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RULE MAKING
MINUTES - SSA RULES COMMITTEE MEETING
HOUSTON 11/07/98
Present: Karl Striedieck (KS), John Good (JG), Hank Nixon (HN), Rick Walters (RW), Ken Sorenson (KGS).
Note: Unless otherwise noted, all decisions are by consensus.
Schedule:
Jan 15 Blue Book cutoff
Dec 31 committee member responses due back to JG
Dec 15 JG to have draft completed
Officers & General Assignments:
No change in committee offices/responsibilities:
KS Chairman
KGS Secretary
RW Sports Class overall responsibility/contact, handicap list.
JG Rules Writer, has custody of the rules on disk.
JG to prepare a draft of the rules changes.
RW to prepare the rules change attachment/explanation.
"SRA" Poll
Poll questionnaire to be prepared more formally this year. Final questionnaire will be reviewed and "signed off" on by full RC before submission to SSA for mailing.
KGS to assemble poll questionnaire.
11/01/99 Rules Committee (RC) meeting – approx.
10/15/99 Postmark deadline for poll returns
09/15/99 Poll questionnaire sent out by SSA
09/07/99 Poll questionnaire sent to SSA by KGS.
08/22/99 Draft poll questionnaire sent by KGS to RC for comments.
08/15/99 Poll questions/topics submitted to KGS.
Minimum number of days for a valid Regional contest.
98 Poll results: 1 day 2%, 2 days 8%, 3 days 33%, add day at end 57%.
No change – 3 day minimum for contest.
By waiver a rain day can be used as follows. Rain day is an extra contest day at the end of the contest which is not used unless the 3 day minimum has not been met. Maximum contest length remains at 7 days, including the scheduled rain day. Contestants don't vote on whether to fly the rain day. Rain day must be announced ahead of time.
Discussion: Perhaps this can be tried at Ceasar Creek this year. The provision for a rain day was in the rules long ago and then dropped. We need to find out why it was dropped to learn what problems it created.
Nationals entry qualifications.
No change – special exceptions can be granted by waiver.
Discussion: Question was raised regarding loss of qualifications to fly in nationals with no previous national contest flown and no regional contest flown within the last three years (pilot was dropped from seeding list). This was thought to a special situation best handled on a case by case basis by waiver if appropriate.
Boundaries of the Central Region.
No change.
RW will contact Tim Welles (site selection committee chairman, Minner and Cundiff are committee members) to promote new sites.
RW to contact SSA regarding notification of the site selection process and dates in SOARING magazine and on the SSA web page.
Discussion: RW – FAI racers currently made up of 58 west, 21 central, 55 east. Should central zone be enlarged to balance the pilot populations? We don't have very many sites. No problem with the current W-C-E-C-W system, but it would be nice to have more sites to select from.
Number of contestants for valid Nationals.
New rule: A valid National Contest must have at least 5 contestants with a score of at least 40% of the winner's score. This will apply to all classes.
HN voted against this change and wanted at least 10 contestants with a score of at least 40% of the winner's score.
Discussion: There is presently no minimum number of contestants specified in the rules for a "valid" nationals. Recently added World Class and 18M class could have few contestants at a nationals. World Class had 7 at its 98 Nationals. In order for the contest to represent a fair test of skill and to determine a true champion, there should be some minimum number of contestants, but the number should be low in order to encourage the new classes. The relatively small number of 5 contestants for a valid nationals was intended to encourage participation in the new PW5 and 18M classes. This number may be increased as the classes mature.
Funding for World Championships.
The following proposal has been presented to the SSA BOD. We support this proposal.
The available funding is distributed to each world championship in proportion to the participation at US nationals for the classes at that championship. Participation is measured by counting the average number of contestants at the nationals with at least 40% of the winner's score. The average is computed for the two years preceding the worlds. The funds for any world championship are distributed equally to each US team pilot at that championship regardless of competition class.
Discussion: The number of US team pilots at the FAI World Championships is determined by the host organizations. This is currently two per class and is presently scheduled to be reduced to one per class over the next several competitions.
The PW5 organization in the US will determine how many pilots they will send to the PW5 worlds and how the funding for those pilots will be allocated.
Contest entry fees.
No change.
Discussion: There does not seem to be a problem. With the move to GPS scoring the film costs have dropped significantly. This has allowed organizers to make some profit on the contests, which is desirable as a means of encouraging the organizers to host future contests.
Number of contestants for a contest day to be official (Galloway).
No change.
