On Sep 25, 7:32*pm, "XYZ" wrote:
What happens if we handicap pilots instead of aircraft.....
Have a handicap card for each pilot airplane combination.
If I can consistantly get 50% of the possible points earned by the days
winner,
I would get a series of normalization factors (2.00) *that over time would
reflect my performance
against the group. *Give me 95% of my normalization history as my handicap
and I'm in with a shot.
If I keep improving, my normalization go's down, If I keep getting killed ,
it go's up.
If Im in a different airplane, I get a different card with different
historical "stuff".
If KS always wins, He always gets a 1.00 and no help. *If a rapidly
improving guy
in good hardware beats him on handicap, KS gets a bit added and the kid gets
a little removed.
It can be a dynamic number that reflects over time, airframe improvements as
well as piloting skill improvements.
It would also prop up aircraft as they age in the hands of people who fly
them a while.

Just a little free thinking to liven up the discussion.

On the other hand, Wouldn't it be cool for Cherokee Boy to be able to win
if he flew his butt off in a contest some time..............
--
Have a great day

Scott

Scott,

We tried this in our NISC (Northern IL Soaring Contest) for a total
of 3 years I believe. Pilot Handicaps were assigned by BB based on
previous results in this season-long Sports Class type contest. The
main idea was to boost participation by new pilots interested in
racing. John Cochrane assigned hugely favorable factors to new pilots
with the result that a newbie won in the first year. There was no
appreciable change in the number of participants, though, same for the
following years.
In fact, the usual suspects won in the following years and scoring
with and without the pilot handicap showed that it didn't make much
difference. The best 8 flights of the year are scored in our contest
and it turned out to be much more effective to enter a flight every
weekend vs. having a favorable pilot handicap.
We did away with the system for this year and actually are having a
very good season with more flights and pilots participating than
ever. I'd be reluctant to reintroduce this concept! Here is a link
to our rules and results:
http://faculty.chicagogsb.edu/john.c...h/Papers/#nisc


Herb, J7