SSA OLC Region for Flight Claim

The region in the SSA-OLC is the SSA Region of the take-off site. This
is the way it is done in all other OLC countries, and since this is an
international contest, we need to be consistent with this in the US as
well. It only makes sense, since pilots must claim flights in the
country where they are made, so what SSA Region would foreign pilots
use?

The only possible exception would be where a club's membership is based
in one region, but their home airport happens to be just over the line,
technically in another region. As long as the majority of the pilots
flying from this airport agree with the region shift, we could consider
declaring that that airport is in the adjoining region. If you want
this to apply to your airport, send an email request to olc at ssa
dot org.

The OLC flight statistics can be broken down by SSA Region. For
example, if you click on "Champion" in the OLC-Classic line of the web
page header, you see results for all regions, but if you select a
region from the drop-down box, you will see the rankings for that
region only. This allows people to set up local rivalries, that
equalize the weather conditions somewhat. So it makes no sense for
someone flying in the Desert Southwest to claim flights in Region 1
(New England) just because they receive mail or vote there.
Unfortunately, if you do select Region 1, you will see the results are
polluted by a number of pilots who did not bother to select the correct
region on their claim.

There is no need to talk of disqualification for now. It is just as
easy for the admin to change the region as it is to remove the flight.
So for now, we can just make the corrections if people are interested
in regional statistics, and they are seeing flights that should not be
there. Send email requests to olc at ssa dot org for this as well
(but let's prioritize this to just address the top few places only).
There is no need to burden the OLC Team with partner check requests, we
can administer US pilots locally.

Although there is no specific mention of takeoff region in the OLC
rules, just to make it explicit, the English version of the OLC web
claim form now shows "Take-off Region" next to the drop down menu.
Unfortunately flight analysis software will not show this in the
built-in menu.

The intention was to make this automatic, but because there were
problems with the airfield selection by the server early in the season,
this function was disabled by OLC. So there is no automatic check on
takeoff site right now. Also the current airfield database does not
have all the correct regions entered for every airfield. We are working
on improving this for 2007, but cannot promise anything yet (the OLC is
an all volunteer effort).

The SSA regions are based on state boundaries, and the state
abbreviations are included in the drop down selections to make
selecting the correct region easier. There are four states that are
divided as follows:

- CA is divided by the 36th parallel into Region 11 (north) and Region
12 (south)
- New York is divided by the 42nd parallel into Region 2 (south) and
Region 3 (north)
- Pennsylvania is divided by the 78th meridian into Region 2 (east) and
Region 3 (west)
- Missouri is divided by the 92nd meridian into Region 7 (east) and
Region 10 (west)

So please select the correct region of your takeoff site in your claims
so people can get correct regional results from the OLC.

Doug Haluza
SSA-OLC Admin

Jack wrote:
Several SSA OLC competitors in the recent Region 6 South contest at
Caesar Creek OH appear to have entered their flights in their respective
home regions (other than Region 6), even though no point on the flight
tracks lies outside of Region 6. There are other instances where pilots
have listed their flights in a different region than both the region in
which the flight was flown and their home club region. Usually this is
an adjacent region, indicating perhaps too little care with the
pull-down menu choices.

One may correct an entry made no more than four weeks ago. Instructions
he

http://tinyurl.com/r2lcb


Objections ("complaints" or "partner-checks") to uncorrected entries can
be lodged he

http://tinyurl.com/qqqsv


Anonymous complaints will not be processed.



Jack

The region in the SSA-OLC is the SSA Region of the take-off site. This
is the way it is done in all other OLC countries, and since this is an
international contest, we need to be consistent with this in the US as
well. It only makes sense, since pilots must claim flights in the
country where they are made, so what SSA Region would foreign pilots
use?

The only possible exception would be where a club's membership is based
in one region, but their home airport happens to be just over the line,
technically in another region. As long as the majority of the pilots
flying from this airport agree with the region shift, we could consider
declaring that that airport is in the adjoining region. If you want
this to apply to your airport, send an email request to olc at ssa
dot org.

