2014 US Modern and US Club Class Nationals - Assigned Task calledtoday! FANTASTIC!

On Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:51:24 AM UTC-4, Sean Fidler wrote:
Hank,



Clearly you don't like the Assigned Task much based on your very exciting, enthusiastic description of it. ;-) Geeze.



I see Assigned Tasking as the best thing that sailplane racing has to offer. In my experience, Assigned Tasks are far, far more fun and rewarding at all levels. They also are far too rare in the US. Ill stand on the podium for a second and explain...



GAGGLES: In regards to gaggles, even if the group starts together (not AT ALL exclusive to assigned tasks by the way), eventually the gaggle will break up. Usually along the first leg. The great thing about Assigned Tasks is that pilots actually know how they are doing relative to other competitors. In an Assigned Task you are actually racing (almost!) and not just flying cross country together (sorta) and looking forward to seeing a score calculated by a scorers computer at the end of the day (often hours after you land) to tell you what it all meant while you were flying.



Flying together during the Assigned Task is not a bad thing (for me). It's a great thing! It's called racing! Faster pilots will naturally get ahead, slower will fall behind and so on. The learning experience that happens during these rare (US) assigned tasks is extreme and highly valuable. I have learned 10x faster during Assigned Tasks vs. Area Tasks. I am also having 10x more fun! And again as the gaggle thins out along the task there is actual meaning to that pecking order that forms (see above). How fun!!!



I would argue that gaggles are actually less common in Assigned Tasks at times. Unlike wide Turn Area Tasks, you can't "cut the corner" and catch up to the gaggle in every turn area like you can in Turn Area Task. This ability to "cut the corner" (or just randomly reconnecting) actually allows the gaggle to reform again and again in Turn Area Tasks. I actually saw this happen often at Perry this spring.



In an Assigned Task trailers can only cut out a maximum of 2 miles to catch back up to the gaggle. Furthermore the leaders can (if they wish) simply turn early and eliminate the chance of trailers catching back up to them. They are only giving up 2 miles of distance. Note: I think we should remove the extra distance concept from Assigned Tasks for this reason. Assigned Tasks should be about pure speed around a simple set track, not about time or the ticky, tacky practice of adding extra distance or complex scoring programs. Assigned Tasks are simple races around a set track and should not be complex in any way.



TURN AREA TASKS ARE MORE A GAME OF CHANCE (LUCK): In general, the whole reason Turn Area Tasks were created is to account for broad handicap ranges, broad skill ranges and difficult or unpredictable weather conditions. The Assigned Area task is, by definition, a compromise and a softening of the difficulty of the Assigned Task. In a Turn Area Task, there is no need to go to any particular point, if that spot doesn't look good to you, or there is not perfect cumulus cloud gleaming above it, you can just go somewhere else that looks better. That is fundamentally less challenging! Wide radius Turn Area Tasks provide pilots a tremendous amount of choice and the ability to constantly take chances on vastly different routes to entirely different turning points. In a 20 mile radius Turn Area for example, two pilots can easily be 30+ miles in terms of where they finally choose to turn. That is not a good thing when the conditions are good. Turn Area Tasks becomes a weather guessing game. Weather by definition is not an exact science (especially on a micro scale). Choosing a path in a Turn Area Task is often a crapshoot, lets be honest.



THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME MANAGEMENT AND EXPENSIVE, COMPLEX GLIDE COMPUTERS IN TURN AREA TASKS: Unlike an Assigned Task which has no time limit, Turn Area Task (and MODIFIED Assigned Area Tasks) are almost completely focused on the pilots ability to effectively managing minimum time (or in the case of the Modified Assigned Area Task, to manage the complex process of adding on additional turnpoints AND time). Accurately estimating this time decision and returning to the finish efficiently during and Turn Area Task is extremely difficult to do well. A mistake in this KEY element can make or break your score for that day even if you flew perfectly up until that moment.. Turn Area Task always result in pilots essentially "guessing" when to turn for home many miles away. That is unless you spend 5k on a top of the line glide computer! This time challenge with Turn Area Tasks has greatly increased the importance of expensive, complex glide computers (often the single most expensive item in the glider (around $5000 USD). The Glide Computer market has become a source of great competition among the various instrument manufacturers as they develop better features, brighter screens, better software, etc. It is a clear competitive advantage to own and master an expensive full featured Glide Computer when Turn Area Contests are almost exclusive! A reliance on complex glider computers is an obstacle to new pilots.



