US SSA-OLC League new for Summer 2006 Season!

[Doug Haluza]

The final OLC League rules were just posted to the OLC web site:

http://www2.onlinecontest.org/olcphp/olc-i.php?olc=olc-i

The OLC League is a new feature for the US, and several other
countries. It is a speed competition between clubs with different
leagues for each country. It has been run in Germany for a few years
with very much success.

All clubs and all flights are automatically eneterd in the
OLC-League--there is no need for a separate flight claim. It is a speed
contest, where the best 3 flights are scored for every club each round
(the server looks automatically for the fastest average speed within a
2 1/2 hour window of every flight of each club), the 3 fastest speeds
(divided by the handicap index of the glider) will be added to get the
score for each round. The rounds are each 2-day weekend Beginning April
29 and ending September 3. There is also one 3-day weekend in June (see
the calendar in the rules document).

The club with the highest average speed from the 3 fastest flights gets
50 points for the weekend round. The second fastest club gets 49 points
and so on, down to the 50th club getting 1 point for the weekend. The
club having most points after all competition rounds is the winner of
the OLC-League for each participating country.

One requirement of the OLC-League is that flights to be scored must
take-off at the home airfield of the club. So each club must designate
a home airfield for the OLC League competition. We are assuming this is
the same as the home airfield of the club. But clubs that have multiple
home airfields, or that may want to designate a different competition
airfield, need to get that info to the SSA-OLC committee at
olc<at>ssa<dot>org (or your country's OLC coordinator for other than US
clubs). We must enter this data by April 21, before the start of
competition for the year.

It is not possible to change the club home airfield after the competion
starts for the year. It is possible for a pilot to change club
affilitaion at any time during the year, however. So if you will be
flying at another location and want to claim flights for the local club
OLC-league, you will need to change your club by editing your user
profile. You can only claim flights to one club at a time.

[Graeme Cant]

Doug Haluza wrote:
> The final OLC League rules were just posted to the OLC web site:
....snip
> One requirement of the OLC-League is that flights to be scored must
> take-off at the home airfield of the club. So each club must designate
> a home airfield for the OLC League competition. We are assuming this is
> the same as the home airfield of the club....

The OLC-League sounds great but this rule raises a few questions.

My own club is a very active XC club but our home field is in a hilly
region and it's quite difficult to carry out long or fast flights from
this field. Much of our best XC is done from various camps held during
the year at several other airfields. Why would flights carried out at
these camps (organised and run by the club for many years) not count for
Club points in the OLC-League?

It's actually an academic question since my country's not on the list
but I can't believe that our situation isn't also the case for a number
of Euramerican clubs. For example, this rule restricts the benefits of
the specially favourable Alpine conditions to those who have regular
access to St Auban or Minden. Why shouldn't flights by North German or
Ohio club members count when they fly in Spain or Arizona on holidays?

I would have thought that the aim of the OLC-League was to encourage XC
flying by more pilots at more clubs but this does the reverse. If you
live near and fly with a club in a poor XC area, your club will never do
well in the comp. No new members will be encouraged to take up XC since
only the best three count from any club no matter how many fly.

It also differs from the normal FAI framework. There's a great story on
the MSC site about a Polish National record being set by a young woman
at Minden. It only needed to be flown by a Pole to count. It didn't
matter where it was flown.

I've read the rationale on the OLC site. They explain that it's very
easy to form an "OLC-Club" which would shift its flying according to the
season. I think this is unlikely but their solution to this
hypothetical problem ensures that a few clubs in favoured areas will
probably dominate the competition. The restriction to only the best
three flights from each club will pressure results even more the same way.

As I see it, the departure point of a flight has more influence on the
likelihood of a great XC flight than the weather. Think of this:
hardly anybody lives in Omarama but it has as many glider pilots per
square inch as anywhere in the world - and they're there most of the
year. Here's another thought. If we can produce a handicap list for
gliders, why not a handicap list for flying sites? That might make the
OLC-League rule acceptable.

Graeme Cant

[Mike the Strike]

Quote "It is not possible to change the club home airfield after the
competion
starts for the year."

I fly with the ASA in Arizona and don't think we have a home field any
longer. What happens when your home field disappears mid year?

Are we now cast into glider Pergatory unable to claim flights for our
group?

Mike

[5Z]

A suggestion would be to allow flights originating from within X km of
the "home airfield".

This would allow decentralized clubs such as in southern California to
participate fairly as well. Many folks there fly at Hemet or Warner
Springs in the winter and then move to the high desert for the summer.

Or... allow a person to be a member of several clubs, where each "club"
is based at a particular airport. So if I visit a different location,
I can help them compete.

