Newsgroups: rec.aviation

Here is a summary of current 15-M, Standard and Open class tasks.
The details get pretty gory, and are specified in the US competition
rules.

Speed Tasks:
	The competition director declares turnpoints which
	all pilots much reach in the specified order.  There are
	not really many limitations on the shape of the task,
	but it is "classically" triangular.  Pilots are scored
	based on their relative speed.  1000 points to the 
	fastest and other scores are a pure percentage based
	on the relative speed.  If a pilot lands out he will
	get points based on distance flown as a ratio of the
	total course length.  Usually maximum distance points
	are around 400, but are always less than the slowest
	pilot.  The maximum speed points can be "devalued"
	if the fastest pilot completes in less than a 
	specified amount of time, or if the number of finishers
	is relatively small.  Each pilot starts by flying
	through a gate at any time.

POST (Pilot Option Speed Task):
	The competition director specifies a MAXIMUM amount
	of time pilots are to fly.  Each pilot is awarded both
	speed and distance points.  The pilot who flys the
	furthest gets 400 points and the pilot who flys the
	fastest gets 600 points.  Other pilots points are
	calculated as ratios.  If you don't finish back
	at the airport you don't get speed points.  (Note that
	the winner for the day may not get 1000 points.) I
	don't think there is any devaluing of the speed points
	for small number of finishers.  Pilots get penalty points
	(via a complex formula) for exceeding the time limit.
	Interpretation of this formula has caused many protests
	and has led to less use of this task.  Currently pilots
	are limited to 11 turnpoints.  Repeating a leg (out and
	return) is not allowed except at the start and finish.
	Repetitive triangles, etc., are OK.  Usually, a minimum
	distance is declared for the first leg (the CD throws
	out close in turnpoints) and all turnpoints must be
	within 90 sm of the start (sometimes exceptions are made).
	Originally this task had only a "racehorse start."  All
	pilots started at the same time.  Recently the speed
	gate is also (and more frequently) used where the pilot
	can chose when to leave.
	
Speed-only-POST:
	The competition director specifies a MINIMUM amount of
	time pilots are to fly.  Turnpoint selection rules are the
	same as for the POST task.  Speed is calculated based on
	the distance flown divided by the pilots time OR the minimum
	time, whichever is greater.  The winner gets 1000 points.
	If a pilot lands out he gets distance points, with the 
	maximum ~400, but it is computed based on the number of
	finishers, furthest distance of a finisher, etc.  In this
	case it is possible for distance points to be greater than
	the "slowest" finisher's speed points.  The penalty for 
	finishing early is that your speed is calculated based on 
	the minimum time. The speed gate is used for starting in
	this task.

At the 15-Meter Nationals this year there were several penalties
for pilots making errors in "constructing" their POST task.  This
occurred all on one day.  Two pilots used a turnpoint which was
too far out.  Their points were based on "landing them out" at
their last valid turnpoint.  Needless to say they received very
few points.  The rest of the pilots declared tasks where one of
the legs crossed the Reno ARSA.  Legs of any task cannot go
through an ARSA.  The competition rules are **VERY**
specific on this point and it was explicitly covered in the
mandatory pilots meeting.  Nobody, had any excuses for not
understanding this.  Pilots were again scored based on "landing
them out" at their last legal turnpoint.  A few pilots received
0 points since their first leg was the one through the ARSA.

What was most supprising was that the top competition pilots
(i.e. US Team pilots) were among the worst offenders.  This is
not a new rule as we had to avoid the Midland/Odessa ARSA at
last years 15-M Nationals at Hobbs, NM.  I think the violation
of these rules indicates that the POST task may be loading pilots
to an unacceptable level during flight.

One task I didn't cover was the one used for Sports class events.
This is vaguely similar to the Speed-only POST but the competition
director declares a minimum scratch distance and each pilot has
to come up with their own minimum based on their sailplane's handicap.
I haven't flown a Sports class contest in a while so I'm not familiar
with the intricasies of this task.

Aland Adams
LS 6-b "AA"
Newsgroups: rec.aviation