that pilots who have landed out get retrieved, and verifies that everyone is accounted for at the end of the day. This job can keep you up all night.
The Task Advisors are not strictly officials. They are competitors, chosen by the CD, who have enough local knowledge and experience to advise the CD on task selection.
The Contest Committee is an independent body that adjudicates any disputes between the CD and the pilots. In a completely successful contest, the Contest Committee has nothing to do. A better name for this body would be "Jury."
Here are the volunteer officials for this contest:
Contest Manager Edre Maier Competition Director Rick Sheppe Operations Director Bill McDaniels Meteorologist Walt Rogers Scorer Tom Pressley Chief Tow Pilot Bob Lynn Retrieve Officer Denise Layton Task Advisors Bif Huss, Mark Keene, David Coggins, Steve Leonard Contest Committee Steve Maier, Leigh Zimmerman
Entry List
Registration has closed, and the entry list has been finalized. Here they are, in no particular order, with their Contest IDs and home provinces.
Standard Class
Open Class
Standard Class
16 David Greenhill CA V2 Randy Hollenberg TX 71 Randy Acree AZ 7K Mark Keene PA OE Bob Epp CO N7 Ralph Bergh AZ JP Boyd Willat CA CG Chip Garner NM JB Chip Bearden NJ H7 Bif Huss CO GY Andy Durbin AZ F1 Dave Springford ON WA Eric Redweik CA
Open Class
DT Steve Coggins TX DB Dick Butler TN CW Rick Walters NV BE Ron Tabery TX 98 Pete Alexander CA P7 Gary Ittner CA SZ Sam Zimmerman SC 711 Tom Kelley NM VJS Steve Leonard KS YO Dave Nadler MA H4 Garret Willat CA N1K David Coggins TX GJ Brian Milner ON
Monday, June 28, 2010
Rehearsal
Pilots often show up to fly before the competition begins. This gives them a chance to get used to the contest area and to make sure that their aircraft and equipment are in top tune for the meet.
The contest organizers (tow pilots, launch crew, scorer, retrieve office, etc.) also need to practice, and for that purpose there are two scheduled formal practice days, just before the contest starts. On the official practice days, a Task is set, and the gliders are launched using contest procedures. Afterwards, the flights are evaluated, and scores are produced.
Knowing full well that the practice day scores are meaningless, the pilots usually are interested in how they did. They are a competitive bunch.
Today was the second practice day. Nine Standard Class and ten Open Class gliders flew. Here are the results.
The contest organizers (tow pilots, launch crew, scorer, retrieve office, etc.) also need to practice, and for that purpose there are two scheduled formal practice days, just before the contest starts. On the official practice days, a Task is set, and the gliders are launched using contest procedures. Afterwards, the flights are evaluated, and scores are produced.
Knowing full well that the practice day scores are meaningless, the pilots usually are interested in how they did. They are a competitive bunch.
Today was the second practice day. Nine Standard Class and ten Open Class gliders flew. Here are the results.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tasks
Each morning the contestants are assigned a route to fly. The route, called a "Task," is different every day. All Tasks are closed-course, i.e. they all end at the finish line back home.
Some Tasks are very specific about where the glider must go. Others allow the pilot to make some inflight decisions about where to go.
The simplest Task is the Assigned Task (AT) which is just a sequence of Turn Points that the glider must visit before coming home. The fastest glider wins the day.
The Modified Assign Task (MAT) is similar, but it includes both mandatory and optional Turn Points.
The Turn Area Task (TAT) allows the pilot to go anywhere he chooses within very large circular areas.
The pilot's objective in the MAT and TAT is to achieve the greatest distance in a fixed amount of time, usually three or four hours.
In all cases, the competitors are scored according to their average speed from start to finish.
Some Tasks are very specific about where the glider must go. Others allow the pilot to make some inflight decisions about where to go.
The simplest Task is the Assigned Task (AT) which is just a sequence of Turn Points that the glider must visit before coming home. The fastest glider wins the day.
The Modified Assign Task (MAT) is similar, but it includes both mandatory and optional Turn Points.
The Turn Area Task (TAT) allows the pilot to go anywhere he chooses within very large circular areas.
The pilot's objective in the MAT and TAT is to achieve the greatest distance in a fixed amount of time, usually three or four hours.
In all cases, the competitors are scored according to their average speed from start to finish.