-Tom

[Doug Haluza]

The OLC League only runs through the summer, so you would use your
summer location. You can change your club membership at any time, so
you can participate in the OLC League for the club you are visiting.
You can only be a member of one club at a time, however, so if you
change to the local club, your flights will not be credited to your
home club.

5Z wrote:
> A suggestion would be to allow flights originating from within X km of
> the "home airfield".
>
> This would allow decentralized clubs such as in southern California to
> participate fairly as well. Many folks there fly at Hemet or Warner
> Springs in the winter and then move to the high desert for the summer.
>
> Or... allow a person to be a member of several clubs, where each "club"
> is based at a particular airport. So if I visit a different location,
> I can help them compete.
>
> -Tom

[Kilo Charlie]

"Mike the Strike" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Quote "It is not possible to change the club home airfield after the
> competion
> starts for the year."
>
> I fly with the ASA in Arizona and don't think we have a home field any
> longer. What happens when your home field disappears mid year?
>
> Are we now cast into glider Pergatory unable to claim flights for our
> group?
>
> Mike

It would appear as if this is in fact happening since we flew out of
Estrella this weekend and my log was rejected due to not choosing a takeoff
location that is in the list.

Casey Lenox
KC

>

[Doug Haluza]

We have been working on preparations for the introduction of the
SSA-OLC League here in the US. The list of SSA-OLC clubs has been
revised to eliminate duplicates and clubs with no members in the OLC
database. If you sign up as a competitor on the OLC and can't find your
club, you can still enter it from the competition entry page.

The OLC League does require that flights take off from their club's
designated "home" airport to be scored in the League competition (the
correct airport name must also be selected in the claim form). We have
entered home airports for most clubs in the OLC database, based on
available info. If you want to designate a different home airport for
the OLC League, or just want to check that we entered the correct one,
drop an email to olc<at>ssa<dot>org for US clubs. You also need to send
us a note if you enter a new club because we still need to designate
the home airfield. If you recently sent a message to this email
address, and did not get a reply yet, please resend it.

We need to get the home airfields entered before the beginning of the
competition on April 29, since it is not possible to change the home
airfield during the competition. The requirement for one home airfield
per club is to keep distributed or traveling clubs from gaining an
advantage from flying wherever the weather is more favorable each week.


This means that existing OLC clubs may want to realign their membership
to participate in the OLC League. Clubs that fly from multiple
airfields may want to create separate OLC divisions for each airfield.
Members of distributed OLC clubs with no home airfield may want to
change their club membership, either temporarily or permanently. And
multiple clubs flying from one airport may want to combine into one to
maximize their scoring. You can change your personal club affiliation
as often as you like by editing your competitor profile on the OLC web
site. To modify existing clubs, you will need help from an
administrator, so send these requests to the olc<at>ssa<dot>org address
for the US, or your OLC administrator for other countries.

The OLC League can be a great way to enhance interest in soaring in
your club, whether it is an offical SSA Chapter, or just a loose group
of weekend pilots that fly from a particular airport. All you need to
participate is a glider, an IGC approved logger, and a computer. No
special software is needed, but flight analysis programs like SeeYou
and StrePla will make claiming a little easier. Please be an advocate
for the OLC League at your club, and help others get involved!

For more info, see the links on the top bar of the SSA-OLC web page:

http://www.ssa.org/members/contestreports/OLC.htm

[Doug Haluza]

A follow-up on the SSA-OLC league. Sorry for the long posts, but there
is so much information to convey, and not much time before the league
competition starts.

We have entered the home airfields for as many clubs as possible.
Unfortunately, you cannot access this info from the public OLC web
pages. So here is the list of US clubs sorted by airfield so you can
see the duplicates:

Aero Four Chicago Glider Club
ALM Alamogordo White White Sands Soaring Association
I99 Alexandria2in Central IndianaSoaring Society
4G3 Alliancemille O Cleveland Soaring So
AMW Ames Ia Silent Knights (Ames
CO03 Aspen2 Gld Gliders Of Aspen
CA69 Avenal Gld Central California Soaring Club
43NC Bahnson Piedmont Soaring Soc
Ball Airfield, Nc Harrier Soaring
KBBB Benson Mn Red Wing Soaring Ass
92A Benton Chilh Gld Chilhowee Soaring Association, Inc.
1N7 Blairstown Nj Aero Club Albatross
1V5 Boulder Co Gld Soaring Society of Boulder
1V5 Boulder Co Gld Mile High Gliding
1V5 Boulder Co Gld The Cloud Base
7F3 Caddo Mills Tx Dallas Gliding Assoc
2OH9 Caesar Creek Gld Caesar Creek Soaring
L71 California C Gld Caracole Soaring
O58 Calistoga Gld Crazy Creek Soaring
Cherry3vlly Memphis Soaring Soci
COS Colorado3 Spring High Flights Soaring
46CN Crystal Airport Crystal squadron
8F7 Decatur Tx North Texas Soaring
CD82 Durngo Val Gld Durango Soaring Club
50M Eaglville Tn Puc Eagleville TN
22D Eighty Four Pa B Pittsburgh Soaring C
AZ67 El Tiro Gld El Tiro
AZ67 El Tiro Gld Tucson Soaring Club
CA89 Elsinore Skaylar Lake Elsinore Soarin
ELY Ely Nv Gld The Great Basin Skyl
EPH Ephrata Wa Gld SGC Seattle Glider Council
TX23 Fault Line F Gld Fault Line Flyers
1I5 Freehold Ny Nutmeg Soaring
KFRR Front Royal Va Skyline Soaring Club
3VA8 Garner Field TSS (Tidewater Soari
4NY8 Harris Hill Gld Harris Hill Soaring
HMT Hemet Ryan Gld Cypress Soaring
HMT Hemet Ryan Gld Soarfari
HMT Hemet Ryan Gld Hole in the Wall
H07 Highland Winet Saint Louis Soaring
0C2 Hinckley Il Gld Windy City Soaring A
2O8 Hinton Ok Soaring Sooners Asso
NM83 Hobbs Industrial Hobbs Soaring
3O7 Hollister Ca Hollister Gliding Cl
3O7 Hollister Ca BASA (Bay Area Soari
IN63 Horizon El Paso Soaring Society
3M5 Huntsville3al Mo Huntsville Soaring C
Y70 Ionia Mi Gld Ionia Non CLub
W73 Karlindo Fai Gld M-ASA Mid-Atlantic Soaring Assn
CO15 Kelly Airpark Black Forest Soaring
C62 Kendallville In Kendallville Soaring
FL09 Kittyhawk Estate Kitty Hawk Airpark
0CL1 Krey Antelope Valley Soar
3T5 La Grange Fayett Southern Eagles Soar
Q00 Littlefield Gld Caprock Soaring Club
LGU Logan Ut Cache Valley Soaring
MRF Marfa Tx Gld Marfa Gliders
E68 Maricopa Estrell ASA - Arizona Soaring Assn.
MNN Marion Oh Central Ohio Soaring
06N Middletown N Gld Valley Soaring Club
MEV Minden Dougl Gld High Country Soaring
MEV Minden Dougl Gld Minden Soaring Club
MEV Minden Dougl Gld Soar Minden
D73 Monroe Walto Gld Mid-Georgia Soaring
SIY Montague Ca Sisk Mount Shasta Soaring
2K0 Monticelloil Gld Illini Glider Club
42U Morgan Ut Utah Soaring Associa
42U Morgan Ut Sundance Aviation
Moriarty Nm Gld Albuquerque Soaring
VA85 New Castle H Gld Blue Ridge Soaring S
1OR4 North Plains Willamette Valley So
4CO2 Owl Canyon Gld Colorado Soaring Ass
29MI Palmer Alaska Mountain Soar
1L9 Parowan Ut Gld Parowan Gliding Club
SC95 Perry Wagner Gld North Carolina Soari
0PA0 Philadelphia0 PGC-Philadelphia Gli
2B9 Post Mills Vt PMSC Post Mills
H71 Pryor Ok Mid Ame Tulsa Skykawks Soari
RVL Reedsville Miffl Mifflin County, PA
79N Ridge Soaring Ridge Soaring Irregulars
3J1 Ridgeland Sc Low Country Soaring
IZA Santa Ynez C Gld Santa Ynez
5B2 Saratoga Spr Gld Saratoga Soaring Ass
6FL0 Seminole Lk Gld Seminole Lakes
KHWV Shirley Ny Brook Long Island Soaring
SPA Spartanburg Gld Airscapes Glider Club
VSF Springfld Vt Ha New England Soaring
3B3 Sterling Ma Gld GBSC Boston
KSXL Summersville Wv Minnesota Soaring Cl
L94 Tehachapi Mo Gld Tehachapi Soaring
TEX Telluride Co Telluride Air Force
N57 Toughkenamon Pa Brandywine Soaring A
TRK Truckee Ca Gld Soar Truckee
TRK Truckee Ca Gld Northern California
TA11 Tsa Gld TSA-Texas Soaring As
CL35 Warner Springs Warner Springs Gliders
CL35 Warner Springs Sky Sailing - FSA
0B7 Warren Vt Sugarbush, VT, USA
KOCW Washington Warre Permian Soaring Asso
EAT Wenatchee Gl Gld Cascae Soaring Society
KICT Wichita Ks Kansas Soaring Assoc
Q12 Williams Air Gld Williams Soaring Cen
Q12 Williams Air Gld Valley Soaring Assoc
ZPH Zephyrhills Fl Z TBSS
#N/A #N/A Miami Glider Club
#N/A #N/A 126 Association
#N/A #N/A Puget Sound Soaring Association (PSSA)
#N/A #N/A Wings of Rogallo
#N/A #N/A SSA
#N/A #N/A Idaho Falls Soaring Club
#N/A #N/A Silvercreek Glider Club
#N/A #N/A SparrowHawk Flyers
#N/A #N/A Greater Houston Soaring Association
#N/A #N/A Tennessee Tree Toppers
#N/A #N/A Soaring Club of Houston
#N/A #N/A Chaffee County Soaring
#N/A #N/A Russ Barry\
#N/A #N/A Sequatchie Soaring Society
#N/A #N/A Las Vegas Valley Soaring Association