Discussion: Ray Galloway suggested that the rule 11.1-c be changed to require at least 50% of the constants to receive a scored distance of greater than zero in order for a contest day to count. This would have the effect that if 50% of competitors felt the task was undoable or didn't want to fly they could return to contest site or not launch and cause the day to be canceled. This could be done even after the task was opened. This situation was thought by the RC to be undesirable in that those willing to attempt the task should have scoring priority over those who do not attempt the task, especially after the gate is opened and some competitors have committed to the attempt. A pilot always has the choice to go or not based upon his/her judgment of conditions and skills.
Switch to nautical miles.
No change.
Discussion: No problem as is using statute miles. No reason to change.
Advisor selection to prevent bias.
No change.
JG to include in CD guide the recommendation that task advisors not be in contention to win and able to use their task advice to their competitive advantage.
Discussion: MD raised question of possible conflict of interest by an advisor in contention to win being biased on task advice, particularly at the end of the contest, e.g. cancel the last day when advisor is in the lead. This is better dealt with in the CD guide than in the rules.
Safety briefing and mentoring.
No change.
JG to review CD guide to add or increase emphasis on safety briefings and mentoring.
Discussion: Everyone agrees these are good ideas. Adding emphasis in the CD guide is probably the best way to promote them further. No rules change is required.
Eliminate photoboard.
Change rules to drop the photoboard requirement and make it optional. The alternative photo procedure will be to require a photo of the task sheet (taken close enough to be readable) taken through the canopy, so that the wing and contest site is visible in the background. No canopy mark required. Apply to regionals and nationals in 99.
Discussion: With the shift to FRs not many cameras are being used for primary documentation. The photoboard has always been a hassle. Security will be sufficient if a photo is taken before each day of the task sheet. The pilot can do this on his/her own. This simplifies things for both the pilots and organizers. The organizers can continue to use a photoboard if they choose.
Allow tail ballast in no-water contests
Rules change to allow up to 10 lb of water ballast in the tail to accommodate CG requirements. The weight/configuration can not change during the contest. The water is not to be dumped.
Discussion: It may be much easier for some gliders to add tail ballast for CG adjustment before the contest rather than a fixed weight such as lead. This will be allowed, but the weight should be treated as non-disposable – i.e. put it in and leave it for the entire contest. No specific penalty was assigned for dumping the ballast, but it could be treated as unsportsmanlike conduct.
Allow winglet replacement if damaged.
Rules change to allow a one time replacement of the winglets due to accidental damage. The winglets could be replaced with the non-winglet wingtip. HN and RW voted against making this change.
Discussion: Many gliders currently are equipped with both "normal" wingtips and winglets. If a winglet is damaged and unusable it seems reasonable to allow the replacement of the winglets with the available wingtip in order to allow continued participation in the contest. The change can only be made once – pilot cannot then repair the winglet and start using winglets again later in the contest. The pilot would be subject to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty if the winglet replacement was contrived for some competitive advantage.
Minimum tow ship to glider ratio.
No change.
Discussion: The total launch time is more important than this ratio. With the right tow planes (like the turbine bird-dog at Uvalde) fewer towplanes are required. The only contest site where this has been a recent problem is Uvalde where there have been an unusually large number of competitors. Rather than creating a general rule or sanction requirement, a better approach is to work with the contest organizers (Mark and Kerry at Uvalde) to ensure there are enough tow planes.
Total limit of entrants at multi-class nationals.
No change.
Discussion: This has only been a problem at Uvalde and will not come up again there until 2001. This is not a general problem which requires a rule change. The better solution is to talk to organizers to ensure that the total number of competitors doesn't have a significant negative impact on either class.
Turn direction at turnpoints.
No change.
Discussion: There has been some concern expressed about mixing of the camera users making left turns at turnpoints with the FR users who sometimes make right turns at turnpoints. Our understanding is that this has not been a significant problem. There is no clean way to require FR users to always turn left. It would require a more detailed inspection of all FR turnpoint records. How much of a left turn is required? This could be addressed to some degree with a "heads up" warning at the pilots meeting. JG to add mention of this in the CD guide?
Modified Assigned Task (MAT)
Rules changed to add this task to the FAI class task repertoire. The CD assigns the first several turnpoints (as for the AST) and the pilot selects his/her own turnpoints (as for the PST) once the assigned turnpoints are completed. The pilot can abandon the assigned turnpoints and come home for speed points at any time. Speed is calculated based upon actual turnpoints and time flown, with a minimum time assigned. Scored with the PST formulas. No limit to the number of turnpoints assigned. Apply to regionals for 1999.
