Getting started in the OLC League this weekend

[Doug Haluza]

We now have well over 100 clubs set up and ready to compete in the OLC
League in the US. So now it's time to work on how to get started in the
competition. It may take a while for clubs to catch on, so the early
adopters will have a big advantage. As long as one club member scores
on one day of the weekend, your club will score a minimum of 1 point
for the round. But if only 20 other clubs score, you will score a
minimum of 30 points for the round. So it pays to get started early.

To score you will need to get at least 50 handicapped points in 2.5
hours using only 4 legs. If you are flying in a SGS 1-26 or 2-33, or
any other glider with a handicap less than 64, the required distance is
less than 20 miles. Since you get 4 legs, each leg only has to be 5
miles long.

So the simple strategy is to pick a turnpoint 5 miles upwind, climb up
over the home airfield, then head out to the turnpoint, always staying
above a safe glide back to home. Round the turnpoint, and fly home.
Climb back up and do it again. Then, and this is important, climb back
up to to your start altitude. If you did this in less than 2.5 hours,
congratulations, your flight qualifies for the OLC League.

So let's say you want to maintain a conservative 10:1 glide to home.
Then, at 5 miles out, you only have to be 0.5 miles higer than pattern
altitude, or around 3500' AGL. This should be doable on a decent
soaring day in most places. Remember that you are working upwind, so
the tailwind provides an extra safety factor.

Of course if you are flying a higher performance glider, you will have
to go a little further, but you can see that this is doable in any
glider on a good day almost anywhere. All you need to do is carry an
FAI approved logger to claim your flight.

Naturally you should only attempt this if you have landable terrain
upwind, just in case. If you can make your turnpoint an airport, that's
even better. You also want to have the basic skills for X/C flight. The
Bronze Badge program is an excellent introduction to X/C, and this
basic OLC League task should be suitable for anyone who has properly
earned this award.

This task is also an excellent opportunity for dual instruction in X/C
procedures. It creates a goal-oriented traning situation, which is an
excellent learining opportunity. And if the goal is completed, it
creates an instant trophy in the form of an OLC claim for all to see.
Plus it can be done in any two place trainer, with minimal chance of an
actual off field landing.

So it's time to start thinking about how to get your club started in
the OLC League competition. It doesn't require anything special, other
than the logger. So start thinking about how to how to get your club
involved. The competition starts this weeked!

[chipsoars]

Doug Haluza wrote:
> We now have well over 100 clubs set up and ready to compete in the OLC
> League in the US. So now it's time to work on how to get started in the
> competition. It may take a while for clubs to catch on, so the early
> adopters will have a big advantage. As long as one club member scores
> on one day of the weekend, your club will score a minimum of 1 point
> for the round. But if only 20 other clubs score, you will score a
> minimum of 30 points for the round. So it pays to get started early.
>
> To score you will need to get at least 50 handicapped points in 2.5
> hours using only 4 legs. If you are flying in a SGS 1-26 or 2-33, or
> any other glider with a handicap less than 64, the required distance is
> less than 20 miles. Since you get 4 legs, each leg only has to be 5
> miles long.
>
> So the simple strategy is to pick a turnpoint 5 miles upwind, climb up
> over the home airfield, then head out to the turnpoint, always staying
> above a safe glide back to home. Round the turnpoint, and fly home.
> Climb back up and do it again. Then, and this is important, climb back
> up to to your start altitude. If you did this in less than 2.5 hours,
> congratulations, your flight qualifies for the OLC League.
>
> So let's say you want to maintain a conservative 10:1 glide to home.
> Then, at 5 miles out, you only have to be 0.5 miles higer than pattern
> altitude, or around 3500' AGL. This should be doable on a decent
> soaring day in most places. Remember that you are working upwind, so
> the tailwind provides an extra safety factor.
>
> Of course if you are flying a higher performance glider, you will have
> to go a little further, but you can see that this is doable in any
> glider on a good day almost anywhere. All you need to do is carry an
> FAI approved logger to claim your flight.
>
> Naturally you should only attempt this if you have landable terrain
> upwind, just in case. If you can make your turnpoint an airport, that's
> even better. You also want to have the basic skills for X/C flight. The
> Bronze Badge program is an excellent introduction to X/C, and this
> basic OLC League task should be suitable for anyone who has properly
> earned this award.
>
> This task is also an excellent opportunity for dual instruction in X/C
> procedures. It creates a goal-oriented traning situation, which is an
> excellent learining opportunity. And if the goal is completed, it
> creates an instant trophy in the form of an OLC claim for all to see.
> Plus it can be done in any two place trainer, with minimal chance of an
> actual off field landing.
>
> So it's time to start thinking about how to get your club started in
> the OLC League competition. It doesn't require anything special, other
> than the logger. So start thinking about how to how to get your club
> involved. The competition starts this weeked!

