The 2005 Big Spring Open - Big Spring is Class A sanctioned by the USHGA. The USHGA rules governing competition apply except where local rules supersede.
The competition location is Big Spring Airport. The nearest town is Big Spring. The competition will take place McMahon/Wrinkle airfield. Meet Headquarters will be located on site.
Purpose |
Date |
Time |
Location |
| Pilot Check-in | August 6 | ALL DAY | Meet Headquarters |
| Welcome to Big Spring Dinner | 6:00pm | Meet Headquarters | |
| Pilot Meeting | August 6 | after dinner | Meet Headquarters – Mandatory |
Daily during contest 10:00am
Daily during contest 9:00 am
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
August 7-13
Aug. 13
*Times subject to change to produce optimum results
All entry fees must be paid before the first round of competition.
Pilots must pay their “competition week” tow fee in advance $195. This must be done upon check in.
Schedule, rule changes, etc. will be posted to the official notification board.
Pilots must meet the requirements of minimum “intermediate” rating; AT, TURB and XC signoffs are also required. Pilots needing to learn to aerotow before the contest must arrive a minimum of 3 days prior to the contest to get "checked out".
U.S. pilots must be full members of the USHGA for insurance purposes. International pilots may get a temporary membership. The appropriate membership forms will be available at meet headquarters during check in.
FAR 103 (U.S. Airspace Law/ Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Rule violations). All competitors are required to comply with FAR 103 at all times. Any verified infraction may result in a penalty for the associated day or possible ejection from the contest. Pilots are expected to familiarize themselves with all controlled airspaces in the vicinity of course lines.
It is illegal and un-sportsmanlike for competitors to fly into clouds. Competitors who fly into clouds will incur a penalty for the day. A competitor is deemed to have flown into a cloud if he/she is observed by a meet personnel or videotaped going into and disappearing into a cloud (as observed from the viewer), or appearing out the side of a cloud, or: If two pilot witnesses near the accused witness the accused going up into the cloud and disappearing from their view, and attest to this fact in writing and if information from the accused and a witness show the accused above the witness at the time of the incident. If the accused cannot produce a barograph trace for that day, only two witness statements are required. It is highly recommended for all competitors to fly with a recording barograph at all times. If a competitor does not have barograph recording capabilities – the pilot may ask organizers to provide an instrument for the pilot.
Pilots will follow generally accepted right of way rules and thermal/flying etiquette. During the period when the launch and start window is open, pilots within or before the start circle will make all thermalling turns in the direction announced daily. Thermal direction may alternate.
The 2005 Big Spring Open - Big Spring will score Class 1, Class 2 and Class 5 gliders. Separate scoring of these classes will occur.
Pilots may switch gliders within their class once the meet director approves the request.
Radios are not restricted by the competition. Pilots need to obtain a license for the radio that they are using and are responsible for any problems created by the their use of radios illegally. Pilots must use proper radio etiquette. The USHGA provides 151.925 for use in hang gliding competition; this is the official competition frequency. Pilots are not allowed to use VOX on the official competition frequency. Penalties apply. It is requested all pilots and drivers submit radio frequency and mobile telephone numbers at the time of registration. This information is confidential and will only be used for meet purposes. In an emergency situation this information may be distributed.
"Minimally Protective headgear" must be worn on the heads of all competitors during flight. Real true Salad bowls, hairspray and shoe strings are prohibited.
When carried, if jettisonable, ballast must be either water or dry sand and must be jettisoned over an unpopulated area where there is no danger to persons or property.
A reserve parachute is required. A readily accessible hook knife is strongly recommended.
Currently, Garmin models 38,40,45,12, 12CX12XL, 12map, II, II+, III, III+, 72 76, 76s, MAP 76 some models of eTrex are required for flight verification during the competition (MLR, Galileo, Top Navigator may be supported providing the pilot provides necessary hardware, software and knowledge to the scorekeeper.). The mapping datum is based on the WGS 84 Datum and the required format for reporting landing position is (i.e.) N 36 17.888 W 75 12.456. Official meet time is –5 UTC. Backup approved GPS receivers are permitted and recommended. Further information on GPS use and track log setup can be found in the GPS USE appendix in this rulebook. Any other equipment not specifically prohibited by the rules is permitted; however the Meet Director and/or Safety Director may prohibit the use of any equipment for safety or fairness reasons.
The Meet Director shall nominate a three-person task committee that shall be voted on by the pilots to serve as the task committee. The competitors may nominate other pilots to the 3-person committee. The task committee will be determined before the beginning of the competition. Meet director delegates to the Task Committee the responsibility to determine the task, launch window, start interval, start windows, start circle/turn point cylinder circle radius and GAP parameters. Task Committee will call a secondary task if required before the start.
The task committee may decide to call a secondary task depending on the weather forecast. If a secondary task is necessary, it will normally be presented with the primary task at the pilot meeting. That decision will be communicated to the pilots prior to any pilot starting the course.