I could go on and on...but I will stop here for now.



Sean



You make some very good points about why you like the AT better and enjoy it more.
I was asking why you think it makes for better competition.
I think there is a place for the AT and agree that task advisers should perhaps be more open minded.
Personally I don't think a high percentage of AT tasks should be mandated because it can force the task committee to call them on days when it is not the best task.
I don't dislike the AT. I simply don't believe that is as good a measure of a variety of soaring skills as other options.
I've flown a lot of tasks over the years that consisted of try to start late, catch the gaggle, stay with it because the percentages don't favor bravery, and final glide home with the group, most of whom never had to find a thermal or make a significant decision all day.
We would do well to have our task setters take the guidance in the rules addendum to heart and do a better job of calling a variety of tasks.
Wish I had been able to fly with those folks the last 2 weeks.

UH

You make some very good points about why you like the AT better and enjoy it more.

I was asking why you think it makes for better competition.

I think there is a place for the AT and agree that task advisers should perhaps be more open minded.

Personally I don't think a high percentage of AT tasks should be mandated because it can force the task committee to call them on days when it is not the best task.

I don't dislike the AT. I simply don't believe that is as good a measure of a variety of soaring skills as other options.

I've flown a lot of tasks over the years that consisted of try to start late, catch the gaggle, stay with it because the percentages don't favor bravery, and final glide home with the group, most of whom never had to find a thermal or make a significant decision all day.

We would do well to have our task setters take the guidance in the rules addendum to heart and do a better job of calling a variety of tasks.

Wish I had been able to fly with those folks the last 2 weeks.



UH


I'm not a competition pilot but I see merits in both sides of this discussion.

Please allow me to pose a different, outsiders view. For the sake of increasing contest participation, the contest committee wants non-competition pilots watching a task on GlidePort to think, "Gee, this looks like fun, I think I'll give it a try." Instead of, as it often is, "I'm confused - I have no idea what those folks are doing".

While fixed time tasks may better test a pilot's ability, they come across to neophytes as difficult to understand. Competitor tactics and strategy are not at all clear and I've had no success trying to explain them to non-contest pilots.

On the other hand, an AST is simplicity itself - it's just a race. Everybody understands a race and they're fun to watch. While AST's have less value in testing pilot's ability, they may have greater value in enticing new people into trying competition.

I would further suggest that, at least in the case of "entry level" competition, leaching and gaggles may be a good thing for a bunch of rookies learning the game by watching more experienced pilots. With the advent of PowerFlarm, this seems less dangerous that it once was.

Hank I deleted my post to fix spelling errors. Below is the post fixed as best I could. Basically the same as you responded too. Thanks by the way!

I fully understand that in our reality (less pilots, not wanting to land out, etc) that TATs are here to stay. I'm just arguing for us to try harder and to do a bit more AT's at Nationals (and clean them up). Everybody wants to have fun and I get it. I know I am a little radical at times. But I think there is a case to consider stepping them up a little but more. I think it will help us all grow together a bit more as glider pilots!

Sincerely,

Sean

Hank,

Clearly you don't like the Assigned Task much based on your very exciting, enthusiastic description of it. ;-) Geeze.

I see Assigned Tasking as the best thing that sailplane racing has to offer.. In my experience, Assigned Tasks are far, far more fun and rewarding at all levels. They also are far too rare in the US. I'll stand on the podium for a second and explain my reasoning...