Doug,

you should write an article for the SSA E-newsletter and Soaring
Magazine about OLC. I don't know of many members in my club who read
RAS.

regards,

Chip F.

[chipsoars]

Doug Haluza wrote:
> We now have well over 100 clubs set up and ready to compete in the OLC
> League in the US. So now it's time to work on how to get started in the
> competition. It may take a while for clubs to catch on, so the early
> adopters will have a big advantage. As long as one club member scores
> on one day of the weekend, your club will score a minimum of 1 point
> for the round. But if only 20 other clubs score, you will score a
> minimum of 30 points for the round. So it pays to get started early.
>
> To score you will need to get at least 50 handicapped points in 2.5
> hours using only 4 legs. If you are flying in a SGS 1-26 or 2-33, or
> any other glider with a handicap less than 64, the required distance is
> less than 20 miles. Since you get 4 legs, each leg only has to be 5
> miles long.
>
> So the simple strategy is to pick a turnpoint 5 miles upwind, climb up
> over the home airfield, then head out to the turnpoint, always staying
> above a safe glide back to home. Round the turnpoint, and fly home.
> Climb back up and do it again. Then, and this is important, climb back
> up to to your start altitude. If you did this in less than 2.5 hours,
> congratulations, your flight qualifies for the OLC League.
>
> So let's say you want to maintain a conservative 10:1 glide to home.
> Then, at 5 miles out, you only have to be 0.5 miles higer than pattern
> altitude, or around 3500' AGL. This should be doable on a decent
> soaring day in most places. Remember that you are working upwind, so
> the tailwind provides an extra safety factor.
>
> Of course if you are flying a higher performance glider, you will have
> to go a little further, but you can see that this is doable in any
> glider on a good day almost anywhere. All you need to do is carry an
> FAI approved logger to claim your flight.
>
> Naturally you should only attempt this if you have landable terrain
> upwind, just in case. If you can make your turnpoint an airport, that's
> even better. You also want to have the basic skills for X/C flight. The
> Bronze Badge program is an excellent introduction to X/C, and this
> basic OLC League task should be suitable for anyone who has properly
> earned this award.
>
> This task is also an excellent opportunity for dual instruction in X/C
> procedures. It creates a goal-oriented traning situation, which is an
> excellent learining opportunity. And if the goal is completed, it
> creates an instant trophy in the form of an OLC claim for all to see.
> Plus it can be done in any two place trainer, with minimal chance of an
> actual off field landing.
>
> So it's time to start thinking about how to get your club started in
> the OLC League competition. It doesn't require anything special, other
> than the logger. So start thinking about how to how to get your club
> involved. The competition starts this weeked!

Doug,

you should write an article for the SSA E-newsletter and Soaring
Magazine about OLC. I don't know of many members in my club who read
RAS.

regards,

Chip F.

[Frank Whiteley]

Though good ideas, I think even fewer read SSA eNews. Soaring would be
at least two months out. Probably better to forward Doug's posts to
your club's member list.

Frank Whiteley

[Ian Cant]

Doug, thankyou for an excellent write-up and the encouragement
for the lower-performance guys to compete. May I ask
two questions on the scoring ?

First, what happens if there are only two flights from
a club on a weekend ? Is the average speed calculated
on the sum of the speeds divided by two, or divided
by three ? Makes a difference if one flight is very
fast and the other very slow, as the slow flight might
either hurt the club or benefit it.

