2005 Regional Rules and Entry Form

[lplehmann]

Hi,
Below is a copy of the Region Nine Regionals rules. Following them is an entry form. If you're interested in entering, please copy and paste the entry form and mail it to me with the $15 fee.

Finally, I would appreciate it if someone would post this entire message on the CHGPA server. I am not presently subscribed.

Thanks, and lots of luck with your spring flying.

Pete Lehmann






2005 REGION NINE CHAMPIONSHIP
(March 19-May 30)
PLUS
2005 REGION NINE YEARLONG X-C CONTEST
January1-December 31
INTRODUCTION
The 2005 Regional Championship will once again be a weekend cross-country contest in which pilots may fly from any Region Nine site (plus exceptions listed below) during the contest period. The pilots may fly as often as they like, and their three longest flights will be totaled to determine the winners. Depending upon participation, there will be as many as five classes: Open, Sixty Mile, Rookie, Paraglider, and Rigid.

There will be no requirement to formally enter the Yearlong X-C contest. At the end of the flying season I will solicit flight information from all pilots who might have flown X-C within Region Nine. My intention is that the resulting Yearlong article become a comprehensive record of all cross-country flights within the Region, whether by residents or visiting pilots.

CHANGES FOR 2005

There are no changes this year.

SAFETY ADVISORY
XC flying is a special type of flying that requires specific skills to be accomplished safely. The critical cross-country skills are landing skills. If you have doubts about your ability to chose and assess possible landing fields, and safely deal with the unexpected conditions encountered going into an unknown LZ, don't go cross-country. If you are whacking landings in your home lzs, places with wind streamers and familiar approaches, you have no business going XC. Period.

Neither this nor any other contest is worth getting hurt. Be careful.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RULES
1. DATES: WEEKENDS FROM MARCH 19-MAY 30 including Good Friday (March 25) and Memorial Day (May 30).
You may enter the contest after March 25, but your flights will only count from the day of the postmark on your entry form.
2. PERMITTED LAUNCH SITES: Contestants may launch from anywhere in Region Nine, plus from the following sites which are the principal launches of Region Nine pilots living on the periphery of the Region: Laughery Creek, IN; the Toledo,OH area tow sites over the border in Indiana; Redwing Airport in Jobstown, NJ; Santinis, Manukachunk, and Skytop in NJ, and Katydid, NY. Tow launches are limited to a maximum release height of 3,000 above the tow strip. Distance measurements are from the point at which the tow starts on the ground.
3. ELIGIBILITY: The contest is open to any current Intermediate or better USHGA pilot flying a class 1,2,or 3 hang glider. Membership in Rookie and Sixty Mile classes is defined as pilots who have not flown further than 25 and 60 miles, respectively, anywhere east of the Mississippi prior to March 15. All Class One flexwing pilots will also be ranked in the Open class. Bi-wingual pilots may fly both types of wings but will be scored in two separate classes. Paragliders and rigid wings will, subject to adequate participation (five entrants/class), be scored separately and without further sub-division.
When relevant, the top-placing pilots whose address of record is in Region Nine on the contest's opening day will be considered for the Region's slots in the Nationals.
4. FLYING DAYS AND PERSONAL SCHEDULING: All flights are to be made on weekends, including Good Friday and Memorial Day. Pilots who work on weekends may fly on their regularly scheduled off-days whenever, and however irregularly they may occur up to a maximum of twenty-four days over the length of the contest. This implies an honor system for those pilots as I cannot verify that they didn't change their schedules to get a crack at a good XC day, or that they didn't have more than twenty-four days off. Expect to hear from me if you submit three contest-winning Wednesday flights.
Pilots who miss contest days due to previously scheduled absences may re-schedule make-up days subject to the limitations below. It is the pilot's responsibility to contact me and make arrangements for make-up days.
MAKE-UP DAYS must be scheduled at least four days in advance. In addition, no pilot may have more than four consecutive days in any seven-day period. After re-scheduling missed days, one can have the following maximum number of flying days in each month: March (6); April (10); and May, (11). This means that if you miss days in one month you will have only the limited flexibility of using one or two extra days during each of the three flying months.
5. PERMISSIBLE FLIGHTS: Straight-line distance from launch or the beginning of a tow on the ground to landing location. With camera, GPS, or witness confirmation pilots may use a remote start point after hill launches (not tow launches).
6. FLIGHT REGISTRATION: If you have a gps, I strongly suggest you save the gps tracklog on your computer. If you can?t do that, note the lat/lon of your landing and write it in your logbook. Mail, fax, or e-mail me a record of your three best flights no later than June 15. I will send all contestants a reminder/registration form shortly before the end of the contest.
In the event of very close results, I reserve the right to conduct my own measurements, and they will be final.
7. WINNER DETERMINATION: Winners will be determined by the largest total miles accumulated in three flights of up to a maximum of sixty miles per flight. The first tie-breaker will be the greatest total distance, and the second tie breaker will be the single-longest flight.
There will be plaques for the first three places in all classes, and I will submit to Hang Gliding an article detailing the results.
8. ENTRY FEE: $15

2005 YEARLONG REGION NINE X-C CONTEST RULES
This contest provides recognition for the single longest flight in Region Nine. It is common that there will be different winners in the two contests. The Regionals, with its three flights and the sixty-mile flight limit, measures consistency, while the Yearlong contest emphasizes attitude. Ya gotta be there, ya gotta go a long way, and, ya gotta be a bit lucky. Winners will receive certificates and achieve immortality in the pages of Hang Gliding magazine. Distances will be measured in a straight line but remote start points may be used subject to the above verification requirements.
ELIGIBILITY: There?s no formal requirement to enter this contest. All pilots entered in the Regionals are automatically entered in this one too.

If you intend to enter ONLY this contest, please fill out and email/mail/fax me the Entry Form. It is not required that you do so, but it makes it less likely that I will miss including your long flight in the results.
SITES: Anywhere in Region Nine plus the exceptions listed in the Regional's rules.
DATES: January 1-December 31, 2005
NO FEE



2005 REGION NINE REGIONAL CONTESTS
ENTRY FORM
Designate which contest(s) you would like to enter:
____ 2005 Regional Championship ($15 entry fee)
____ 2005 Yearlong Cross-Country Contest (No Fee)
PLEASE NOTE IF ANY ADDRESSES, NUMBERS OR GLIDERS ARE NEW

Pilot Name____________________________________________________________
Address_______________________________________________________________
________________________________Zip________
Home phone:_____________________________Cell phone_________________________

Work phone:______________________________
E-Mail___________________________________ FAX #_________________________
USHGA#__________________ Rating__________Total Hours_____________
Approx. Total Region 9 XC miles?______Longest XC East of Mississippi?________
Open/60-Mile/Rookie Class/Rigid/Paraglider? (circle one)

Glider Type_______________________________________________________
If you don't have regular Saturdays and Sundays off, what are your off days?________________________________________________________________________




If entering the Regionals, please return the completed form with a $15 check made out to my legal name:
Lawrence Lehmann
5811Elgin St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Yearlong Contestants can simply email/fax/mail their form. There is no fee.
FAX 815-301-9418; e-mail: lplehmann@msn.com

[markc]

Pete's 2005 contest rules and entry form are now available in
the forms & waivers section of the website:

http://chgpa.org/Waivers/waivers.html

Happy thermal hunting!

--mark c.