JG to write up the task philosophy and procedures in the CD guide.
KGS to put on the 1999 Poll.
Discussion: This task has been call the "unabomber task" and the HAT (hybrid assigned task). It has been tried for the last two years at regionals and has been very well received by most pilots. It allows the task to start like an AST (to allow "traditional racing") and end like a PST (to allow greater pilot flexibility at the end of the day to get more pilots home). The option of breaking off the task at any time to come home should significantly increase completions and should help less experienced pilot avoid landouts. The assigned turnpoints should be located progressively closer to the home field as the task progresses with legs crossing near the home field.
PST number of turnpoints limited by CD to less than 11
Rule change to allow the CD to limit the total number of turnpoints to less than 11.
Discussion: By allowing less than 11 turnpoints pilots would be forced away from close in tasks and running around in small areas.
PST max number of turnpoints increased beyond 11
No change.
Discussion: 11 turnpoints is plenty. Allowing more would only encourage more bouncing around in a small area, which is not particularly desirable. Additional workload for scorer and turn evaluator is not desirable.
Task at end of regionals when official contest not possible
No rule change.
JG to include in the CD guide an encouragement to call tasks at the end of the contest even if an official contest is not possible due to previous lost days.
Discussion: The situation has occurred when the early part of a contest has been weathered out and then no tasks were assigned on the remaining good weather day(s) because there were not enough days left to get in an official contest. Pilots should be encouraged to race on the remaining day(s) if the weather is good "just for the fun of it". That is why we do this isn't it?
Fixed ratio of PST to AST tasks.
No change.
Discussion: The various type tasks are all available for use by the CD, but none are mandatory, nor is a fixed ratio of task types desirable. The CD should have the flexibility to call the type tasks best suited to the terrain, the weather, the pilots and the competition. CDs will be encouraged to challenge pilots with a variety of tasks – JG to add to CD guide.
Single point PST.
No change:
Discussion: It was suggested that the PST allow for a single turnpoint far far away. This seems to be too specialized a situation. There has been no broad support for such a task.
Restricted airspace.
Rule change to include "Restricted" airspace in 10.3.1(e) as prohibited airspace along with class B and C.
Discussion: Restricted airspace was left off the list of prohibited airspace due to an oversight.
Sports class purpose.
No rule change, but the stated purpose of the class will be modified to indicate that the sport class regional contests are primarily for novice pilots and sport class national contests are primarily a handicapped glider competition.
Discussion:
The sports class serves a dual purpose – a means for novice pilots to compete and a means for pilots of all skill levels to race in various performance gliders on a handicapped basis. This dual nature has created some difficulties with complaints from lower skill level pilots who were concerned about being "obliterated" on the score sheet by more seasoned competitors. With the introduction of the "club class" ( a restricted handicap range sports class – 0.98 to 1.15 handicap, i.e. LS4 and Libelle performance gliders) to international competition, seasoned competitors will likely be drawn in even greater numbers to the sports class nationals. In recognition of the current trends and the dual nature of the class, the emphasis at Sports regionals will be to provide a competition for less skilled pilots and the emphasis at the Sports nationals will be to provide handicapped competition for gliders of various performance. More highly skilled pilots at regionals will be encouraged to enter the FAI classes if practical with their glider.
We need to continue to support the very popular sports class as a means of bringing more pilots into competitions, and look at simplifying the rules. The introduction of a World Club Class championship (2001) brings with it the questions of how does the USA select its team, and
should pilots be required to qualify for the team by flying "club class" sailplanes in our Sports Class Nationals. Another issue is the fact that world club class rules and procedures are currently undefined. Should the USA take the lead in formulating club class? One option is to include a club class within our sports class nationals. The Club Class contests held in Europe (Junior Championships) used assigned tasks only, which are not compatible with our Sports Class tasking. The 1999 poll can address these issues.
Sports class seeding.
Rule change to increase sports regional seeding to 90 and nationals to 100.
Discussion: This reflects the new purposes of the Sports regionals and nationals. The regionals is seeded at slightly less than the FAI regionals (90 vs 92). The Sports nationals is seeded the same as FAI nationals.
Sports restricted to narrower performance range.
Prohibit newer ships in Sports class.
No change.
Discussion: Poll results said no change. The intent is to make the Sport class more inclusive not less so.
Handicapping Sports pilots based upon pilot seeding list.
Rules change to award medallions only to pilots ranked category 3 or lower at Sports regionals.