Second, from your example, the start altitude is the
lowest point after release, setting the start time
and start position. So it is the altitude at the base
of your first climb, and your first time to climb is
counted in the speed determination. But after you
finish the last leg, and have re-achieved that low
start altitude, the scored flight is not necessarily
over. If you stay above that start altitude for another
hour, not going anywhere in particular but just enjoying
the day and maybe drifting a mile or two downwind,
the small extra distance will be included as part of
your last leg and all the time counted until your two
and half hours are up. This could hurt your speed
quite a lot; so you might want to consider landing
pretty soon, or staying below your start altitude for
the rest of your flight. Is this really how it works,
or am I mis-interpreting the scoring description ?

Fly safe,

Ian




At 01:42 27 April 2006, Doug Haluza wrote:
>We now have well over 100 clubs set up and ready to
>compete in the OLC
>League in the US. So now it's time to work on how to
>get started in the
>competition. It may take a while for clubs to catch
>on, so the early
>adopters will have a big advantage. As long as one
>club member scores
>on one day of the weekend, your club will score a minimum
>of 1 point
>for the round. But if only 20 other clubs score, you
>will score a
>minimum of 30 points for the round. So it pays to get
>started early.
>
>To score you will need to get at least 50 handicapped
>points in 2.5
>hours using only 4 legs. If you are flying in a SGS
>1-26 or 2-33, or
>any other glider with a handicap less than 64, the
>required distance is
>less than 20 miles. Since you get 4 legs, each leg
>only has to be 5
>miles long.
>
>So the simple strategy is to pick a turnpoint 5 miles
>upwind, climb up
>over the home airfield, then head out to the turnpoint,
>always staying
>above a safe glide back to home. Round the turnpoint,
>and fly home.
>Climb back up and do it again. Then, and this is important,
>climb back
>up to to your start altitude. If you did this in less
>than 2.5 hours,
>congratulations, your flight qualifies for the OLC
>League.
>
>So let's say you want to maintain a conservative 10:1
>glide to home.
>Then, at 5 miles out, you only have to be 0.5 miles
>higer than pattern
>altitude, or around 3500' AGL. This should be doable
>on a decent
>soaring day in most places. Remember that you are working
>upwind, so
>the tailwind provides an extra safety factor.
>
>Of course if you are flying a higher performance glider,
>you will have
>to go a little further, but you can see that this is
>doable in any
>glider on a good day almost anywhere. All you need
>to do is carry an
>FAI approved logger to claim your flight.
>
>Naturally you should only attempt this if you have
>landable terrain
>upwind, just in case. If you can make your turnpoint
>an airport, that's
>even better. You also want to have the basic skills
>for X/C flight. The
>Bronze Badge program is an excellent introduction to
>X/C, and this
>basic OLC League task should be suitable for anyone
>who has properly
>earned this award.
>
>This task is also an excellent opportunity for dual
>instruction in X/C
>procedures. It creates a goal-oriented traning situation,
>which is an
>excellent learining opportunity. And if the goal is
>completed, it
>creates an instant trophy in the form of an OLC claim
>for all to see.
>Plus it can be done in any two place trainer, with
>minimal chance of an
>actual off field landing.
>
>So it's time to start thinking about how to get your
>club started in
>the OLC League competition. It doesn't require anything
>special, other
>than the logger. So start thinking about how to how
>to get your club
>involved. The competition starts this weeked!
>
>

[[email protected]]

Are clubs like mine that have no home base out of luck? (We're flying
out of two or three locations this year. Maybe more ...)

-Homeless in AZ

[Ramy]

Hmm, according to the web site the OLC goal is to encourage XC flying.
Staying within a conservative glide from home is not considered cross
country and defeat the purpose of the OLC IMHO.

