On Dec 27, 10:16*am, Andy wrote:
I haven't read the rules cover-to-cover since 2003 - seriously. I do
read the changes every year - takes maybe 30 minutes. Generally the
changes make life easier. A lot of the details are for contest
managers and CDs to know, but aren't necessary to know in order to
compete effectively. *We could author a "plain English" version of the
rules without the formulae that simply explains what the rule is
intended to accomplish/encourage/discourage. Without that you have to
either read and understand the rules or take it on faith that you
don't have to understand all the calculations to compete effectively.


As proof that I haven't read the rules since 2003, I just noticed that
the rules do have a "plain English" explanation of sorts. Appendix A
explains the logic behind each rule without all the formulae and
nomenclature. It's not perfect, but it's pretty good.

The rules for FAI Regionals are 43 pages long, but the rules
themselves are actually 29 of those pages - the remainder is the
"plain English" translation and some other details. Out of the 29
pages, 15 apply to the contest organizers (CM and CD) and 5 apply to
the scorer (or scoring program writer). This means that 9 pages of
rules apply specifically to pilots (or 4 pages of the "plain English"
Appendix). If if you spend 5 minutes per page that's less than an hour
each year. Is it really that big a burden?

9B