Discussion: Rather than trying to handicap pilots or prohibiting more skilled pilots from competing at Sports regionals, they will not awarded SSA medallions for their placing. This provides additional encouragement for newcomers and encourages the more skilled pilots to move to the FAI regionals. No medallions will be awarded to anyone at the Sports regionals with a seeding of 92 or above.
Sport Class US team selection
Team members will be selected through the Sports class nationals using the same procedure used to select FAI class team members. The international Club Class championships may be restricted to gliders within a certain handicap/performance range. It is anticipated that the US team selection for this class may eventually require that team positions be earned by flying in the US Sports Nationals in a glider of the same type as allowed in the Club Class world championships. Further discussion of this will be required next year as things develop in the Club Class.
Oversubscribed contests: entry priority by pepl (pilot seeding list) only?
No change.
CD discretion for Sports STI
Rules change to allow CD to adjust the STI multiplier from 1.5 downward as necessary to make use of close in turnpoints.
Discussion: The situation arises where the STI becomes unreasonable short for higher performance gliders if close in first turnpoints are allowed. This change allows the CD some discretion such that frequent starts are not required to maintain the STI.
Bug wipers in Sports Class
Rules change to ban bug wipers in Sports.
Discussion: This is consistent with the basic Sports philosophy of keeping costs down and keeping things simple.
Sports windicapping
No change.
Discussion: CH handicaps are based on 12 kt average wind. The concept of windicapping remains sound. There was a windicapping problem with Bobo's scoring program but this has been fixed. RW to get more input on windicapping at the upcoming PASCO meeting.
Sports handicaps
We are recommending that the burden of collating and publishing the sports class handicaps be transferred from Carl Herold to the SSA. Carl (and others)are encouraged to recommend handicap changes. The list will be published by the SSA to avoid confusion regarding which handicaps are current. The 1999 handicaps should be finalized in time for the blue book, to be published with the rules changes as part of the rules. A Sports Class subcommittee shall be formed to help review handicaps and rules. Possibly consisting of four volunteers, Steve Smith might be one good choice. With a Jan 15,99 deadline to have the 99 handicaps, we don't have time to form a subcommittee to review the 99 HC's. RW needs names of potential volunteers. The subcommittee can be responsible for sports class poll questions as well. A realistic goal is to have a subcommittee in place by the 99 convention. NOTE: Carl Herold welcomes this plan. RW, Herold, and Steve Smith to finalize 99 HC's by 1-15-99. RW to follow up on this.
Standard class 9 psf wingloading limit.
No change.
Put question on poll.
Discussion: This issue seems to have died. Pilots seem to be content to leave this as is. The question should be revisited to see if the thinking has changed. There may be a group of strong weather pilots who would favor no limit.
18M Class
The 18M class will be scored separately and tasked separately. They will not be combined on the score sheet with another class.
18M motor rules.
No change.
JG to write rules for "relights".
Discussion: If the motor is used they are landed for scoring at the last valid turnpoint.
Open/18M pairing for nationals
This current pairing is not permanent. Concern was expressed that this may be a poor pairing since it is more likely that a pilot would be interested in flying both 18M and open than Standard or 15M and open. At this point the pairing is determined more by the contest bids received.
Motorgliders integrated with opens
No change. Continue the waiver to allow motorgliders to fly with enabled motors in the open class.
Question the open pilots about this on the 1999 poll.
750k weight limit for Open class
No change.
Discussion: There can be a problem with a 2 place Open class motorglider (ASH25) being over 750k even without water ballast.
Guy Byars scoring program.
JG – The program works. It was not used much during 1998. Hope it will get more use in 1999. It needs a thorough test.
Simplified scoring system.
No change.
Discussion: A scoring system was suggested in which your score equals your placing. While simple, this has some serious drawbacks. There would be a large incremental benefit in pressing on one field beyond another competitor during landouts or in a small increase in speed. This would also tend to encourage everyone to try to leave last and then catch up – even worse than now.
Seamless transition from landouts to slow speeds on PST.
Change the formula to MSP = 400 + 667*F/C from MSP = 100 + 1000*F/C.
Discussion: Devaluation begins at 10% landouts.400 points for the slowest finisher. We changed the formula last year to begin devaluation at 10% but unintentionally created as jump in scores between the slowest finisher and the furthest landout. This changes corrects the problem.
Airport landout bonus
No change.
Put on 1999 poll.
Discussion: Not much feedback on this yet. We need more input.
Airport bonus for DNC
No.