Ramy

Doug Haluza wrote:
> We now have well over 100 clubs set up and ready to compete in the OLC
> League in the US. So now it's time to work on how to get started in the
> competition. It may take a while for clubs to catch on, so the early
> adopters will have a big advantage. As long as one club member scores
> on one day of the weekend, your club will score a minimum of 1 point
> for the round. But if only 20 other clubs score, you will score a
> minimum of 30 points for the round. So it pays to get started early.
>
> To score you will need to get at least 50 handicapped points in 2.5
> hours using only 4 legs. If you are flying in a SGS 1-26 or 2-33, or
> any other glider with a handicap less than 64, the required distance is
> less than 20 miles. Since you get 4 legs, each leg only has to be 5
> miles long.
>
> So the simple strategy is to pick a turnpoint 5 miles upwind, climb up
> over the home airfield, then head out to the turnpoint, always staying
> above a safe glide back to home. Round the turnpoint, and fly home.
> Climb back up and do it again. Then, and this is important, climb back
> up to to your start altitude. If you did this in less than 2.5 hours,
> congratulations, your flight qualifies for the OLC League.
>
> So let's say you want to maintain a conservative 10:1 glide to home.
> Then, at 5 miles out, you only have to be 0.5 miles higer than pattern
> altitude, or around 3500' AGL. This should be doable on a decent
> soaring day in most places. Remember that you are working upwind, so
> the tailwind provides an extra safety factor.
>
> Of course if you are flying a higher performance glider, you will have
> to go a little further, but you can see that this is doable in any
> glider on a good day almost anywhere. All you need to do is carry an
> FAI approved logger to claim your flight.
>
> Naturally you should only attempt this if you have landable terrain
> upwind, just in case. If you can make your turnpoint an airport, that's
> even better. You also want to have the basic skills for X/C flight. The
> Bronze Badge program is an excellent introduction to X/C, and this
> basic OLC League task should be suitable for anyone who has properly
> earned this award.
>
> This task is also an excellent opportunity for dual instruction in X/C
> procedures. It creates a goal-oriented traning situation, which is an
> excellent learining opportunity. And if the goal is completed, it
> creates an instant trophy in the form of an OLC claim for all to see.
> Plus it can be done in any two place trainer, with minimal chance of an
> actual off field landing.
>
> So it's time to start thinking about how to get your club started in
> the OLC League competition. It doesn't require anything special, other
> than the logger. So start thinking about how to how to get your club
> involved. The competition starts this weeked!

[Doug Haluza]

Ramy, everyone needs to start somewhere. This post only encourages
people to start small. Obviously as clubs and their pilots get more
experience, they will fly further and faster and score higher. So I
disagree with your concluson that starting off within gliding distance
of home is not encouraging XC flying. I think the purpose of the OLC is
to allow everyone to compete at their level. It truly is the people's
contest.

[Paul Remde]

Hi Ian,

You finish height can't be lower than your start but there is no reason it
can't be higher than your start. There is no need to land right away.

I think some people will get caught by doing standard tasks where the start
altitude is higher than the finish. If they finish low and never get as
high as their release or low point then the system will find a shorter task
in the flight in which the start height equals the finish height. If the
"sprint" section is less than 2.5 hours long then 2.5 hours is still used as
the task time - which can lead to slow speeds. So, as Doug suggested, be
sure to do a climb after you finish if necessary to make sure your finish
height is greater than or equal to your start height. Remember that it is
all optimized to find the fastest 2.5 segment.