GAGGLES: In regards to gaggles, even if the group starts together (not AT ALL exclusive to Assigned Tasks by the way), eventually the gaggle will break up. Usually along the first leg. The great thing about Assigned Tasks is that pilots actually know how they are doing relative to other competitors. In an Assigned Task you are actually racing your competitors. In a Turn Area Task you are basically flying cross country together (sorta?). In a Turn Area Task you have to wait to see your score hours after you land. This is all you have in a Turn Area to understand what it all meant while you were flying at different times and on vastly different lines that your "competitors."

Flying together during the Assigned Task is not a bad thing (for me at least). It's a great thing! I love it. It's called racing! Faster pilots will naturally pull ahead, slower will fall behind and so on. The learning experience that occurs during these rare (US) assigned tasks is extreme and highly valuable. I have learned 10x more about cross country glider flight during Assigned Tasks vs. Area Tasks. At the same time, I am having 10x more fun! Again as the gaggle thins out along the task there is actual meaning to that pecking order that forms (see above). If you catch up to someone a little, you have gained. How fun!!!

I would argue that gaggles may be less likely in Assigned Tasks that Assigned Area Tasks. Unlike wide Turn Area Tasks, trailing pilots cannot "cut the corner" and catch up to the gaggle in every turn area like you can in Turn Area Task. This ability to "cut the corner" actually allows the gaggles to reform again and again during Turn Area Tasks. I actually saw this happen often at Perry this spring.

In an Assigned Task trailers can only cut out a maximum of 2 miles to catch back up to the gaggle. Furthermore the leaders can (if they wish) simply turn early and eliminate the chance of trailers catching back up to them. They are only giving up 2 miles of distance.

Speaking of this, we should remove area concept from Assigned Tasks "Area's." Assigned Tasks should be about pure speed around a simple set track. AT's should not involve the ticky, tacky practice of deciding whether or not to add 2 miles of extra distance. That is a waste of time and defeats the purpose of a pure race. It also reintroduces the need for complex scoring programs and waiting around for hours to see your score. Assigned Tasks are desirable because they are simple, pure races around a set track. You only decision should be ensuring that you are inside the turn area. Assigned Tasks need not be complex in any way. In addition, gaggles would break up even more than they do naturally.

TURN AREA TASKS ARE MORE A GAME OF CHANCE (LUCK): In general, the whole reason Turn Area Tasks were introduced was to reduce landouts in classes with broad handicap ranges, broad skill ranges and when difficult or unpredictable weather conditions (chance of thunderstorms, etc) were present. The Turn Area task is, by definition, a compromise and a softening of the difficulty of the Assigned Task. For example, in a Turn Area Task, there is rarely any requirement for the pilot to achieve any particular point that may be less than perfect. TAT people will complain, "what if that Assigned Turn doesn't look good?" "What if the perfect cumulus cloud is not gleaming above the Assigned Turn?" They say, "I don't want to be forced to go somewhere I don't want to go..." Turn Area Tasks are fundamentally less challenging than having to fly to a particular point and solve the puzzle if the conditions are not ideal! Pilots who never fly Assigned Tasks never learn to handle these situations.