The clubs at the end still need home airfield designations. If you do
not see your club listed, you can enter it when you sign up as a
competitor by clicking on the "Contest Registration" button on the
SSA-OLC web site at:

http://www.ssa.org/members/contestreports/OLC.htm

You can also change your club affiliation this way if you have already
registered. For changes to US club names or home airield, or to combine
or delete clubs, send requests to the SSA-OLC committee email address
olc<at>ssa<dot>org (convert the symbols to get the actual address of
course). The competition starts April 29, so all changes need to be in
before then.

[Vsoars]

Ending the Summer Contest September 3 excludes the summer days that are
always the best soaring days is South Texas. For example, last year
two PW 5s got diamond goals, and the club's longes flight and 6 US
Records flights took place after September 3rd.

Why does the OTC end the contest before the official beginning of Fall?
Eliminating the final days of summer is very discouraging to clubs
like mine.

[5Z]

Vsoars wrote:
> Why does the OTC end the contest before the official beginning of Fall?
> Eliminating the final days of summer is very discouraging to clubs
> like mine.

Agreed. Why not end the contest at the same time OLC ends - mid
October? Still gives time for US clubs to tally scores for various
winter gatherings and award presentations.

-Tom

[Paul Remde]

Hi,

That time of year may offer great soaring where you are, but it doesn't for
all parts of the US. It would be a disadvantage for clubs in the more
northern climates if the contest went longer because you would be flying
long flights and we would be doing glides. I think the idea was to select a
period of the season when the soaring is good in most of the USA. I suppose
the folks from Alaska would argue that the season should be shorter!

Paul Remde


"Vsoars" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Ending the Summer Contest September 3 excludes the summer days that are
> always the best soaring days is South Texas. For example, last year
> two PW 5s got diamond goals, and the club's longes flight and 6 US
> Records flights took place after September 3rd.
>
> Why does the OTC end the contest before the official beginning of Fall?
> Eliminating the final days of summer is very discouraging to clubs
> like mine.
>

[Doug Haluza]

The OLC is an international contest, and all the national leagues run
on the same schedule. It was set up based on a European perspective, it
really has nothing to do with the weather in Texas or Minnesota, or
Alaska. From my personal perspective, the league schedule cuts out the
best Appalachian ridge days in the spring and the fall. But overall, I
think it is a fair compromise.

As much as we might like to drive the bus, we have to be realistic
about the relative size of the US pilot population. There are a little
over 500 US OLC competitors and over 5000 from Germany alone. BTW,
despite the fact that the US only has about 6 out of every 100
competitors, we had 14 of the top 100 OLC pilots last year. I think
this is because in the US, we are actually blessed with lots of good
places to fly, good weather, and plenty of airspace to fly in. So we
really should not complain too much.

I don't think the "why don't we do it differently because..."
discussions are very productive. We should focus on how fortunate we
are to have a critical mass of pilots in Europe who have developed this
great form of decentralized competition, and be happy that they want to
let us compete (and steal more than our proportional share of the
glory!).

[Paul Remde]

Hi,

I am very excited about the OLC League competition and I'm promoting it here
in Minnesota, USA. You can see details on a local OLC League related
soaring regatta here:
http://www.soarmn.com/cumulus/regatta-2006.htm

I have also created an OLC Overview and Tips page here:
http://www.soarmn.com/cumulus/olc.htm

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde
Cumulus Soaring, Inc.
http://www.cumulus-soaring.com

"Doug Haluza" > wrote in message
oups.com...
This was just posted to the OLC news page:

------------------------------------------------------------------

24.4.2006

OLC-League kick-off in 10 OLC countries
This weekend, the clubs of 10 OLC countries start their team
competitions.

During 19 weekends the OLC clubs will fight for their ranking. Points
are assigned according to the Formula 1 principle. During last years
team competitions, we experienced, that the winners got their points
primarily on weekends with mixed or even bad weather conditions, so the
competition will remain exciting up to the last round.

