The Regionals Begin, In a Big Way: 103 Miles

[lplehmann]

For those few who've entered this year's Regionals, I have good news, and bad news. The good news is that the first good contest flight has been made. The bad news is that it's a helluva long one. Nelson Lewis flew 103 miles from Tobacco Row this past Sunday. You can read his telegraphic account below.
Pete Lehmann



Sunday March 18 Tobacco Row NW

2:30pm NW 0-15mph.

Lots of cu which had just begun to get solid. 30deg. John Harper had launched and was gone. Steve Kepler was up. I launched and hooked a thermal to 3k-4k. Back down to launch level and trolling I flew into some turbulence which knocked my instruments off the down tube; still velcroed but hanging backward.

Steve had landed and John had had a wire slapper which was audible from the ground. I decided to get high enough to crab off the end of the mountain toward a big field on top of a hill. As I worked south I flew over a westerly facing bowl which was working. 500+fpm from 2K - 7k. Much smoother over the back. O sunk trying to get my hands back as I couldn't feel them. I had Ice climbing gloves on.

After ~ 5mi. had to go on glide to a big cu. Gained 5-8,900'msl. Snowing upwind of cu. Went around cloud. Next climb was under shredded bits of cu. A slower, broken climb. 0 sank trying to get hands back. Next cu was the start of a street that went as far as I could see. 5-7,700'msl cloud hopped the next couple of cu. Gliding was hard on hands, I spent climbs punching downward to force blood to hands; sloppy climbs. A long glide around Fort Pickett.

Solid 500fpm climb late in day; 4k -7,700'. Again, O sank trying to get hands back. turned on gps to find I was 84mi out. Cu had dissipated to scud. Called John with my position, he had landed ~ 25mi. and was chasing. Pulled the string, tried to protect my hands with my head, but was afraid to go too head down as my chin strap had come loose due to two face masks and not enough tag end. A long buoyant late day glide. Called John to let him know I was 100mi. and landing. A mature Bald Eagle over a huge field was a good omen. Landed there in NW ~ 5mph. Hadn't gotten out of the field before John drives up. The last position I gave him was at 84miles?! 5 hours 103mi.

[Flying Lobster]

awesome!

marc

[theflyingdude]

Nice flight, Nelson!!!

So with the new contest format requiring an .igc tracklog, how does one submit a flight like this where the GPS isn't turned on for the entire flight?

BTW, most (or all?) of the Mountaineers will not be participating in the regionals this year due to their ignorance or lack of interest in the ways of the GPS and computer technology. That doesn't mean we won't be flying to the horizon when possible, but we will be doing so for our own amusement, rather than to satisfy some competitive urge or need (such as it is).

JR

[Lauren Tjaden]

Holy Moly! Or, as Paul pointed out, how come you are getting such great flights in VA when it's blown out down here? Good job.
Lauren (colored VERY green, that's MY fantasy you are flying) Tjaden

[Flying Lobster]

Nice flight, Nelson!!!

So with the new contest format requiring an .igc tracklog, how does one submit a flight like this where the GPS isn't turned on for the entire flight?

BTW, most (or all?) of the Mountaineers will not be participating in the regionals this year due to their ignorance or lack of interest in the ways of the GPS and computer technology. That doesn't mean we won't be flying to the horizon when possible, but we will be doing so for our own amusement, rather than to satisfy some competitive urge or need (such as it is).

JR

When we gonna learn you west-by-godians how to read? The igc track is not required--just a way to expand credit to multi-leg flights IF submitted.

I'm not speaking for him, but my gut feeling is that Pete wouldn't mind if one of the mountaineers decided to take over administering the contest.

marc

Mr. Pete has been selflessly administering this c

[theflyingdude]

When we gonna learn you west-by-godians how to read? The igc track is not required--just a way to expand credit to multi-leg flights IF submitted.

I'm not speaking for him, but my gut feeling is that Pete wouldn't mind if one of the mountaineers decided to take over administering the contest.

marc

Mr. Pete has been selflessly administering this c

Of that, I have little doubt. Pete has been running the regionals and the year-long contest for many years in an effort to promote x-c flying in Region 9. I commend him for his efforts, but I have never made any pre-flight or in-flight decisions based upon it being a "Regionals" day nor would I ever consider myself a "competition" pilot, per se. I see flying as a more cooperative, rather than a competitive adventure. I don't enter regionals every year and when I do, it's usually as a courtesy to Pete for taking the time to organize them. And those always seem to be the years when I've had the fewest good flights.