Wide radius Turn Area Tasks provide pilots a tremendous amount of choice and freedom. TAT competitors enjoy the ability to constantly take vastly different routes. In a 20 mile radius Turn Area for example, two pilots can easily be 30+ miles in terms of where they finally choose to turn. Both pilots might have been equally good at reading the clouds as they chose their path. But once they get there you are relying on your guess being better than theirs. That is not the high quality experience, especially when the conditions are good. Turn Area Tasks become a weather guessing game. Weather by definition is far from an exact science (especially on a micro scale). Choosing the best path in a Turn Area Task is often a guess and sometimes a crapshoot, let's be honest.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME MANAGEMENT AND EXPENSIVE, COMPLEX GLIDE COMPUTERS IN TURN AREA TASKS: Unlike an Assigned Task which has no time limit, Turn Area Task (and MODIFIED Assigned Area Tasks!) are almost completely focused on the pilots ability to effectively managing minimum time (or in the case of the Modified Assigned Area Task, to manage the complex process of adding on additional turn points AND manage time). Accurately estimating this "time decision" and returning to the finish efficiently during and Turn Area Task is extremely difficult thing to do consistently well and therefore a massive variable. A mistake in this KEY decision (and frankly the decision of where to turn in all the wide Turn Area's) can make or break your score for that day even if you flew perfectly up until that moment. Turn Area Task always result in pilots essentially "guessing" when to turn in each Turn Area. The last turn area and that all-important decision on when to turn back for home is usually many miles away. Most pilots therefore compromise and aim to finish 10-15 minutes over (a huge loss in average speed). That is unless you spend 5k on a top of the line glide computer!

This time estimation problem with Turn Area Tasks resulted in greatly increased reliance on expensive, complex glide computers (often the single most expensive item in the glider (around $5000 USD). The Glide Computer market has become a source of great competition among the various instrument manufacturers as they develop better features, brighter screens, better software, etc. It is a clear competitive advantage to own (and have the time to master) an expensive full featured Glide Computer when time based Turn Area Task contests are almost exclusive these days! A reliance on complex glider computers is an obstacle to new pilots becoming competitive.

I could go on and on...but I will stop here for now.

Sean

I could not agree more!
Racing should not be about computer skills.
Racing should not be about playing "what ifs" on the computer while flying.
It should be about making the best of what mother nature provides to fly a task.
Everyone flying the same task makes it all about flying skills.

On Thursday, July 24, 2014 12:41:42 PM UTC-4, Sean Fidler wrote:
Hank I deleted my post to fix spelling errors. Below is the post fixed as best I could. Basically the same as you responded too. Thanks by the way!



I fully understand that in our reality (less pilots, not wanting to land out, etc) that TATs are here to stay. I'm just arguing for us to try harder and to do a bit more AT's at Nationals (and clean them up). Everybody wants to have fun and I get it. I know I am a little radical at times. But I think there is a case to consider stepping them up a little but more. I think it will help us all grow together a bit more as glider pilots!



Sincerely,



Sean



Hank,



Clearly you don't like the Assigned Task much based on your very exciting, enthusiastic description of it. ;-) Geeze.



I see Assigned Tasking as the best thing that sailplane racing has to offer. In my experience, Assigned Tasks are far, far more fun and rewarding at all levels. They also are far too rare in the US. I'll stand on the podium for a second and explain my reasoning...



GAGGLES: In regards to gaggles, even if the group starts together (not AT ALL exclusive to Assigned Tasks by the way), eventually the gaggle will break up. Usually along the first leg. The great thing about Assigned Tasks is that pilots actually know how they are doing relative to other competitors. In an Assigned Task you are actually racing your competitors. In a Turn Area Task you are basically flying cross country together (sorta?). In a Turn Area Task you have to wait to see your score hours after you land. This is all you have in a Turn Area to understand what it all meant while you were flying at different times and on vastly different lines that your "competitors."



Flying together during the Assigned Task is not a bad thing (for me at least). It's a great thing! I love it. It's called racing! Faster pilots will naturally pull ahead, slower will fall behind and so on. The learning experience that occurs during these rare (US) assigned tasks is extreme and highly valuable. I have learned 10x more about cross country glider flight during Assigned Tasks vs. Area Tasks. At the same time, I am having 10x more fun! Again as the gaggle thins out along the task there is actual meaning to that pecking order that forms (see above). If you catch up to someone a little, you have gained. How fun!!!