As the OLC league is a club competition, only those flights will be
scored, departing from the home airfield of each club.

Here You can see which home airfield is associated with Your club.

If You do not agree with our choice of your home airfield please give
us a note to and we will change that
accordingly. This change is only possible before the first round
starts.

For several clubs, flying at big airfields with many different clubs it
might be a good idea to build one team consisting of all the clubs at
this particular airfield, (like it was done already at Königsdorf or
Unterwössen or Oerlinghausen) to claim their flights with a better
chance for a good score in the league. This will of course be valid for
all OLC scores, so these teams must be defined before the first round
and all pilots must switch to these teams in their competitors data. It
is not possible to score individual results for a certain club but for
a different team in the league.

The OLC team wishes all teams good luck and good weather conditions!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the link to the posting:

http://www2.onlinecontest.org/olcphp/olc-i.php?olc=olc-i

Note that the list of US clubs linked from there is static, and the
current one was prepared a few days ago. Since then, we have
incorporated the feedback from the earlier posting, and entered home
airfields for all US Glider (but not HG/PG) clubs. So if you got a
recent confirmation email for your requested change, don't worry about
the listing at the OLC site.

We have also edited the airfield names that caused confusion to make
them more distinctive by adding the state abbreviation.Some of these
changes are not reflected on the OLC club list yet. If you check your
OLC club scoring, you will see the erroneous claims have been corrected
to the new airfield names. You must use the correct airfield name for
your claim to get your flight scored in the OLC League.

The OLC League should add a new dimension to the OLC contest, and can
help increaase interest in soaring at your club. Please help and
encourage people at your club to get involved!

[Doug Haluza]

The OLC now has the final updated list of US Clubs and home airfields
up at:

http://www2.onlinecontest.org/download/club_US.html

Send any corrections to olc<at>ssa<dot>org ASAP.

[Graeme Cant]

Doug Haluza wrote:

> As the OLC league is a club competition, only those flights will be
> scored, departing from the home airfield of each club.
> ... snip
> For several clubs, flying at big airfields with many different clubs it
> might be a good idea to build one team consisting of all the clubs at
> this particular airfield, (like it was done already at Königsdorf or
> Unterwössen or Oerlinghausen) to claim their flights with a better
> chance for a good score in the league.

It seems that existing clubs at one popular airfield are encouraged to
combine into a non-genuine, OLC-only SuperClub to maximize the OLC score
of the "SuperClub".

OTOH, the OLC website says the rules are specifically designed to stop
non-genuine, OLC-only SuperClubs being formed solely to compete in the OLC.

Would the real OLC please stand up?

The OLC restricts a "Club" to a single geographic location to stop
weather-shopping which it sees as unfair. Apparently, OTOH,
pilot-shopping and best-handicap-glider-shopping among all the Clubs at
an airfield is OK.

Unterwössen has the German Alpine Gliding School. Allowing all the
Clubs there to amalgamate for the OLC is fair? Allowing members from
North German clubs to count their flights in Spain on holidays would be
unfair? Give me a break.

> The OLC team wishes all teams good luck and good weather conditions!

Tricky that. As has been pointed out, wishing Minnesota to have as good
soaring weather as Texas doesn't really cut it.

Graeme Cant

>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> This is the link to the posting:
>
> http://www2.onlinecontest.org/olcphp/olc-i.php?olc=olc-i
>
> Note that the list of US clubs linked from there is static, and the
> current one was prepared a few days ago. Since then, we have
> incorporated the feedback from the earlier posting, and entered home
> airfields for all US Glider (but not HG/PG) clubs. So if you got a
> recent confirmation email for your requested change, don't worry about
> the listing at the OLC site.
>
> We have also edited the airfield names that caused confusion to make
> them more distinctive by adding the state abbreviation.Some of these
> changes are not reflected on the OLC club list yet. If you check your
> OLC club scoring, you will see the erroneous claims have been corrected
> to the new airfield names. You must use the correct airfield name for
> your claim to get your flight scored in the OLC League.
>
> The OLC League should add a new dimension to the OLC contest, and can
> help increaase interest in soaring at your club. Please help and
> encourage people at your club to get involved!
>

[Doug Haluza]

One of the great things about the OLC is that you can compete on any
level. If you do not have a motorglider based in Argentina, you have no
shot at the International OLC championship. But you can shoot for the
top spot in your continent, country, region, club, or just with your
flying buddy.