Paul Remde

"Ian Cant" > wrote in message
...
> Doug, thankyou for an excellent write-up and the encouragement
> for the lower-performance guys to compete. May I ask
> two questions on the scoring ?
>
> First, what happens if there are only two flights from
> a club on a weekend ? Is the average speed calculated
> on the sum of the speeds divided by two, or divided
> by three ? Makes a difference if one flight is very
> fast and the other very slow, as the slow flight might
> either hurt the club or benefit it.
>
> Second, from your example, the start altitude is the
> lowest point after release, setting the start time
> and start position. So it is the altitude at the base
> of your first climb, and your first time to climb is
> counted in the speed determination. But after you
> finish the last leg, and have re-achieved that low
> start altitude, the scored flight is not necessarily
> over. If you stay above that start altitude for another
> hour, not going anywhere in particular but just enjoying
> the day and maybe drifting a mile or two downwind,
> the small extra distance will be included as part of
> your last leg and all the time counted until your two
> and half hours are up. This could hurt your speed
> quite a lot; so you might want to consider landing
> pretty soon, or staying below your start altitude for
> the rest of your flight. Is this really how it works,
> or am I mis-interpreting the scoring description ?
>
> Fly safe,
>
> Ian
>
>
>
>
> At 01:42 27 April 2006, Doug Haluza wrote:
>>We now have well over 100 clubs set up and ready to
>>compete in the OLC
>>League in the US. So now it's time to work on how to
>>get started in the
>>competition. It may take a while for clubs to catch
>>on, so the early
>>adopters will have a big advantage. As long as one
>>club member scores
>>on one day of the weekend, your club will score a minimum
>>of 1 point
>>for the round. But if only 20 other clubs score, you
>>will score a
>>minimum of 30 points for the round. So it pays to get
>>started early.
>>
>>To score you will need to get at least 50 handicapped
>>points in 2.5
>>hours using only 4 legs. If you are flying in a SGS
>>1-26 or 2-33, or
>>any other glider with a handicap less than 64, the
>>required distance is
>>less than 20 miles. Since you get 4 legs, each leg
>>only has to be 5
>>miles long.
>>
>>So the simple strategy is to pick a turnpoint 5 miles
>>upwind, climb up
>>over the home airfield, then head out to the turnpoint,
>>always staying
>>above a safe glide back to home. Round the turnpoint,
>>and fly home.
>>Climb back up and do it again. Then, and this is important,
>>climb back
>>up to to your start altitude. If you did this in less
>>than 2.5 hours,
>>congratulations, your flight qualifies for the OLC
>>League.
>>
>>So let's say you want to maintain a conservative 10:1
>>glide to home.
>>Then, at 5 miles out, you only have to be 0.5 miles
>>higer than pattern
>>altitude, or around 3500' AGL. This should be doable
>>on a decent
>>soaring day in most places. Remember that you are working
>>upwind, so
>>the tailwind provides an extra safety factor.
>>
>>Of course if you are flying a higher performance glider,
>>you will have
>>to go a little further, but you can see that this is
>>doable in any
>>glider on a good day almost anywhere. All you need
>>to do is carry an
>>FAI approved logger to claim your flight.
>>
>>Naturally you should only attempt this if you have
>>landable terrain
>>upwind, just in case. If you can make your turnpoint
>>an airport, that's
>>even better. You also want to have the basic skills
>>for X/C flight. The
>>Bronze Badge program is an excellent introduction to
>>X/C, and this
>>basic OLC League task should be suitable for anyone
>>who has properly
>>earned this award.
>>
>>This task is also an excellent opportunity for dual
>>instruction in X/C
>>procedures. It creates a goal-oriented traning situation,
>>which is an
>>excellent learining opportunity. And if the goal is
>>completed, it
>>creates an instant trophy in the form of an OLC claim
>>for all to see.
>>Plus it can be done in any two place trainer, with
>>minimal chance of an
>>actual off field landing.
>>
>>So it's time to start thinking about how to get your
>>club started in
>>the OLC League competition. It doesn't require anything
>>special, other
>>than the logger. So start thinking about how to how
>>to get your club
>>involved. The competition starts this weeked!
>>
>>
>
>
>

[[email protected]]

Doug Haluza wrote:
> We now have well over 100 clubs set up and ready to compete in the OLC

Where did you find this information?

Under the League rules section, it states that OLC will publish a list
of clubs/home airfields, but for the life of me I can't find it.

[Doug Haluza]

Let me start off with the discalimer that everything is subject to
revision after we see how the OLC League actually works next week, but
here is what I think I know so far.

The OLC League rules say the club score is based on the sum of the
three highest scores. So two scores should be better than one, even if
one is slower.

The start altitude should be optimized by the scoring algorithm for the
highest speed. So, it could be anywhere in the initial climb in the
example task, as long as it is higher than a point in the final climb.
Parts of the initial and final climb may be included, depending on
which is faster and/or further. The final climb is needed if you
started your initial climb on the upwind side of your home airfield, as
you should to make sure you don't land out off tow.