I would argue that gaggles may be less likely in Assigned Tasks that Assigned Area Tasks. Unlike wide Turn Area Tasks, trailing pilots cannot "cut the corner" and catch up to the gaggle in every turn area like you can in Turn Area Task. This ability to "cut the corner" actually allows the gaggles to reform again and again during Turn Area Tasks. I actually saw this happen often at Perry this spring.



In an Assigned Task trailers can only cut out a maximum of 2 miles to catch back up to the gaggle. Furthermore the leaders can (if they wish) simply turn early and eliminate the chance of trailers catching back up to them. They are only giving up 2 miles of distance.



Speaking of this, we should remove area concept from Assigned Tasks "Area's." Assigned Tasks should be about pure speed around a simple set track. AT's should not involve the ticky, tacky practice of deciding whether or not to add 2 miles of extra distance. That is a waste of time and defeats the purpose of a pure race. It also reintroduces the need for complex scoring programs and waiting around for hours to see your score. Assigned Tasks are desirable because they are simple, pure races around a set track. You only decision should be ensuring that you are inside the turn area. Assigned Tasks need not be complex in any way. In addition, gaggles would break up even more than they do naturally.



TURN AREA TASKS ARE MORE A GAME OF CHANCE (LUCK): In general, the whole reason Turn Area Tasks were introduced was to reduce landouts in classes with broad handicap ranges, broad skill ranges and when difficult or unpredictable weather conditions (chance of thunderstorms, etc) were present. The Turn Area task is, by definition, a compromise and a softening of the difficulty of the Assigned Task. For example, in a Turn Area Task, there is rarely any requirement for the pilot to achieve any particular point that may be less than perfect. TAT people will complain, "what if that Assigned Turn doesn't look good?" "What if the perfect cumulus cloud is not gleaming above the Assigned Turn?" They say, "I don't want to be forced to go somewhere I don't want to go..." Turn Area Tasks are fundamentally less challenging than having to fly to a particular point and solve the puzzle if the conditions are not ideal! Pilots who never fly Assigned Tasks never learn to handle these situations.



Wide radius Turn Area Tasks provide pilots a tremendous amount of choice and freedom. TAT competitors enjoy the ability to constantly take vastly different routes. In a 20 mile radius Turn Area for example, two pilots can easily be 30+ miles in terms of where they finally choose to turn. Both pilots might have been equally good at reading the clouds as they chose their path. But once they get there you are relying on your guess being better than theirs. That is not the high quality experience, especially when the conditions are good. Turn Area Tasks become a weather guessing game. Weather by definition is far from an exact science (especially on a micro scale). Choosing the best path in a Turn Area Task is often a guess and sometimes a crapshoot, let's be honest.



THE IMPORTANCE OF TIME MANAGEMENT AND EXPENSIVE, COMPLEX GLIDE COMPUTERS IN TURN AREA TASKS: Unlike an Assigned Task which has no time limit, Turn Area Task (and MODIFIED Assigned Area Tasks!) are almost completely focused on the pilots ability to effectively managing minimum time (or in the case of the Modified Assigned Area Task, to manage the complex process of adding on additional turn points AND manage time). Accurately estimating this "time decision" and returning to the finish efficiently during and Turn Area Task is extremely difficult thing to do consistently well and therefore a massive variable. A mistake in this KEY decision (and frankly the decision of where to turn in all the wide Turn Area's) can make or break your score for that day even if you flew perfectly up until that moment. Turn Area Task always result in pilots essentially "guessing" when to turn in each Turn Area. The last turn area and that all-important decision on when to turn back for home is usually many miles away. Most pilots therefore compromise and aim to finish 10-15 minutes over (a huge loss in average speed). That is unless you spend 5k on a top of the line glide computer!



This time estimation problem with Turn Area Tasks resulted in greatly increased reliance on expensive, complex glide computers (often the single most expensive item in the glider (around $5000 USD). The Glide Computer market has become a source of great competition among the various instrument manufacturers as they develop better features, brighter screens, better software, etc. It is a clear competitive advantage to own (and have the time to master) an expensive full featured Glide Computer when time based Turn Area Task contests are almost exclusive these days! A reliance on complex glider computers is an obstacle to new pilots becoming competitive.



