On Monday, February 4, 2013 11:01:19 AM UTC-7, R Walters wrote:
Roger Bard has a letter to the editor in this month's SOARING mag. His point is "Why even bother" to fly the OLC contest and he lists four reasons why.



Answering his "reasons why not" is the following: 1&2. A Nimbus 4 is not required since results are handicapped. Ron Schwartz flew his 1-26 to 11th in the world, and he did it from that soaring mecca known as New Jersey. Fifth place was a Ventus 2 (Uwe) and ninth place an ASW27 (Ramy.) 3. Yes, the winner flew above 18,000" legally for some flights. Most of the other winners are not instrument rated pilots and stayed below 18K. 4. One does have to be at the right place at the right time to win anything. That is true of soaring and many other sports. Wally Scott kept his ASW12 assembled in an Odessa hangar and picked his days. Hardly something to be upset about, but rather admired.



A better use for OLC is to learn and compare your flight with club members and pilots flying in similar conditions. Much can be learned from studying traces and Wx, take off times, average climb rates, course deviations, and final glides. Anyone that posts six flights is a winner.



Richard Walters

Rick,
Well said! One can really learn a lot using the OLC when you look at your flight and then compare your flight with the flights of others that flew on the same day and from the same location. In the past it was often quite difficult to obtain information from pilots on their flights. In many ways it seemed like a bit of a secret, but now using the OLC you can easily study OLC flight information and really improve your flying and decision making!
Thanks - Renny