So what if MN can't compete on an even level with TX? They are in
different regions. It should not matter to your regional competition,
so focus on what you have, and don't be jealous of what others may or
may not have. So you don't have 10 kt thermals in MN--you don't have
fire ants either.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the OLC is a decentralized
competition with no gatekeepers. There is no one to parse club bylaws
or check membership cards. It's up to you to join whatever OLC club you
want to. If you want to join a superclub based at a popular airfield,
or form your own personal club with only you as the sole member, or
anything inbetween that's OK. You can be a little fish in a big pond,
or a big fish in a little pond, whatever is your personal preference,
You can also fly in MN, or TX, or anywhere else, that's your personal
preference as well.

[Paul Remde]

Hi Doug,

I agree. I fly in Minnesota. I have little chance of winning the
international or even national competition, but I am a big fan of the OLC
because it promotes cross-country flying. It makes it easy to see you how
your flight compares with others in your region of the world.

But don't count me out of the big show yet. I have my sights set on a 1000
km downwind dash starting in MN.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde

"Doug Haluza" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> One of the great things about the OLC is that you can compete on any
> level. If you do not have a motorglider based in Argentina, you have no
> shot at the International OLC championship. But you can shoot for the
> top spot in your continent, country, region, club, or just with your
> flying buddy.
>
> So what if MN can't compete on an even level with TX? They are in
> different regions. It should not matter to your regional competition,
> so focus on what you have, and don't be jealous of what others may or
> may not have. So you don't have 10 kt thermals in MN--you don't have
> fire ants either.
>
> The other thing to keep in mind is that the OLC is a decentralized
> competition with no gatekeepers. There is no one to parse club bylaws
> or check membership cards. It's up to you to join whatever OLC club you
> want to. If you want to join a superclub based at a popular airfield,
> or form your own personal club with only you as the sole member, or
> anything inbetween that's OK. You can be a little fish in a big pond,
> or a big fish in a little pond, whatever is your personal preference,
> You can also fly in MN, or TX, or anywhere else, that's your personal
> preference as well.
>

[Stewart Kissel]

The appeal of the OLC has been its relative simplicity
and lack of restrictions....and the appeal of looking
at flight logs of other pilots. The .igc file provides
a cold, calculating eye of how the pilot did...and
allows pilots to learn what the hot pilots do.

Reviewing the OLC-Classic club competion from last
year(2005), larger clubs finish towards the top and
smaller clubs towards the bottom. I doubt there is
much interest in enforcing what dictates a club, since
the next step would be developing some sort of algorithm
to balance the club memberships equally.

And that could start down the slippery slope of weekday
vs weekend only fliers, geographic locations, airspace
regulations,
clubs vs commercial, etc, etc.. I don't think this
is what the OLC really had in mind. As JFK said...'Life
ain't fair'. If the OLC in its present form encourages
cross-country participation, and therefore gets more
pilots flying more often, IMHO lets leave it alone.
Those who enjoy a more regulated environment probably
will find that with traditional competions.

Some pilots are more then willing to yo-yo to their
heart's content to build up points, others prefer to
head out and hope to return, and yet others go after
triangles or speed tasks. They all get points from
the OLC, for doing what most appeals to them.





At 03:30 25 April 2006, Graeme Cant wrote:
>Doug Haluza wrote:
>
>> As the OLC league is a club competition, only those
>>flights will be
>> scored, departing from the home airfield of each club.
>> ... snip
>> For several clubs, flying at big airfields with many
>>different clubs it
>> might be a good idea to build one team consisting
>>of all the clubs at
>> this particular airfield, (like it was done already
>>at Königsdorf or
>> Unterwössen or Oerlinghausen) to claim their flights
>>with a better
>> chance for a good score in the league.
>
>It seems that existing clubs at one popular airfield
>are encouraged to
>combine into a non-genuine, OLC-only SuperClub to maximize
>the OLC score
>of the 'SuperClub'.
>
>OTOH, the OLC website says the rules are specifically
>designed to stop
>non-genuine, OLC-only SuperClubs being formed solely
>to compete in the OLC.
>
>Would the real OLC please stand up?
>
>The OLC restricts a 'Club' to a single geographic location
>to stop
>weather-shopping which it sees as unfair. Apparently,
>OTOH,
>pilot-shopping and best-handicap-glider-shopping among
>all the Clubs at
>an airfield is OK.
>
>Unterwössen has the German Alpine Gliding School.
>Allowing all the
>Clubs there to amalgamate for the OLC is fair? Allowing
>members from
>North German clubs to count their flights in Spain
>on holidays would be
>unfair? Give me a break.
>
>> The OLC team wishes all teams good luck and good weather
>>conditions!
>
>Tricky that. As has been pointed out, wishing Minnesota
>to have as good
>soaring weather as Texas doesn't really cut it.
>
>Graeme Cant
>
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>>>--------------------
>>
>> This is the link to the posting:
>>
>> http://www2.onlinecontest.org/olcphp/olc-i.php?olc=olc-i
>>
>> Note that the list of US clubs linked from there is
>>static, and the
>> current one was prepared a few days ago. Since then,
>>we have
>> incorporated the feedback from the earlier posting,
>>and entered home
>> airfields for all US Glider (but not HG/PG) clubs.
>>So if you got a
>> recent confirmation email for your requested change,
>>don't worry about
>> the listing at the OLC site.
>>
>> We have also edited the airfield names that caused
>>confusion to make
>> them more distinctive by adding the state abbreviation.Some
>>of these
>> changes are not reflected on the OLC club list yet.
>>If you check your
>> OLC club scoring, you will see the erroneous claims
>>have been corrected
>> to the new airfield names. You must use the correct
>>airfield name for
>> your claim to get your flight scored in the OLC League.
>>
>> The OLC League should add a new dimension to the OLC
>>contest, and can
>> help increaase interest in soaring at your club. Please
>>help and
>> encourage people at your club to get involved!
>>
>