I could go on and on...but I will stop here for now.



Sean

Sean, well written...

On Thursday, July 24, 2014 9:41:42 AM UTC-7, Sean Fidler wrote:
Hank I deleted my post to fix spelling errors. Below is the post fixed as best I could. Basically the same as you responded too. Thanks by the way!



I fully understand that in our reality (less pilots, not wanting to land out, etc) that TATs are here to stay. I'm just arguing for us to try harder and to do a bit more AT's at Nationals (and clean them up). Everybody wants to have fun and I get it. I know I am a little radical at times. But I think there is a case to consider stepping them up a little but more. I think it will help us all grow together a bit more as glider pilots!



Sincerely,



Sean

Sean and I have discussed this before.

I enjoy AT's (and long MAT's, for that MATter) because you are closer to your competitors for much of the course - and the broad deployment of Flarm enhances that sensation. Under most circumstances I find AT's test a very different set of skills that the pilot-option task formats. I left glider racing to raise a family right before GPS tasking was introduced and came back after it was established. I was amazed at the broader set of skills that were put to the test when the pilot was given more latitude to choose his/her own path to maximize the conditions.

I find AT's depend very much on the cat and mouse game of "use markers/lose leeches" or "start gate roulette". This can sometimes result in strategies that gain advantage by being willing to push lower and farther to get the big climb when other pilots chicken out. AAT's (or TAT's) depend much more on your ability to read the conditions and pick a path with the most energy.. MAT's with lots of turn options have this in spades - I have kicked a$$ and gotten my a$$ kicked by outsmarting or being outsmarted by pilots who know how to figure out clouds, terrain, weather forecasts, how heating affects lift conditions 20 minutes from now when the Cirrus blows past, haze domes, the math of course deviations, the math of upwind/downwind/crosswind legs, the list goes on and on. Much less of that is available when the penalty for deviating from straight down the course line is as high as it is on an AT. I know I have a different view from many. For me soaring is a game of rich analytical and pattern-recognition tradeoffs and strategy rather than head-faking, risk management and guts, but I see the appeal of both. The sucker/leech (or "cat/mouse" if you prefer) game-theory tactical part of the sport - especially with Flarm on board - is intriguing and I regularly see it on display with the more prescribed tasks. To be good at the sport you need to hone your skills in both, but I know which part I find more stimulating and offering more possibility.

It's also true that each task type yields a different racing experience depending on terrain and conditions. Pure flatland soaring with no terrain or ground surface variation and no clouds makes the choices of an AAT or MAT less clear so you may as well prescribe the turns and use gliders and the lift indicators, there's less richness in being able to read the conditions - or gain some advantage from them. On the other hand, on a mountain day with cu and thunderstorms and convergence and ridges, it seems a bit of a pity not to let the pilots get creative in optimizing for the conditions. My most thrilling flights have always been where I got to figure out what was going on with conditions and make a play to make something big out of it.

I disagree that computers are expensive only because of managing finish time. With assigned tasks making a long dead glide out into a turn point with no lift around it and back to the lift is no less taxing for a computer to figure out then "when am I going to finish" - plus the value of being right on time is a bit overblown. I've made speed on the field by extending the flight by significant time/distance under the right conditions (oh, that's another thing I like that you don't get in AT's).

I know - I think too much.

:-)

9B

About the time they started to do away with assigned task is about the time I dropped out of competition soaring. Sure I tried a couple of contest with the newer task structure but it wasn't really a race IMHO, more like a social gathering and data analysis. I found yacht racing more gratifying since everyone was on the same race course, dealing with essentially the same weather. Sure you'll have your leeches and gaggles with assigned task but the purpose of a national contest is to select a team for the worlds. In the old days, the top 10(category 1 pilots)would vote for who they thought would best represent the US and the leeches would never make the team anyway.