Black boxes
The pilots carry battery powered GPS flight recorders which record the glider's location every few seconds.
At the end of the day, the data from each flight recorder is analyzed. The Scorer checks the data to make sure that the competitor started correctly, completed the assigned task, and crossed the finish line. The distance and time on course are determined and the pilot is credited with an average speed. Actually, the Scorer's computer does all the work; it takes only a few seconds for each pilot's data to be analyzed.
The fastest finisher gets 1000 points, and everybody else gets points proportional to their speed.
At the end of the day, the data from each flight recorder is analyzed. The Scorer checks the data to make sure that the competitor started correctly, completed the assigned task, and crossed the finish line. The distance and time on course are determined and the pilot is credited with an average speed. Actually, the Scorer's computer does all the work; it takes only a few seconds for each pilot's data to be analyzed.
The fastest finisher gets 1000 points, and everybody else gets points proportional to their speed.
Control Points
Five Start Points (all near Hobbs), 43 Turn Points, and 1 Finish Point (at Hobbs) comprise the "Control Points" for the contest. Competitors download the official Control Point database to program the instruments they use to navigate around the contest area. The Scorer uses the same database to evaluate their flights.
The Control Points are identified both by name and by number. Sometimes the names are hard to pronounce.
The Control Points are identified both by name and by number. Sometimes the names are hard to pronounce.
The playing field
The contest area is a 300 x 200 mile Rosetta Stone shaped region in southeastern New Mexico and west Texas. You can make out the border between the states in this diagram:
Hobbs is located just southwest of the middle of the region, near the green circle (the green circles surround airports with control towers; the big red circles are drawn just to help define the region; and the pink areas are no-fly zones.)
The points inside the area are the official contest turnpoints. The routes the pilots must fly each day are referenced to these turnpoints.
[Click to enlarge the image.]
Hobbs is located just southwest of the middle of the region, near the green circle (the green circles surround airports with control towers; the big red circles are drawn just to help define the region; and the pink areas are no-fly zones.)
The points inside the area are the official contest turnpoints. The routes the pilots must fly each day are referenced to these turnpoints.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
What is it?
Each summer in the USA, several national and regional gliding contests take place. All the races are sanctioned by our national organization, the Soaring Society of America.
This year, the "Open and Standard Class Nationals" will be held at the Hobbs Industrial Airpark (NM83) in Hobbs, New Mexico. Hobbs is also the headquarters of SSA.
The contest will run for ten days, June 29 through July 8, 2010.
The competition will be held in two classes, Open and Standard. Open Class gliders have a weight limitation, but no restrictions on shape or size. The largest racing gliders in the world comprise the Open Class. The Standard Class consists of gliders of limited wingspan (15 meters), and a few other physical limitations. The two classes will be scored separately. In effect, there will be two independent competitions taking place at the same time and location.
All Standard Class and most Open Class gliders are flown solo. A few Open Class gliders have two seats.
An entry consists of a glider, a pilot, and one or more members of the ground crew. If the pilot lands away from home, then the crew drives the trailer to the landing place, helps disassemble the plane, and brings it and the pilot back in time for the next day's flying.
This year, the "Open and Standard Class Nationals" will be held at the Hobbs Industrial Airpark (NM83) in Hobbs, New Mexico. Hobbs is also the headquarters of SSA.
The contest will run for ten days, June 29 through July 8, 2010.
The competition will be held in two classes, Open and Standard. Open Class gliders have a weight limitation, but no restrictions on shape or size. The largest racing gliders in the world comprise the Open Class. The Standard Class consists of gliders of limited wingspan (15 meters), and a few other physical limitations. The two classes will be scored separately. In effect, there will be two independent competitions taking place at the same time and location.
All Standard Class and most Open Class gliders are flown solo. A few Open Class gliders have two seats.
An entry consists of a glider, a pilot, and one or more members of the ground crew. If the pilot lands away from home, then the crew drives the trailer to the landing place, helps disassemble the plane, and brings it and the pilot back in time for the next day's flying.
Gliders are raced by seeing who can fly the fastest all day long, over distances as large as 400 miles. Points (up to 1000 per day) are awarded for speed. Whoever has the most points after ten days is the winner.
Gliders are identified visually and on the radio by their "Contest ID," a unique two or three digit alphanumeric painted on the aircraft. Quite often the Contest ID is the pilot's initials.
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