On Feb 14, 10:29*pm, John Cochrane
wrote:
I wrote a "contest corner" for April Soaring Magazine explaining some
of the contest rules changes for 2011. You can see it now on my
webpage,

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...Papers/rules_1...

I hope this clarifies some of the things that we're trying to do this
year, and raises awareness of some of the changes. There ARE some
things you need to know!

John Cochrane

John:

You've definitely addressed some of the issues that some of us have
been griping about, but I wonder if it doesn't introduce even more
rule complexity? One thing we hear from newcomers is that you never
know who has won until the scorer completes his task. Even then, we
have found mistakes to occur through the sheer complexity of
everything.

While I am looking forward to Flarm as a leeching tool, I doubt that
it will be very useful out west. I have often flown towards a couple
of rapidly-rising sailplanes to find that there is little lift beneath
them. If you don't catch the thermal main bubble out here, you're
often too late. I suspect that it won't be much of a game changer, at
least in our region.

I have never understood why Americans have been so singularly against
team flying, especially when it is an important tool used at World
competitions that puts the USA at a distinct disadvantage. I don't
know about your club, but our informal cross-country flights are very
cooperative and don't jam the radio with chatter.

Tucson Soaring Club is hosting a cross-country camp in May to
encourage and mentor new pilots and to provide a non-competitive (and
less confusing) venue than a contest. It isn't intended to replace
contests but complement them. We'll let you know how it goes.

Mike