On Tuesday, November 3, 2020 at 10:41:15 AM UTC-2, Roy B. wrote:
I thought it might be fun (and healthy) to start a poll or discussion for the guys and gals who have been in the sport for + 25 years or more. So, my question for those people is : "What is the biggest change you have seen in the sport over the years you have participated?"

For me, the biggest change was the widespread adoption of GPS - which changed everything about flight recording, contests, contest tasking and badge flying. Second place goes to the newer trailers which are so much better than what we struggled with in the old days. Third place might be OLC . . .
What do you think?

ROY

Yes, I still have a self made prayer wheel, which was quite reliable in the Kestrel; it also had a map section on the back overlaid with spirals of altitude
needed with glide ratios around the periphery.
What has changed? GPS was major change.
What I did not miss ( as a competition pilot no longer) is FREE DISTANCE with the seemingly inevitable overnight costly retrieve. This was a mandatory task for years in US and Cdn rules, a cop-out for task setters when they were faced
with uncertain weather; those I remember Adrian '65, Regina '66, Marfa '67
(360 miles), Red Deer '69, Yugoslavia '72, all over 400km, many times more than the task setters said would be possible; maybe they were fun for the pilot but the distance for a mandatory rest day , (sometimes two days) was always exceeded, which spoiled the contest and cost a lot of money, some accidents and repairs, and proved very little , except that top
pilots can go a long way downwind in uncertain conditions.
John Firth