The OLC flight statistics can be broken down by SSA Region. For
example, if you click on "Champion" in the OLC-Classic line of the web
page header, you see results for all regions, but if you select a
region from the drop-down box, you will see the rankings for that
region only. This allows people to set up local rivalries, that
equalize the weather conditions somewhat. So it makes no sense for
someone flying in the Desert Southwest to claim flights in Region 1
(New England) just because they receive mail or vote there.
Unfortunately, if you do select Region 1, you will see the results are
polluted by a number of pilots who did not bother to select the correct
region on their claim.

There is no need to talk of disqualification for now. It is just as
easy for the admin to change the region as it is to remove the flight.
So for now, we can just make the corrections if people are interested
in regional statistics, and they are seeing flights that should not be
there. Send email requests to olc at ssa dot org for this as well
(but let's prioritize this to just address the top few places only).
There is no need to burden the OLC Team with partner check requests, we
can administer US pilots locally.

Although there is no specific mention of takeoff region in the OLC
rules, just to make it explicit, the English version of the OLC web
claim form now shows "Take-off Region" next to the drop down menu.
Unfortunately flight analysis software will not show this in the
built-in menu.

The intention was to make this automatic, but because there were
problems with the airfield selection by the server early in the season,
this function was disabled by OLC. So there is no automatic check on
takeoff site right now. Also the current airfield database does not
have all the correct regions entered for every airfield. We are working
on improving this for 2007, but cannot promise anything yet (the OLC is
an all volunteer effort).

The SSA regions are based on state boundaries, and the state
abbreviations are included in the drop down selections to make
selecting the correct region easier. There are four states that are
divided as follows:

- CA is divided by the 36th parallel into Region 11 (north) and Region
12 (south)
- New York is divided by the 42nd parallel into Region 2 (south) and
Region 3 (north)
- Pennsylvania is divided by the 78th meridian into Region 2 (east) and
Region 3 (west)
- Missouri is divided by the 92nd meridian into Region 7 (east) and
Region 10 (west)

So please select the correct region of your takeoff site in your claims
so people can get correct regional results from the OLC.

Doug Haluza
SSA-OLC Admin

Jack wrote:
Several SSA OLC competitors in the recent Region 6 South contest at
Caesar Creek OH appear to have entered their flights in their respective
home regions (other than Region 6), even though no point on the flight
tracks lies outside of Region 6. There are other instances where pilots
have listed their flights in a different region than both the region in
which the flight was flown and their home club region. Usually this is
an adjacent region, indicating perhaps too little care with the
pull-down menu choices.

One may correct an entry made no more than four weeks ago. Instructions
he

http://tinyurl.com/r2lcb


Objections ("complaints" or "partner-checks") to uncorrected entries can
be lodged he

http://tinyurl.com/qqqsv


Anonymous complaints will not be processed.



Jack

Doug Haluza wrote:

The OLC flight statistics can be broken down by SSA Region. For
example, if you click on "Champion" in the OLC-Classic line of the web
page header, you see results for all regions, but if you select a
region from the drop-down box, you will see the rankings for that
region only. This allows people to set up local rivalries, that
equalize the weather conditions somewhat. So it makes no sense for
someone flying in the Desert Southwest to claim flights in Region 1
(New England) just because they receive mail or vote there.
Unfortunately, if you do select Region 1, you will see the results are
polluted by a number of pilots who did not bother to select the correct
region on their claim.


"pilots who did not bother to select the correct region on their claim."
Doug, don't you think that statement is rather unfair to pilots who
are trying to do their best to make sense of the poorly written and
confusing OLC rules? I realize that the OLC is a volunteer effort, but
I don't see why the OLC seems to blame everyone but itself for its
deficiencies. The Cambridge logger problem, for example, was blamed on
Cambridge and SeeYou, rather than on the OLC ( which could have simply
set up its software to validate the CAI file, then itself converted to
an IGC file).