Barry

On Thursday, July 24, 2014 2:36:55 PM UTC-4, wrote:
About the time they started to do away with assigned task is about the time I dropped out of competition soaring. Sure I tried a couple of contest with the newer task structure but it wasn't really a race IMHO, more like a social gathering and data analysis. I found yacht racing more gratifying since everyone was on the same race course, dealing with essentially the same weather. Sure you'll have your leeches and gaggles with assigned task but the purpose of a national contest is to select a team for the worlds. In the old days, the top 10(category 1 pilots)would vote for who they thought would best represent the US and the leeches would never make the team anyway.

Sounds like you were competing a good while ago.
Maybe you remember the nationals won by a pilot that never had to find a thermal for the whole contest.
The ultimate execution of tactical AT flying.
UH

On Wednesday, July 23, 2014 2:09:49 PM UTC-6, Sean Fidler wrote:
http://www.ssa.org/Contests?cid=2248...lass+Nationals



I am really happy to see this! Its of course a very strong day down there (finally). I would be interested in hearing everybody's feedback as to how they liked the Assigned task today vs. the more typical Turn Area Tasks.



Maybe the CD even put a time limit on the start cylinder (say 15 minutes)!



Just kiddin ;-)



Sean

No 9B, you don't think to much. Flarm, with viewers, which clearly show location and climb rate of others, are what some are pounding their chest over BUT saying so in a different language. AT's and long MAT's now favor this new high tech junkie who's trying to leech/gain an unfair advantage over the other entrants who don't/choose not to display this new electronic knowledge.

I have written evidence of how one entrant actually states he use's Flarm as a tactical advantage over his fellow competitors in choosing his race strategy on selected days.

The high cost of required computers is a needless rant, IMHO. Many, including myself, know and have been using Ipaq's, Oudies/V2's with software(some free) which is won with. The old folks who have won the Regionals/Nationals again this year...yes...hint....LOOK OUTSIDE AT THE CONDITIONS THEY ARE IN AND ARE GOING TO. They know the areas they race in as they have been racing their for many years! They continue to make the BEST choices! They race whats called and if they feel differently they address their advisors. Advisors do listen if you talk to them!

Yes, no gold stars are awarded for being on time with a TAT or MAT.

Here's hoping that the NAA and SSA will be requiring a new competition mode(not sealth) on Flarm which will stop all these high tech junkies using Flarm viewers at FAI,NAA,& SSA sanctioned contests.

All the contest's I have been to, the CD's, along with their advisors, are doing their best, to give the entrants a daily task which is RIGHT for the conditions THEY are seeing for that day. They consider ALL task's, but the conditions for that day warrants the use of the task they call to test ALL the entrants skills. To second guess what they are doing, well, anyone can do that, but its just not sane, IMHO.

This thought of contests being "fun" and lets "go dance in the tulips" is what I question, IMHO. Sure, social dinners are good, BUT why would any want to spend $2500 plus bucks to go play in the flowers and dance with "boy george" for god sake when they are at a.......... "RACE".

Best, #711.

On Wednesday, July 23, 2014 1:09:49 PM UTC-7, Sean Fidler wrote:
http://www.ssa.org/Contests?cid=2248...lass+Nationals



I am really happy to see this! Its of course a very strong day down there (finally). I would be interested in hearing everybody's feedback as to how they liked the Assigned task today vs. the more typical Turn Area Tasks.



Maybe the CD even put a time limit on the start cylinder (say 15 minutes)!



Just kiddin ;-)



Sean

I am also not a competition pilot, I'm barely even a pilot, so maybe this either a dumb idea or already available but is there a compromise of sorts. Can a CD create a course that consists of some assigned tasks, in a specific order AND a 'free period' of sorts that could the turn area types?