The task speed will always be computed by dividing the distance by 2.5
hours, so it does not matter if you hang out over the home airfield, or
land if you finish early. If you extend the leg downwind, the extra
distance should only improve your speed, as long as you stay below the
top of your initial climb.

[Doug Haluza]

If you're referring to ASA, your home has been moved to Maricopa.

If you are flying with a nomad club, you will have to pick the airfield
that gives you the best soaring during the OLC League season.

You can also change your club affiliation to claim your flights with
the local club wherever you are.

If you want to set up local clubs for the airfields where you will fly,
get them in to olc<at>ssa<dot>org by tomorrow.

[Doug Haluza]

It is linked off the OLC News page:

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olcphp/olc-i.php?olc=olc-i&spr=en

The US list is here:

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

You only have until tomorrow to request changes at olc<at>ssa<dot>org

[Paul Remde]

Hi Doug,

I don't understand the statement below "as long as you stay below the top of
your initial climb". Why would that matter. It seems to me that what
matters is that you make sure you finish no lower than you started. That
can be accomplished by getting low near the start or high at the end. Or
don't worry about it and it will probably work out fine and automatically
pick a fast segment near the end of your flight before your final glide.

Paul Remde

"Doug Haluza" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Let me start off with the discalimer that everything is subject to
> revision after we see how the OLC League actually works next week, but
> here is what I think I know so far.
>
> The OLC League rules say the club score is based on the sum of the
> three highest scores. So two scores should be better than one, even if
> one is slower.
>
> The start altitude should be optimized by the scoring algorithm for the
> highest speed. So, it could be anywhere in the initial climb in the
> example task, as long as it is higher than a point in the final climb.
> Parts of the initial and final climb may be included, depending on
> which is faster and/or further. The final climb is needed if you
> started your initial climb on the upwind side of your home airfield, as
> you should to make sure you don't land out off tow.
>
> The task speed will always be computed by dividing the distance by 2.5
> hours, so it does not matter if you hang out over the home airfield, or
> land if you finish early. If you extend the leg downwind, the extra
> distance should only improve your speed, as long as you stay below the
> top of your initial climb.
>

[Doug Haluza]

You are correct. You have to stay above your start altitude, not below,
sorry for the confusion.

Paul Remde wrote:
> Hi Doug,
>
> I don't understand the statement below "as long as you stay below the top of
> your initial climb". Why would that matter. It seems to me that what
> matters is that you make sure you finish no lower than you started. That
> can be accomplished by getting low near the start or high at the end. Or
> don't worry about it and it will probably work out fine and automatically
> pick a fast segment near the end of your flight before your final glide.
>
> Paul Remde
>
> "Doug Haluza" > wrote in message
> ups.com...

> >
> > The task speed will always be computed by dividing the distance by 2.5
> > hours, so it does not matter if you hang out over the home airfield, or
> > land if you finish early. If you extend the leg downwind, the extra
> > distance should only improve your speed, as long as you stay below the
> > top of your initial climb.
> >

[Graeme Cant]

wrote:
> Are clubs like mine that have no home base out of luck? (We're flying
> out of two or three locations this year. Maybe more ...)
>
> -Homeless in AZ

Yes. But the OLC has a solution!

Call yourselves a different club at each location.

The OLC thinks you'll be happy about it and won't feel it makes it not
worth entering the OLC League.

Enjoy the comp.

GC

[Doug Haluza]

Partial results from Round 1 of the OLC League are now up at the OLC
Server. For the SSA-OLC go to
http://www.ssa.org/members/contestreports/OLC.htm and click on the
"OLC-League" button in the header. Only 9 US clubs scored on Saturday,
so there are lots of points still up for grabs if you can score on
Sunday. See older postings in this thread on how to score points for
your club.

[Doug Haluza]

One minor correction to the above. The maximum score per round is 50
points, or 2 points per club scoring if less than 25 score. So if only
20 clubs score, the max score is 40 points, and the minimum would be 22
points, not 30.