On Tuesday, June 24, 2014 11:02:13 AM UTC-4, Mike C wrote:
On Tuesday, June 24, 2014 6:01:23 AM UTC-6, wrote:

My view: we have a really nice drop-a-day scoring provision in the rules. John good gets major credit for working out all the bugs. It would address situations such as this one. In my view it would also bring safety improvmements. Faced with a land out or a storm or other event it would be much easier for pilots to make the rit decision and not soldier on as we now do. Most of all I think it would make contests more fun. If you screw up or land out on the first day, it's no longer hopeless and really wait for next year.



So why don't we use it? Because the rc doesn't shove this sort of thing down pilots throats. It's been an available option at regionals for years but with a few exceptions (Ionia ) nobody has tried it. So, if this sounds like a good idea, you the pilot need to ask your cd to try it! Chances are, the cd isn't even aware it exists. Things like this need to be tried at regionals for a few years, gain acceptance, then move



Observation, and the yin and the yang of it-



How would this have really helped the Moriarty Std Class Pilots that decided not to fly the task(this situation)? It would have made no difference in the outcome. Dropping a day would have. In either case an excellent pilot would have been effectively penalized for a great flight while rewarding others for not flying, and I do not think this is the intent of a contest requiring aggregate skills. Also, why should a pilot get any points for not flying-for any reason? It is easy to see the intent of the WDSA rule, but I do not think it is the correct solution.

The other option is to have the CD and advisors evaluate the situation and not open a task that does not meet accepted criteria for being both fair and safe.
It is a judgement call, but has been used countless times to avoid these kinds of problems.
UH