Back in the early days, we used to have an actual regional competition where everyone would show up at the same place and same time to fly head-to-head. It was as much, or more, of a social thing than a serious competition, but it was also a lot more entertaining than doing it "remotely". Of course, given the fickle nature of the weather in our region, we were often skunked or flying in conditions that weren't conducive for going x-c. The last good regional I can remember were in 1987 or 1988 when we flew from Zirks and had two reasonably good days with flights in the 20 - 30 mile range. I think Dennis Pagan won that meet, but everyone got to go x-c and had a great time telling hang lies at the party on Saturday night.

JR

[Flying Lobster]

Be careful JR, the signs of incipient geezerdom can be hard to detect. Rumors have it you've even been eyeing those bowling balls at Wallmart.

marc

[theflyingdude]

Be careful JR, the signs of incipient geezerdom can be hard to detect. Rumors have it you've even been eyeing those bowling balls at Wallmart.

marc

Guilty as charged.

And consider the advantages of bowling - you get to wear fancy satin shirts with your name embroidered on the chest, you can roll semi-psychedelic, swirly-colored balls, you get to drink beer the entire time, and it never blows out or in the wrong direction. You can even do x-c bowling by hitting various bowling alleys along a predetermined route.

JR (a less-than-incipient geezer).

[Flying Lobster]

Be careful JR, the signs of incipient geezerdom can be hard to detect. Rumors have it you've even been eyeing those bowling balls at Wallmart.

marc

Guilty as charged.

And consider the advantages of bowling - you get to wear fancy satin shirts with your name embroidered on the chest, you can roll semi-psychedelic, swirly-colored balls, you get to drink beer the entire time, and it never blows out or in the wrong direction. You can even do x-c bowling by hitting various bowling alleys along a predetermined route.

JR (a less-than-incipient geezer).

You could always take up flying panties!
marc

[theflyingdude]

[JR (a less-than-incipient geezer).

Oops - I meant a "more-than-incipient" geezer. Guess I was geezing, again.

JR

[Flying Lobster]

Be careful JR, the signs of incipient geezerdom can be hard to detect. Rumors have it you've even been eyeing those bowling balls at Wallmart.

marc

Guilty as charged.

And consider the advantages of bowling - you get to wear fancy satin shirts with your name embroidered on the chest, you can roll semi-psychedelic, swirly-colored balls, you get to drink beer the entire time, and it never blows out or in the wrong direction. You can even do x-c bowling by hitting various bowling alleys along a predetermined route.

JR (a less-than-incipient geezer).

You could always take up flying panties!
marc

A good career path. First bowling, then shuffleboard and then maybe checkers.

marc

[Larry Huffman]

Marc said:
When we gonna learn you west-by-godians how to read? The igc track is not required--just a way to expand credit to multi-leg flights IF submitted.

From the rules:
b. Open, Paraglider, and Rigid competitors must use a data-logging gps capable of being downloaded and transformed into the .igc format. That igc file will then be evaluated a flight analysis software to produce an HOLC calculated distance and assigned point total. The point total reflects the program’s use of multipliers for difficulty. In other words, out-and-returns, and triangles will be more valuable than their straight-line equivalent distances. Winners will be chosen on the basis of the most HOLC-calculated POINTS

The rules very clearly state must use a data-logging gps.

Larry

[Flying Lobster]

Marc said:
When we gonna learn you west-by-godians how to read? The igc track is not required--just a way to expand credit to multi-leg flights IF submitted.

From the rules:
b. Open, Paraglider, and Rigid competitors must use a data-logging gps capable of being downloaded and transformed into the .igc format. That igc file will then be evaluated a flight analysis software to produce an HOLC calculated distance and assigned point total. The point total reflects the program’s use of multipliers for difficulty. In other words, out-and-returns, and triangles will be more valuable than their straight-line equivalent distances. Winners will be chosen on the basis of the most HOLC-calculated POINTS

The rules very clearly state must use a data-logging gps.

Larry

Mr L...with all due respect...from Pete's post above I quote:

"CHANGES FOR 2007

While on the subject of data-logged flight information, I will take this opportunity to mention that in 2007 I will be allowing use of flights scored by means of the HOLC on-line contest. That contest requires the use of a data-logging gps. The advantage of the HOLC contest is that it scores all manner of flights including out’n’backs, triangles, doglegs, etc. In addition, it allocates scoring multiples according to the flights’ difficulty. In other words, a short triangle can be worth more than a fairly long straight-line flight. However, as not all pilots possess the necessary equipment to enter flights in the HOLC contest, I will not require their use. But using such a gps will clearly be advantageous.