Discussion: It was never the intent that a pilot would get the airport bonus for landing back at the home field on a DNC.
Claim airport bonus on landing card.
Rules clarification to require that the airport bonus must be explicitly claimed on the landing card. Can't leave it to the scorer to figure it out.
Turnpoint numbers on landing card.
Rules change (minor) to require turnpoint numbers on the landing card in addition to turnpoint names. If there is a conflict, the name is official.
Discussion: Having the numbers on the card makes the scorer's job much easier.
1997 PST devaluation for undertime finishers
We adopted a change in 1997 to count undertime finishers as landouts for devaluation purposes. 50% (or 75% -- not yet decided) of the finishers who were more than 15 minutes undertime would count as landouts. This never made it into the rules so we'll put it in now.
Discussion: Contestants coming in more than 15 minutes undertime likely reflect poor or unpredictable weather conditions, in which case there should be a devaluation due to the higher luck factor with bad weather.
Schedule for mandatory FR use in Standard and 15M classes
Open was mandatory for nationals beginning 1n 1998.
18M mandatory will be mandatory for nationals starting in 1999 when the class in introduced.
Standard and 15M mandatory in 2000 for nationals.
JG abstained from voting.
KS voted to stay on the present schedule for Standard and 15M (mandatory in 1999).
KGS, HN, RW voted to delay until 2000.
Include as a 1999 poll question.
Discussion: The majority felt that one more year was needed to build consensus support for this major change. This will allow more pilots to switch to FR on their own. This will allow one more year of experience with GPS starts in the smaller Open and 18M classes. Our sense was that the vast majority of nationals pilots support this move, but there was a feeling of being "rushed" on the present schedule.
FR mandatory in regionals
Tentatively schedule FR as mandatory for regionals in 2001 for all FAI classes.
Include as a 1999 poll question.
Discussion: More input is needed on this. This can be delayed if there is much resistance. We are still trying to formulate a means of allowing the inexpensive handheld GPS units with tracking. The problem remains the lack of pressure altitude for altitude limited GPS starts.
FR loaners
12 loaner/donors were offered on the 1998 poll.
GPS starts
Rules change. A single cylinder will be used. 5 mile radius for PST centered on/near the home field. For AST, several start cylinders, up to a 20 mile radius, centered with the home field within the cylinder several miles from the cylinder edge. Max height of cylinder set above cloudbase – between 4000 ft and 10000 ft, set by the CD. Spend 5 minutes below cylinder top before starting. If the flight trace results in possible multiple starts, the pilot, rather than the scorer, must select the start to be used for scoring. Must have a point recorded inside the cylinder. Must record a point at least once every 15 sec. Start time is interpolated between recorded points.
Discussion: The start used at Uvalde last summer was well received and worked well. This new start is very similar but simpler. Gaggling was not reduced. The larger cylinder may help some to reduce gaggling. The 5 mile cylinder at Uvalde typically had one or two thermals used as starting points. A scoring program has been written which will automatically capture start and finish times from the flight log.
FR altitude calibration
If the FR records both GPS and pressure altitude, no calibration is required since they can be checked against each other. If the FR does not record GPS altitude, then it must have been calibrated within the last year. This is only a consideration when FR are mandatory or FR are being used for altitude limit verification.
Non-altitude-recording FR (i.e. handhelds) allowed for turnpoint verification
Rule change to allow non-altitude-recording FRs for turnpoint verification. GPS starts require pressure (or gps) altitude recording.
Discussion: Garmin GPS III records 2048 pts, $280, moving map. Pilot must demonstrate to scorer before contest begins how the scorer can obtain the necessary information for turnpoint verification. Providing the flight record on a diskette is not sufficient, the FR must be brought to the scorer to verify the flight. This allows handheld gps units to be used as backups for the more expensive units rather than cameras.
STI for FR users
No change.
Discussion: As long as cameras are being used by some pilots, fairness requires that FR users return to the home field for the STI maintenance along with the camera users.
Secure FRs for US team scoring
No change.
Discussion: Current rules require IGC approved secure FRs for US team scoring. The RC is considering relaxing this requirement to allow non-IGC-approved FRs that meet the following 3 requirements: 1) mass manufactured (no home built units), 2) self contained (EW would not be allowed, GPS must be hardwired to the recorder in a self-contained unit), and 3) secure file transfer. We think this would allow the new ILEC unit. The RC needs more input on this and will request same from Dave Nadler and others. For now the requirement that the FR be IGC approved/secure remains in effect. It is reasonable to require the same level of security for making the US team as for use on a FAI badge flight. Not many competitors are really affected by this and those affected probably already own secure FRs.