Greg Arnold wrote:
Doug Haluza wrote:
"pilots who did not bother to select the correct region on their claim."
Doug, don't you think that statement is rather unfair to pilots who
are trying to do their best to make sense of the poorly written and
confusing OLC rules? I realize that the OLC is a volunteer effort, but
I don't see why the OLC seems to blame everyone but itself for its
deficiencies. The Cambridge logger problem, for example, was blamed on
Cambridge and SeeYou, rather than on the OLC ( which could have simply
set up its software to validate the CAI file, then itself converted to
an IGC file).

No, my point was that Region 1 in particular has a number of flights
made by pilots who neither live, nor flew there. So it is not a matter
of confusion, where they didn't know what was the right thing to do,
they apparently did nothing, and let their claim go with the first
choice in the list.

When I claim a flight, I go directly to the OLC webpage,
since I don't have SeeYou or Stre Pla (not yet, anyway).

It is a bit cumbersome, but I get the flight posted.

The OLC webpage has a pickbox to select the region,
just as it has pickboxes to select the glider, the
glider type (glider or with engine) and starting location.

While a bit cumbersome, I've gotten used to it and
it seems easy enough. Especially for a FREE service!!!

I wonder, though, if the OLC team could automate the
start location?

To Doug and all on the OLC team, I say 'Thanks' for
a fun, FREE, way to see what and how other pilots are
doing.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA
(Still flying below stall speed. I don't want to
burn off the gel coat...)

At 16:30 03 July 2006, Greg Arnold wrote:
Doug Haluza wrote:

The OLC flight statistics can be broken down by SSA
Region. For
example, if you click on 'Champion' in the OLC-Classic
line of the web
page header, you see results for all regions, but
if you select a
region from the drop-down box, you will see the rankings
for that
region only. This allows people to set up local rivalries,
that
equalize the weather conditions somewhat. So it makes
no sense for
someone flying in the Desert Southwest to claim flights
in Region 1
(New England) just because they receive mail or vote
there.
Unfortunately, if you do select Region 1, you will
see the results are
polluted by a number of pilots who did not bother
to select the correct
region on their claim.


'pilots who did not bother to select the correct region
on their claim.'
Doug, don't you think that statement is rather unfair
to pilots who
are trying to do their best to make sense of the poorly
written and
confusing OLC rules? I realize that the OLC is a volunteer
effort, but
I don't see why the OLC seems to blame everyone but
itself for its
deficiencies. The Cambridge logger problem, for example,
was blamed on
Cambridge and SeeYou, rather than on the OLC ( which
could have simply
set up its software to validate the CAI file, then
itself converted to
an IGC file).

Doug Haluza wrote:
Greg Arnold wrote:
Doug Haluza wrote:
"pilots who did not bother to select the correct region on their claim."
Doug, don't you think that statement is rather unfair to pilots who
are trying to do their best to make sense of the poorly written and
confusing OLC rules? I realize that the OLC is a volunteer effort, but
I don't see why the OLC seems to blame everyone but itself for its
deficiencies. The Cambridge logger problem, for example, was blamed on
Cambridge and SeeYou, rather than on the OLC ( which could have simply
set up its software to validate the CAI file, then itself converted to
an IGC file).

No, my point was that Region 1 in particular has a number of flights
made by pilots who neither live, nor flew there. So it is not a matter
of confusion, where they didn't know what was the right thing to do,
they apparently did nothing, and let their claim go with the first
choice in the list.

Perhaps they didn't realize the Region value was being used for
anything? For example, I didn't think it was being used for anything,
and until Greg pointed it out, I didn't even know there was Region
selection on the SSA OLC page! I just entered Region 8, because that's
the region I'm in. I didn't have a clue that it was supposed to be the
region of the _takeoff_ airport, and how could I? It wasn't in the
rules, and people that don't follow RAS still won't know about it if
they use SeeYou, as I do, or don't notice the OLC wording change.

This is a like a rules change in mid-season, so maybe emails should be
sent to every competitor informing them of it, and the rules on the
websites should be amended to make it clear what the Region entry is
supposed to be.

Speaking as a pilot with 10 flights "mis-regioned" ...

