New Class for US Nationals

On Nov 13, 10:26*pm, wrote:

Your proposal may be the best way to go. Who can say for sure? But after all this discussion, it's still not clear to me why the US should go outside the existing FAI rules.

As a Club Class competitor, I'd really be chapped to know the pilot who beat me and made the World Team was flying a sailplane not qualified to fly in the Worlds.


How will you feel when you drive all the way across country to the
sports class contest, and then get sent home because 8 people with
just the right gliders didn't show up? Ask the PW5 guys how this
feels.

How would you feel, if you were a new pilot, flew a regionals, found
this great ship to buy, went to club nationals, but they sent you home
because your ASW20B, Schweitzer 1-35, HP 18 or American-made
sparrowhawk isn't on a list maintained by a commission of
international volunteers that meets once a year in Switzerland?

How would you feel if 10 gliders showed up, but 3 of them were like
that, so everybody got sent home?

How would you feel if you got sent home, but then they release the
club class list for Finland, and your ASW20 B is now on it?

The FAI rules are designed to run club class world contests, in
Europe, based on gliders available at European clubs. There is no
reason to expect those rules to work for the US.

SSA, please give this a good hard look.

I can assure you, days and days have been spent looking at this,
looking through all the angles, reviewing the turnout data from all
the club class regionals, thinking through all the ways that bright
ideas can blow up.

John Cochrane


Ben