Disallowed legs
No change.
Discussion: RC considered replacing the requirement that task legs not cross restricted/B/C airspace with the requirement that the flight path not cross such airspace, as determined by review of a FR log. It was decided that this needed further development. The flight log evaluation software needs to know where the restricted/B/C airspace is. This will be discussed again next year.
Liberalize the "mix and match" rules for problem flight logs
15 minute gap allowed. Allow combining logs from two recorders or one recorder and one camera to construct a valid flight log if the primary recorder has a problem at the CD's discretion. The CD must review the flight logs to ensure that there is no attempt by the pilot to cheat by creating a combined flight log which doesn't accurately show the actual flight. The first time in a contest that the FR problem necessitating the mix/match occurs there is no point penalty. Each time it occurs after the first time there will be a 50 pt penalty.
Discussion: FR problems do sometimes occur. It is difficult to write a rule which allows cameras or a second incomplete flight log to be used to document a flight where no single complete flight log exists and still adequately protect against cheating. In most cases, the CD's review of the problem log and the camera or FR backup, together with the turnpoint sequence and task layout, will allow a determination as to whether the flight documentation is adequate. The CD should have the discretion to make such a determination in such special cases. A 50 point penalty will be imposed when this happens a second, third, etc. time in order to discourage continued use of a problem FR without fixing the problem.
Pilot access to competitors flight logs
No change. The rules already allow such a review. Competition Directors Guide should suggest a means of providing easy access to all flight logs.
Rules Committee page on the SSA website.
Good idea. HN to follow up on this.
RC members selected on a regional basis
This is not really for the RC to decide. This would be decided by the SSA BOD. The rules issues do not seem to be regional in nature such that regional representation is required.
Require timely daily postings of contest scores
JG to address this in the application for contest sanction.
Financial reports from contests
Organizer should send to SSA for web posting rather than snail-mailing. Non-wired contestants who wanted hard copy could request from SSA. This electronic posting might speed the financial reporting.
SRA scales
RC supports paying a custodian up to $1000/yr to transport and calibrate the scales. SRA poll results supported this, although there were many strong negatives in handwritten notes. KS will talk to Charlie Minner (one possible custodian) to discuss the details of how this could be done.
US team selection and funding
No change.
Discussion: The effect of the planned change to single pilot classes was discussed. It was decided to leave the selection process and schedule unchanged. This will allow the single team pilot to be selected two years in advance of the worlds to allow attendance at the pre-worlds. Note that the team pilot will now be selected only every other year in classes restricted to one pilot per class.
Rescore world scores for US team pilots per Jacobs suggestion
No change.
Discussion: After much discussion it was decided that the effects would be small and the process difficult in the future due to the likely inclusion at the worlds of PST-like tasks. If all the worlds tasks remain as speed tasks the rescoring could be done without much difficulty. If different type tasks are added, the ability to rescore fairly becomes questionable.
Permit pre-worlds score to be used in US team selection
No change. This is already allowed.
Category ranking system
A proposal for this has already been presented to the SSA BOD by Jim Payne. This is not really a RC matter, but we concur in recommending that a category ranking be re-instituted. This will give upcoming pilots a simple means of being recognized for their contest performance and may help to increase contest participation.
Master of Racing title
No. This is not really a RC matter, but we don't support instituting such a title. Everyone knows who the "masters" are.
Better definition of multiplace and team entries.
JG has already clarified this in the rules. No discussion.
Sam Fly list
All his suggestions have been discussed.
GPS finish
Use GPS to determine the finish time when crossing the finish line by creating a GPS finish line in the scoring program. Otherwise no change. There seems to be widespread support for traditional contest finishes, both among pilots, crew and organizers.
GPS start time call in
No change.
Discussion: Adding this as a formal requirement with an associated penalty seems unnecessary. CD guide will be used to strongly encourage pilots to call in their times.
1999 Poll Questions
PST
Rain day for regionals
Minimum number of competitors for National championship
Modified Assigned Task
Club Class world team members must earn team spot in club class glider
Standard Class 9 psf wingloading limit
Motorgliders allowed in Open class.
Airport landing bonus.
FR mandatory in Nationals: for TP verification?, for GPS start?
FR mandatory in regionals: for TP verification?, for GPS start?
Survey for number of internet users and rec.aviation.soaring subscribers.
END OF THE MINUTES