All tasks will be cross-country races to goal, with or without turn points. The task committee will attempt to call tasks so that the estimated time of the fastest pilot will be between 2 and 6 hours. When possible, tasks will finish back at Start point at Big Spring Airport
See “Launch Addendum” attached to this rulebook
At the 2005 Big Spring Open - Big Springs, we will be using a start cylinder. This method allows pilots to start when they fly out of or into a predetermined size cylinder that is centered on the start point or first turn point. Multiple starts are permitted. The latest start gate time recorded during the start window will be used. Start times will generally be scored on 15-minute intervals. (Example: 3:19:33 will be scored as 3:15:00) and are applicable to the official start cylinder start times for the daily task.
Pilots may start at any time after the launch window opens, though only distance points will be rewarded if start begins before the first official start.
Pilots who land at the Big Spring Airport facility may make re-flights. Re-flights are allowed only during the time the launch window is open.
While flying the pilot's GPS must cross over the virtual goal line or goal circle. GPS goal crossing times, as determined by verification and scoring software will be used to determine time of crossing. It is recommended to hit a mark/enter after crossing past goal. In some cases – goal time may be determined by goal official (this may be used in cases of close finishes between pilots less than 500 agl).
All pilots not completing the task may mark his/her landing point as a waypoint with their GPS receiver(s), and then should TURN OFF THE GPS. Failure to do this may result in improper scoring and slow downs.
Competitors should report back by 7:00pm on a daily basis. Final scoring cannot be completed until a performance is determined for all competitors. Pilots are allowed to call into the official listed phone numbers posted to let us know your ok, ONLY if there is a legitimate problem with returning to headquarters in a timely fashion.. Pilots must submit their GPS receivers for downloading when they report back. All pilots must have GPS track log verifying that each of the required portions of the task was achieved (except as seen below). Landing position, either at goal or landing short may be supported by a track log or by a mark/enter. Goal crew (when present) may verify goal landings (but not time) and landings short of goal must be supported by landing coordinates or track log.
A pilot may use multiple GPS's for verification and backup and may submit multiple track-logs to the scorer. The evidence will be chosen so that the pilot's best possible score, from all correctly obtained data, will be taken for flight verification.
1. Pilots may submit evidence for a flight using data from two (or more) GPS units, each covering part of the flight as long as the Competition Director is satisfied that the data is genuine.
IGC Standard Equipment. Competitors who wish to use IGC standard equipment are welcome to so, provided the competitor provides all necessary hardware and software, and all IGC standards are properly followed.
1. Pilots may be required to register the make, model and serial number of all GPS devices that they intend to use during the competition with the competition scorer. If the device a pilot registered is damaged during the competition the pilot may wish to use an alternative device. Alternative devices have to be registered prior to a pilot launching to fly a round for which the pilot hopes to use the device's track-log for verification.
2. The meet director may ensure that each pilot has a unique make, model and serial number combination (i.e. no pilots are sharing devices) and they or their assistants must check the device's make, model and serial number prior to every task verification. Any GPS submitted which does not match the lodged information will be rejected for verification.
1. Cylindrical sectors will be used in competition. The radius of the sectors will be publicized at the general briefing, and if this is to be changed during the competition, the new radius will be publicized at the pilot briefing prior to the task.
1. The pilot must provide an unambiguous track log that shows without doubt that the data was collected; by the pilot of the hang glider on the flight in question, of the declared turn point from the correct location in the correct sequence, between the takeoff and landing, with all relevant information being present on the track log.
2. The track log must show for any start, goal or turn point that is claimed for the flight, one of the following: a point within the sector, a pair of points or a point and a way-point not more than 60 seconds apart for which a straight line drawn from the first point to the second point passes through the allowable sector. Mark/enter of waypoints inside of cylinders is allowed if backed up by a supporting track log.
3. Where the point being claimed is a start point (and the task allows the pilot to choose their start time) and the track-log has 2 points either side of the start or goal line at most 60 seconds apart, then the start or end time is then interpolated from these points (constant speed being assumed). Otherwise a start time is taken from the last (in time) point within sector of the start point.
4. The goal time will be interpolated from the pair of track-log points prior to and after crossing the edge of sector gate (a constant speed is assumed), or from the extrapolation of a pair of points immediately prior to the goal, provided that the extrapolation crosses the goal line (a constant speed is assumed).
Start point and turn point coordinates may be named in any way the competition organizer deems appropriate. If any are named for nearby physical features, the coordinates and NOT the physical feature will define the turn point location. Goals will be based on the coordinates. Changes to turn point coordinates may be made or new turn points added at or prior to the task briefing.
1. The track-log must contain an average at least 1 point for every five minutes of on course flying time (points taken prior to the start and after goal are not counted). e.g. a 2-hour flight must contain at least 24 track-log points between the start (launch or start point) and goal or the end of the flight.
2. The verification software will confirm that all points used to verify the flight occurred at reasonable times (e.g. on the day in question, between the start of the task and the end of the task, and showing the correct chronology of start and turn points).
A pilot not landing in goal will be scored distance according to their best in-flight track log point or their landing point, whichever gives a better result. In either case, the timestamp of this point must be consistent with the flight being claimed and any "land by" times that may be in force.