I am bringing up the subject of HOLC flight registration at this time because my own experience with it has shown it to be a massive pain in the ass to learn. I suspect that as the various softwares involved are refined this problem will diminish. In the meantime, I strongly urge all of you to start downloading even trivial flights and attempting to submit them to HOLC. Once one has the system figured out it is remarkably easy, but it may take some time to get to that point, so start now. I lost a lot of my early flights this year before figuring out the tricks.

The website is located at..."

marc

[Larry Huffman]

Marc,

I'm afraid that you have me at a disadvantage. I have read the rules at http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2295 and I cannot find the paragraph that you quoted. I also cannot find it in the copy of the rules that I received. Could you point me in their direction.

Larry

[Flying Lobster]

Marc,

I'm afraid that you have me at a disadvantage. I have read the rules at http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2295 and I cannot find the paragraph that you quoted. I also cannot find it in the copy of the rules that I received. Could you point me in their direction.

Larry

Sure: http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2043 (it's actually Pete's sticky just above).

Look, this is a tempest in a teapot. I'm fairly certain Pete just wanted to make it easy on himself and others by taking advantage of the automatic OLC scoring. I'm equally certain he's not saying "either you buy all this expensive gear or you can't play." I think he also wanted a way to enable people to get credit for flights other than simply falling downwind (which some sites are better for than others), thus the scoring for triangles, out and returns etc.

The OLC scoring is not so much a competitive device as it is a way for taking a closer look at other's flights. Just like everyone used to send their tracks through SA files, the igc files enable greater detail and analysis for everyone to view. To be honest, it's even a nifty way to have a logbook when your too lazy to keep a proper one for yourself (i.e. me).

I've been doing alot of testing of the HOLC and it still has bugs since the DHV broke ranks with them. Right now, I think the new international DHV OLC at http://www.xccomp.org/module.php?id=1&date=20070302 is the best one going--its the easiest to register and upload to. Eventually, all these idividual OLC's will hopefully go away--supposedly a joint FAI/CIVL OLC project has been approved and will be developed in the next year or two that will be truly worldwide in scope.

Bottom line--who cares--just fly!!

marc

[Flying Lobster]

Of course--I just noticed that the call was for the year-long regionals flights--and not the "regionals regional" flights--in which case, maybe I'm wrrrr...wrrrrr....wrong!

marc

[lplehmann]

Well, Olly, You Certainly Screwed This One Up

My copy editors JR, Larry and Marc have indeed found an unintentional contradiction in the rules for the Regionals. My intention was not to exclude pilots without first- rate data-logging equipment and skills. Rather, I was attempting to make the contest more modern and allow for the inclusion of non-straight line flights in the scoring.

The problem is that I included parts of different draft ideas in the rules, without checking for consistency.

This is how it stands:

-Open Class, Paragliders and Rigids will indeed be scored by HOLC points.

-BUT, straight line flights without dataloggers can be included (subject to the ancient verification rules). They will be scored as HOLC straight line flights which are simply straight line distances converted to kilometers.

What this means in plain English (but converted to metric units) is that Nelson's 103 mile straight-line flight is worth 164.8 HOLC points.

All the same, Nelson's fine flight notwithstanding, the rules still greatly reward triangles, out-n-returns and doglegs. It is therefore a clear advantage for pilots to document their flights by use of a datalogging gps.

Finally, pilots should be aware that even early gps's such as the Garmin 12s are suitable for downloading and massaging into igc files suitable for evaluation by the HOLC programs. You do NOT have to go and buy a Garmin 76 or Flytec 5020 benefit from the rules.

I apologize for the confusion, and offer to refund any entries that were made on the basis of a misunderstanding of the contradictory rules.

Sincerely,
Pete

[Flying Lobster]

Marc,

I'm afraid that you have me at a disadvantage. I have read the rules at http://www.chgpa.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2295 and I cannot find the paragraph that you quoted. I also cannot find it in the copy of the rules that I received. Could you point me in their direction.

Larry

Actually, you're right too, Larry. After looking at your link--it does say specifically under the regionals rules as you quoted. But the preamble makes it sound like the igc file is not requisite for either contest.

But I think we formerly used GPS tracks for verification in past regionals. no? It's just a couple of extra steps to convert to an igc and then upload.

What the f&^k--I'm not even entered or flying in the region, so maybe I'll just shut up now!

marc