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Splitting Contest by pilot skill



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 20th 17, 01:51 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Tony[_5_]
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Default Splitting Contest by pilot skill

I know the SSA Rules have allowed for a while the ability to split classes in a regional by pretty much any criteria. A few contests have split by glider type or handicap range. Have any split by pilot skill? If so how did they do the split? Volunteers? Pilot Ranking? Combination?

How does the GTA and Arizona guys split their contests?

What criteria would you use to split a contest?
  #2  
Old April 20th 17, 07:50 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
John Cochrane[_3_]
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Default Splitting Contest by pilot skill

One obvious answer is to do it by SSA ranking number. Or by "have you flown a national".

A better idea though might be to let the pilots do it on their own. Class A is designed for newer pilots, will feature easier and shorter tasks -- frequent 2.5 hour times, 150 mile distances, using sports class regional guidelines. Class B is designed for more experienced or ambitious pilots. It will feature harder and longer tasks -- frequent 3 or 4 hour tasks, as long as the day supports, longer distances, and nationals tasking guidelines. That plus social pressure should sort them out quickly.


John Cochrane
  #3  
Old April 21st 17, 03:15 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Papa3[_2_]
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Default Splitting Contest by pilot skill

Hi Tony,

I did that at Fairfield in 2015, and I think it worked out well. We called it "Gold" and "Silver". The suggested criteria as we worked through the registration list was a ranking of .88 and above for Gold. I think we ended up fairly close to that. Worked well as I recall. I generally called similar tasks, though I think I dialed it back on one day for Silver.

P3
  #4  
Old April 21st 17, 02:49 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
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Default Splitting Contest by pilot skill

For years the ASA had three classes. A, B and C. A tasks were designed for SSA contests practice and followed those rules. B was around 70% of A tasking and C kept new to contest flying pilots within glide of the home airport while getting them used to contest rules.

When you won or came close to winning B class for the year you were moved up to A the next and those at the bottom. Of A were given the choice to go down to B. C class was hardly used but did come in handy at times.
  #5  
Old April 21st 17, 05:51 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Tony[_5_]
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Default Splitting Contest by pilot skill

Thanks. My brainstorm was a thought about the couple low performance regional contests we've done. It's not unusual for a pilot to sometimes ask if we accept low performance pilots not just low performance gliders. Often this kind of a joking question but not always. The real goal in my mind is to try to get a bunch of gliders in the same class that all have semi close achieved speeds. This makes it more fun for the competitors in my opinion.

I was thinking of a formula that would consider glider handicap and pilot ability. Using the ranking list seemed like a natural way to judge pilot ability although that won't always be a sure bet.

We have usually used a 1.115 (Standard Austria SH-1) handicap as the cutoff for "Low Performance". I spit balled a formula that would allow anyone with 1.115 handicap or higher to participate and give the option for gliders as good as a Std Cirrus depending on ranking list. Formula i thought up is:

SSA Handicap - (Pilot Ranking *1.115/1000) = 1

So anyone up to National Champions can fly the "regular" low performance gliders. Higher performance than that it is a sliding scale until someone with a 0 ranking can compete in a Std. Cirrus.

I'd be interested to hear peoples thoughts on this type of formula for defining a Sport Class subset.

Of course, if the new guy in the Cirrus wanted to, they could always fly against the ASW-27's and other higher performance gliders in the rest of sports class.

 




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