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Tasks Changed: Commentary on Tasks (Added June 25, 2008)
2008-06-21 Think you're a decent
pilot? Here's a chance to show your stuff to the public while spending time
with other pilots who enjoy excellence. Even if you'd just
like to improve, this is your perfect opportunity. There's no need to
consider yourself top dog and, in fact, if past comps are any
indication, many recreational pilots are much better than they think.
This event is a qualifier for FAI's World Air Games in 2009. It's
also just a fun time to spend with fellow pilots and see what
competition is all about. Never competed? No sweat. If you can
consistently launch on the first try, land within 25 feet of a target
most times and have at least 25 flights, than you're qualified.
Thanks to Roy Beisswinger who is organizing the event. I (Jeff Goin)
plan on participating and will gladly help anyone whose interested in
improving. It's fun. I don't have anywhere to practice myself so use
techniques mentioned in the PPG Bible to improve/maintain skills. That
involves picking natural points on land that I fly to practice precision
turning. And you can practice spot landings anywhere.
Rules for this event are way different than any that have been flown
before.
Rules:
Download Rulebook
(PDF 180k, updated 7/7/2008).
Dates: July 25 - 27.
Location: Greenville, IL airport.
Pilot Qualifications: USPPA members will not have to pay any additional fees
over the registration price, such as the NAA sporting license and USUA membership.
Stay tuned for any changes in the registration requirements but you
should be able to sign up for what you need on Friday afternoon. There
will be a cutoff time, probably Friday, where new entrants cannot be
accepted.
Prizes: Fame and fortune. Would you expect anything less?
Babes will flock, the public will cheer and athletes from all
disciplines will say "cool." OK, back down to earth now, the prize will
be bragging rites and a cool plaque/trophy. Plus, you'll be scored with
other pilots worldwide. Many of those pilots are recreational flyers
like most of us so don't be intimidated.
Cost: $50 if you register early. Go to
USPPA to register.
Launch well, fly consistently and merely do the course properly, and
you'll probably be surprised at how well you do. Plus it's a great
opportunity to learn.
Commentary on The Tasks
A lot of people can fly steeply—this is about flying steeply and precisely. Actually, flying steeply
won't even mean much if it's not done precisely.
There are only three tasks and all require precision maneuvering with
clean takeoffs.
Note: The official rules are on FAI's website and, since documents can change, I suggest downloading
the originals if you decide to compete. This commentary hopes to clarify what will be
taking place July 25-27 in Greenville, IL and help pilots decide whether
to participate. Even for the casual competitor it will be a fun time.
It's as serious as you want to make it.
I (and others) will be offering suggestions to anyone who wants it during practice
and before the tasks are flown. We'll walk through the flight paths and
discuss strategy for getting the best score given various wind
conditions.
WAG
2009 Special Rules | FAI
Sporting Code Admin |
FAI Sporting
Section 10 (Paramotor)
Wanna give this thing a dry run? Wanna practice? Come to Greenville
on July 5 (Sat) where Roy will be setting up the tasks to make sure
everything will run according to plan. There's no cost and, in fact, you
don't even need to be registered. He's gonna be running a stopwatch and
seeing what issues arise. I'll publicize the results here afterwards if
weather allows the dry run.
Scoring
There must have been a desire to simplify the scoring since it's
nearly brainless. Everything is boiled down to a time in seconds that it
takes to complete each task. Penalties are applied in seconds against
your task times.
Leadership will determine penalties, always in seconds, for various
infractions such as being late for your designated time at the takeoff
area. These penalties will be briefed.
Points will count towards your standing in the USPPA competition. If
this is the only competition flown for the year (it is the only one
scheduled at present) then the winner will become the USPPA champion.
Points will be normalized to how the competition would be scored in the
USPPA system. That is, if there are 15 pilots, it will be worth 1000
points. The winner will be awarded 1000 points and everyone else will
get an appropriate percentage.
Takeoff
Be on time and don't blow it. A failed launch (false start) will
penalize you up to two minutes. So if you flew the task in 4 minutes
after blowing a launch, your time will be scored as 6 minutes. Ouch!
A takeoff is considered failed if the wing gets completely off the
ground then comes back down again, specifically within 10 seconds of the
wing first leaving the ground. So you can build a wall as long as some
wing fabric remains touching the ground.
You're not allowed to have help getting the wing laid out.
Landing
Landing must be on the pilot's feet with no ground contact of the
cage. You can go to one knee without penalty but touching ground with two knees or
the cage is disqualifying. The goal is to kick (touch) a soccer ball as
the first point of contact. Move the soccer ball before touching the
ground, and you're a bullseye.
It is the first point of contact that counts and there's no penalty
for running out the landing. In fact, the FAI precision landing is much
easier than the USPPA's because the pilot gets maximum points by merely
touching the ball first.
Unlike other FAI tasks, the landing score affects only time of the
task after which it is flown. So spot landing is nowhere near as
important as in events past. Too bad, that's my strong point! You're
penalized one second for every meter away from the spot.
Flying the Tasks
Hit the sticks with your feet or paramotor and don't hit the ground
or pylons. The verbiage, as best I can see, doesn't actually penalize
the pilot for touching a pylon but it could be inferred. Marshals will
have to clarify that one. I'd suggest a 15 second penalty for touching a
pylon with your body or paramotor but nothing if wing or lines touch
them. A well-flown turn will have the wing inside the pylon as the
pilot's body swings outside.
Don't fly over the crowds or violate any no-fly areas.
No maximum heights are mentioned but going high on any of these tasks
(except the required spot landing climb) will only hurt your score.
Equipment
A pleasant affect of the rules is that they really don't favor a
super fast wing. Yes, speed matters, but there aren't any straight lines
long enough to give great advantage to the fastest wings. Certainly,
with most of the tasks being timed, don't want to be lollygagging.
There is no efficiency task so big motors won't hurt, either. I'd say the
best equipment will be a maneuverable reflex-type wing being flown by a
sufficiently powerful motor to propel it through a sustained steep bank.
Comments
I've now flown all the tasks at a dry run and have
comments here.
I'll also welcome any comments you may have from your own experience. If you have
corrections or other thoughts on these tasks, please send them to
jeffgoin@earthlink.net. Put
"competition" in the subject so I know it's not spam.
Should be a lot of fun. Hope to see you there!
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