[Graeme Cant]

Doug Haluza wrote:
> One of the great things about the OLC is that you can compete on any
> level. If you do not have a motorglider based in Argentina, you have no
> shot at the International OLC championship. But you can shoot for the
> top spot in your continent, country, region, club, or just with your
> flying buddy.
>
> So what if MN can't compete on an even level with TX? They are in
> different regions. It should not matter to your regional competition,
> so focus on what you have, and don't be jealous of what others may or
> may not have. So you don't have 10 kt thermals in MN--you don't have
> fire ants either.

Nobody's jealous. I'm just pointing out that the restriction to a
single designated airfield is a very large one which seriously devalues
the comp - precisely as you say above. It also ignores the flying
pattern of the majority of competitive glider pilots.

What if the pilots in MN think their skill is just as good as those
Texas rattlesnakes with their builtin thermals? It's a fairly pointless
comp if the organisers say to some competitors - we've set the rules so
you'll never be able to compete in the big league. Just be happy in the
Sinkhole League. We deliberately won't count your achievements when you
get God on your side by visiting Texas!

> The other thing to keep in mind is that the OLC is a decentralized
> competition with no gatekeepers. There is no one to parse club bylaws
> or check membership cards. It's up to you to join whatever OLC club you
> want to. If you want to join a superclub based at a popular airfield,
> or form your own personal club with only you as the sole member, or
> anything inbetween that's OK.

So how does this help the Club you've been part of for years - which you
claim is one of the benfits of OLC League?

> You can be a little fish in a big pond,
> or a big fish in a little pond, whatever is your personal preference,

True. The problem is that the OLC has only one rule - you're stuck in a
single pond and you can't change ponds.

Gliding is a very mobile sport and all over the world pilots whose home
club is in a ridiculously uncompetitive area travel frequently to better
soaring sites to fly in order to maintain the enthusiasm which their own
site alone would not sustain.

I think the OLC should be trying to devise a rule which would recognise
this fact and also take account of the loyalty that many pilots have to
clubs they've flown with for a long time. The OLC encourages you to
trash one of the major glues that keep this sport alive. I hope it can
come up with something better.

> You can also fly in MN, or TX, or anywhere else, that's your personal
> preference as well.

No it isn't and no you can't. That is PRECISELY what the rule about a
designated airfield means. You can only count flights in MN or TX -
even though you're the same pilot in the same aircraft and want to
credit the flight to the same club you've been a member of for twenty years.

I think the OLC is great. I'm trying to encourage them to do better.

Graeme Cant

[Graeme Cant]

Stewart Kissel wrote:

> The appeal of the OLC has been its relative simplicity
> and lack of restrictions....

Absolutely agree. So why the designated airfield rule?

and the appeal of looking
> at flight logs of other pilots. The .igc file provides
> a cold, calculating eye of how the pilot did...and
> allows pilots to learn what the hot pilots do.
>
> Reviewing the OLC-Classic club competion from last
> year(2005), larger clubs finish towards the top and
> smaller clubs towards the bottom. I doubt there is
> much interest in enforcing what dictates a club, since
> the next step would be developing some sort of algorithm
> to balance the club memberships equally.

Absolutely agree. So why the designated airfield rule?

> And that could start down the slippery slope of weekday
> vs weekend only fliers, geographic locations, airspace
> regulations,
> clubs vs commercial, etc, etc.. I don't think this
> is what the OLC really had in mind. As JFK said...'Life
> ain't fair'. If the OLC in its present form encourages
> cross-country participation, and therefore gets more
> pilots flying more often, IMHO lets leave it alone.
> Those who enjoy a more regulated environment probably
> will find that with traditional competions.