The meet director has the discretion to reject any track-log, or part thereof; if she/he feels it does not show sufficient evidence that the claimed data is genuine.
If a task is stopped, the pilots will still be scored up to the point in time when the day was stopped. For those pilots not in goal at the task stop time, distance points will be awarded based on best in-flight track log point or landing point recorded prior to or at the stop time. No other means of flight verification will be accepted if the task is stopped. Pilots without a valid GPS track will be at a disadvantage.
1. If the launch is within the start sector, and a pilot fails to provide proper evidence of his start time, but there is sufficient evidence that a pilot launched during the launch window and did not start prior to the opening of the start window, then the pilot is awarded a start time equal to the start window open time. The pilots elapsed flight time is then moved so that it begins at the time of the first start time of the pilots in goal (so that the Departure Point system is not compromised). If the pilot's new (artificial) goal time is outside of the advertised goal closing time, the pilot is awarded goal distance only.
2. If a pilot cannot provide evidence that he launched and or started during the start time window, either by correctly obtained GPS evidence or by the records of the competition, then the pilot is awarded minimum distance for the round.
3. If a pilot fails to provide evidence of finish time when required, then, the pilot is awarded distance points only. If a "land by time" is in effect, any pilots still in the air at the land by time will be scored distance according to their best in-flight track log point prior to the land by time.
Pilot numbers used shall be above #10, with numbers 1 through 10 being reserved for use by those pilots in the top ten US NTSS-or excellent foreign pilots if the US # pilot is not in the comp. . Pilots in different classes may have the same numbers. A class identifier may be added to the number. Physical numbers are not required on gliders.
Performance measurement will be by GAP- utilizing the RACE scoring program. Great circle distances will be calculated to the nearest .01-mile from Lat/Long provided by the pilot. Flight distances will be in miles.
A penalty may be assessed or a competitor disqualified, for violation of any rule contained, announced or referred to in the rulebooks that pertain to this meet. The Meet Director at his discretion will assess penalties.
Before the first task, a protest committee, nominated by the Meet Director will be voted on by the pilots. All complaints must be in writing to the meet director. The meet director will attempt to rule on a complaint within 1 hour of receiving it. No fee is required for a complaint. All protests must be in writing accompanied by $25 cash protest fee. The protest committee will rule on the protest in timely fashion. If the protest is upheld, the $25 protest fee will be returned to the protesting pilot. If the protest fails, the protest fee will be donated to ClubDeBelinda (a social club hosted by Belinda Boulter (if she isn’t flipping burgers while living at home with her parent’s house in Palm Springs) at the 20055 Zapata- World Record Encampment (sponsored by Flytec). All failed protests may be appealed to the U.S.H.G.A. competition committee. Protest must be made in writing no later than 24 hours aft the incident being protested.
The Meet Director shall nominate three pilots to form a Safety Advisory Committee. The pilots at the first pilots meeting shall vote to determine the members of this committee. Pilots may nominate different pilots to form the committee.
The task of this Committee shall be to determine if the task called by the task committee and the alternate task if chosen are safe to fly. It shall also be their task to determine if it is safe to launch before launch begins. The Meet Director and Safety Director shall consult with this committee. The safety committee has no function after the launch begins.
The Meet Director has the sole authority to cancel the contest day in the event of perceived unflyable conditions or other unforeseen difficulties, before any pilots have taken off. The Meet Director has the authority to cancel the contest day, after pilots have launched, in the event of his becoming aware (in his opinion) dangerous conditions that have developed on or near the course-line. The announcement to cancel a task after all or part of the field has launched will be made by the meet director on the official meet frequency as well as the frequencies provided by pilots at the time of registration. PLEASE NOTE: The Meet Director cannot be responsible for canceling the contest day in every case of potentially dangerous flying conditions. Pilots are solely responsible for keeping themselves safe at all times by using sound judgment and airmanship.
If it becomes necessary for the Meet Director to stop the day’s task after the task has started, each pilot’s position at the exact time of the FIRST announcement (that the tasked has been stopped) may be used for scoring. Listen for the voice of the Meet Director as notification of cancellation or stoppage. Pilots are requested to communicate to other pilots that the task has been cancelled/called off by unzipping their harness and hanging their legs out while flying. It is highly recommended that pilots land at the first safe landing position if dangerous weather is in the area.
The Meet Director shall nominate three pilots and one alternate to form a Pilot Protest Committee. All officials given the responsibility of forming a protest committee by USHGA rules shall assign the responsibility to this committee. The alternate shall be used in the case of a conflict of interest.
A minimum of 1 round is necessary to declare a winner. There will be a maximum of 7 rounds. The official cumulative scores at the end of the last valid contest day will be considered final.
The scorekeeper will determine a competitor's score based on distance flown as reported by GPS coordinates and/or the time based on the goal official's records. Each pilot's daily score will be computed using GAP.
To have a safe, fair and fun hang gliding competition. We are going to do our best. If you have any special needs or concerns - let us know - we want you to have a great time.