Getting started in the OLC League this weekend

We now have well over 100 clubs set up and ready to compete in the OLC
League in the US. So now it's time to work on how to get started in the
competition. It may take a while for clubs to catch on, so the early
adopters will have a big advantage. As long as one club member scores
on one day of the weekend, your club will score a minimum of 1 point
for the round. But if only 20 other clubs score, you will score a
minimum of 30 points for the round. So it pays to get started early.

To score you will need to get at least 50 handicapped points in 2.5
hours using only 4 legs. If you are flying in a SGS 1-26 or 2-33, or
any other glider with a handicap less than 64, the required distance is
less than 20 miles. Since you get 4 legs, each leg only has to be 5
miles long.

So the simple strategy is to pick a turnpoint 5 miles upwind, climb up
over the home airfield, then head out to the turnpoint, always staying
above a safe glide back to home. Round the turnpoint, and fly home.
Climb back up and do it again. Then, and this is important, climb back
up to to your start altitude. If you did this in less than 2.5 hours,
congratulations, your flight qualifies for the OLC League.

So let's say you want to maintain a conservative 10:1 glide to home.
Then, at 5 miles out, you only have to be 0.5 miles higer than pattern
altitude, or around 3500' AGL. This should be doable on a decent
soaring day in most places. Remember that you are working upwind, so
the tailwind provides an extra safety factor.

Of course if you are flying a higher performance glider, you will have
to go a little further, but you can see that this is doable in any
glider on a good day almost anywhere. All you need to do is carry an
FAI approved logger to claim your flight.

Naturally you should only attempt this if you have landable terrain
upwind, just in case. If you can make your turnpoint an airport, that's
even better. You also want to have the basic skills for X/C flight. The
Bronze Badge program is an excellent introduction to X/C, and this
basic OLC League task should be suitable for anyone who has properly
earned this award.

This task is also an excellent opportunity for dual instruction in X/C
procedures. It creates a goal-oriented traning situation, which is an
excellent learining opportunity. And if the goal is completed, it
creates an instant trophy in the form of an OLC claim for all to see.
Plus it can be done in any two place trainer, with minimal chance of an
actual off field landing.

So it's time to start thinking about how to get your club started in
the OLC League competition. It doesn't require anything special, other
than the logger. So start thinking about how to how to get your club
involved. The competition starts this weeked!