Absolutely agree. So why the designated airfield rule?

> Some pilots are more then willing to yo-yo to their
> heart's content to build up points, others prefer to
> head out and hope to return, and yet others go after
> triangles or speed tasks. They all get points from
> the OLC, for doing what most appeals to them.

So why the designated airfield rule? Abolishing it would improve all
the things you like about OLC League. I'm not trying to enforce
anything. I want the designated airfield rule ABOLISHED. It would
leave the comp freer, fairer - better in every way.

I'm completely baffled by what benefit the organisers think the
designated airfield rule brings.

Graeme Cant

>
>
>
>
> At 03:30 25 April 2006, Graeme Cant wrote:
>
>>Doug Haluza wrote:
>>
>>
>>>As the OLC league is a club competition, only those
>>>flights will be
>>>scored, departing from the home airfield of each club.
>>>... snip
>>>For several clubs, flying at big airfields with many
>>>different clubs it
>>>might be a good idea to build one team consisting
>>>of all the clubs at
>>>this particular airfield, (like it was done already
>>>at Königsdorf or
>>>Unterwössen or Oerlinghausen) to claim their flights
>>>with a better
>>>chance for a good score in the league.
>>
>>It seems that existing clubs at one popular airfield
>>are encouraged to
>>combine into a non-genuine, OLC-only SuperClub to maximize
>>the OLC score
>>of the 'SuperClub'.
>>
>>OTOH, the OLC website says the rules are specifically
>>designed to stop
>>non-genuine, OLC-only SuperClubs being formed solely
>>to compete in the OLC.
>>
>>Would the real OLC please stand up?
>>
>>The OLC restricts a 'Club' to a single geographic location
>>to stop
>>weather-shopping which it sees as unfair. Apparently,
>>OTOH,
>>pilot-shopping and best-handicap-glider-shopping among
>>all the Clubs at
>>an airfield is OK.
>>
>>Unterwössen has the German Alpine Gliding School.
>>Allowing all the
>>Clubs there to amalgamate for the OLC is fair? Allowing
>>members from
>>North German clubs to count their flights in Spain
>>on holidays would be
>>unfair? Give me a break.
>>
>>
>>>The OLC team wishes all teams good luck and good weather
>>>conditions!
>>
>>Tricky that. As has been pointed out, wishing Minnesota
>>to have as good
>>soaring weather as Texas doesn't really cut it.
>>
>>Graeme Cant
>>
>>
>>>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>>--------------------
>>>
>>>This is the link to the posting:
>>>
>>>http://www2.onlinecontest.org/olcphp/olc-i.php?olc=olc-i
>>>
>>>Note that the list of US clubs linked from there is
>>>static, and the
>>>current one was prepared a few days ago. Since then,
>>>we have
>>>incorporated the feedback from the earlier posting,
>>>and entered home
>>>airfields for all US Glider (but not HG/PG) clubs.
>>>So if you got a
>>>recent confirmation email for your requested change,
>>>don't worry about
>>>the listing at the OLC site.
>>>
>>>We have also edited the airfield names that caused
>>>confusion to make
>>>them more distinctive by adding the state abbreviation.Some
>>>of these
>>>changes are not reflected on the OLC club list yet.
>>>If you check your
>>>OLC club scoring, you will see the erroneous claims
>>>have been corrected
>>>to the new airfield names. You must use the correct
>>>airfield name for
>>>your claim to get your flight scored in the OLC League.
>>>
>>>The OLC League should add a new dimension to the OLC
>>>contest, and can
>>>help increaase interest in soaring at your club. Please
>>>help and
>>>encourage people at your club to get involved!
>>>
>>
>
>
>

[5Z]

Graeme Cant wrote:
> So why the designated airfield rule? Abolishing it would improve all
> the things you like about OLC League. I'm not trying to enforce
> anything. I want the designated airfield rule ABOLISHED. It would
> leave the comp freer, fairer - better in every way.
>
> I'm completely baffled by what benefit the organisers think the
> designated airfield rule brings.

So maybe if this sub-competition in the OLC was renamed to "airport
league" it would make a bit more sense.

As I understand, one may change clubs at any time, so as one flies at
different airports, one just changes to the local club. A bit
different than the OLC classic, which does support one flying for their
club at any location.

Maybe we should create two clubs for each airport that sees a lot of
visiting pilots. The locals submit to the "local club" and visitors
submit to "visiting club".

Hmm, all the raw data (IGC files - or scores) are available online, so
all one needs to do is massage it to acheive any scroring or comarison
one chooses. So let's just go fly, and anyone wishing to come up with
yet another way of looking at the results do it! Post these results
somewhere, and we can then ask OLC to incorportate the method in the
next year's competition.

-Tom