In article , stant2
@mindspring.com says...

Well guess what, with the TAT that is exactly what you are doing,
again. Just going fast isn't always going to win, you now have to
adjust your distance for the macready speed you are getting in the
conditions, and just being the fastest won't always win. That is an
improvement? I don't think so!

As I mentioned, I prefer assigned tasks, not the PST or the TAT, so
I'm with you on this one.


Maybe I was doing it wrong, but it didn't seem anything like a "basic
navigation task", which I think is getting to were you want to go.
Getting there at the time you wanted to, in a sailplane, with variable
weather, just seemed like a crap shoot to me. I won some and I lost
some, but I never felt like it was my navigation that resulted in
either, but mostly luck.

Huh? Distance to go, time remaining, thermal strength, altitude
available. Do the math, get home when you need to get home.

I still don't understand what you are talking about: in a PST, there
is no "distance to go", it's a "time to go". Converting the time left
to distance is where I have problems, because there are two components
to the calculation: 1) cross-country speed (anticipated thermal
strength, so it's a guess) 2) final glide speed (depends on altitude
available, AND anticipated thermal strength, so it's a guess,too). So,
while I'm trying to race (getting the best XC speed I can), I'm also
juggling turnpoints, trying to figure which ones will make the task
long enough so I can fly as fast as possible, but still get home just
at the minimum time.

If I were sitting at home, it'd be an interesting problem to work on,
but I don't think it's fun in a sailplane. With the 15 minute rule, I
feel I can drop the calculations and just concentrate on going fast,
because it's easy for me to pick a task that takes long enough, though
it might be 15-20 minutes longer than the minimum.

If the
problem is 7000' start heights with a 2:30 time limit, then lower the
start and lengthen the time!

I'd also prefer lower starts (5000' agl, say), and it might be safer
when the thermals are going higher, because there wouldn't be the
crowding at the top a thermal as every pilot tries to eek out the last
foot before starting.

A 2:30 race is ridiculous anyway if you
are getting high enough to get any advantage out of your start.

Over the years (25 in my case), at least in Regionals, it seems the
trend has been to shorten the task time. At Ephrata, we often have 3
hour tasks on 6 hour days. I'd prefer longer tasks of at least 4
hours, so we aren't flying only at the peak of the day, and spend some
time in weaker conditions.

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Eric Greenwell
Richland, WA (USA)