--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

www.motorglider.org - Download "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane
Operation"

Start location *is* automated when you use Seeyou to claim. And likely
in other software, it does a lookup on lat/lon of takeoff point versus
a pre-approved list of takeoff points that country OLC admin people
submit.

Canada up until this year had a USA region (others are provincial) for
flights in FL, PA or CA or NV or whatever, to let easterners even out
the advantage of booming Rockies flights... then an easterner won the
contest using some USA flights so the westerners got the USA region
eliminated, or it was pure coincidence..... Yes, sour grapes..... I'm
an easterner.

A Canadian, or any nationality , will claim a USA flight to the USA
contest, and in the region flown. You always claim to the country where
the flight occured. And in the region for the takeoff point.

All contest results can be filtered on 'region'.

In Canada, the region 'contest' is really the important one, as the
best flights are always in the Rockies. So to win Canada, you MUST fly
out of Invermere or close by. This is a long drive and very expensive
from eastern Canada. So winning your province is much more of an
appropriate challenge. I would assume the USA regions have a similar
issue..

Anyway, it seems obvious that 'region' is where the flight took place.
But, that said, I guess anyone can get confused. My guess is they will
add a few words in the rules.

The OLC complaint process did seem to identify the issue.. claimed in
wrong region.

wrote:
snip
A Canadian, or any nationality , will claim a USA flight to the USA
contest, and in the region flown. You always claim to the country where
the flight occured. And in the region for the takeoff point.

All contest results can be filtered on 'region'.

In Canada, the region 'contest' is really the important one, as the
best flights are always in the Rockies. So to win Canada, you MUST fly
out of Invermere or close by. This is a long drive and very expensive
from eastern Canada. So winning your province is much more of an
appropriate challenge. I would assume the USA regions have a similar
issue..

Anyway, it seems obvious that 'region' is where the flight took place.
But, that said, I guess anyone can get confused. My guess is they will
add a few words in the rules.

The OLC complaint process did seem to identify the issue.. claimed in
wrong region.

Very well put. Thanks for the "outside perspective." Yes the situation
in the US is similar, but it is not so black-and-white. Still the
regions do level the field somewhat.

The SSA Region information is now up on the SSA-OLC Info page as well:

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olcphp/...olc-usa&spr=en

Doug Haluza wrote:


The SSA Region information is now up on the SSA-OLC Info page as well:

http://www.onlinecontest.org/olcphp/...olc-usa&spr=en

But it's still not in the rules, which is where most people will go to
find out what to do. Can't this be changed immediately?

I now know what to do, and so do others on RAS, but new competitors
won't, nor will those that are current competitors that don't read RAS.
The OLC (and I suppose the SSA) has email addresses for all USA
competitors, so would it be practical to send this information directly
to them? Or maybe it's just easier for the SSA to correct ths it
automatically?

I know I sound a bit testy, but I'm annoyed that people are annoyed that
pilots have been doing it wrong when there was no guidance for doing it
correctly. I conscientiously set "Region 8" with each submission because
that seemed the logical thing to do - it wasn't because I couldn't be
bothered to do it right.


--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

www.motorglider.org - Download "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane
Operation"

I corrected the biggest problems with wrong takeoff region claimed in
the US. The OLC-Classic leaders in each SSA Region are currently:

R1: Koepper, Mark, GBSC Boston
R2: Haluza, Doug, Ridge Soaring Irregulars
R3: Murphy, Sean, Harris Hill Soaring
R4: Higgins, Michael, M-ASA Mid-Atlantic Soaring Assn
R5: Schmelzer, Wolfgang, Kitty Hawk Airpark
R6: Lubon, John, Caesar Creek Soaring
R7: Hard, James, 126 Association
R8: Funston, Nelson, SGC Seattle Glider Council
R9: Feager, Tim, Albuquerque Soaring
R10: Johnson, Richard, Dallas Gliding Assoc
R11: Yanetz, Ramy, Hollister Gliding Club
R12: Gonzales, Dan, Hole in the Wall

Send requests for corrections by email to ssa at olc dot org

Doug Haluza
SSA-OLC Admin