Der kæmpes i kontorene! DP og ZB har nu været flyvende i lidt mere end tre time. Det har været svært for dem kan vi høre over radioen, og der er ingen tvivl om, at der bliver ikke sat hastighedsrekorder i dag. Men de er flyvende ca. 35 km fra ankomstcirklen. De stiger, men meget […]
2013 WGC Argentina
Good report – Ses
by Bill Elliott •
WGC2013 report – 08 JanuaryCompared to the forecast, yesterday’s weather was just a bit disappointing, but still produced plenty of completions and valid competition days in all classes. The fine-looking cumulus clouds that covered the contest site at …
Udtærskling – flyvedag 3
by Bill Elliott •
Startlinjen for klubklassen er åbnet 14.02 og vores to danske piloter er tærsklet. Morten i DP kl. 14.47 og Felipe i ZB kl. 14.55. Vi fik meldinger om termik til 1600 m og evt. bølgeaktivitet op til omkring 2000 m før startlinjen åbnede, men det lyder ikke let på nuværende tidspunkt – Morten ligger i […]
Mens vi venter…
by Bill Elliott •
…får vi kørt vand på vejene for at dæmpe støvgenerne. Vognkommandør Jøns er klar til at køre på gridden Der er i øvrigt rigtigt meget politi her. Man bliver ikke lukket ind på pladsen uden korrekt autorisation. I går aftes aftes blev vi stoppet af en politimand, der med den ene hånd stoppede bilen – […]
Godmorgen
by Bill Elliott •
Efter en god nattesøvn er vi vågnet op til endnu en flyvedag. Himlen er helt blå og det blæser. Her en halv time før briefing er opgaverne og en vejrrapport blevet uddelt. Det bliver svært, siger Morten. Svag tør-termik op til 1500 m. i kraftig vind. A-opgaven lyder på en 248,5 km speed task med […]
Nomenclature
by Bill Elliott •
I wish someone would let me know whether it is insulting to our Argentine friends to refer to USA citizens as “Americans.” Our Argentine friends are too polite to tell me.
Assuming that most of the readers of this blog are Americans, I thought it might be useful to describe a few of the differences between US and International contests. The nomenclature is a big part of this difference.
The competition is sanctioned and controlled by “FAI.” Despite their name and location in Switzerland, the official language of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is English, not French. And you may have recognised or recognized that the spelling is British, not American. Thus, the local group that manages this contest is known as the Organisers.
Each morning, we gather for a Briefing, not a “Pilots Meeting,” and we are given our Tasks by the Task Setter, not the “CD.” The head guy is called the Director, and the Task Setter reports to him.
We have two types of Task. A Racing Task is very similar to our AT, with the most notable difference being that all finishers are credited with the same distance. The Assigned Area Task is a timed task with large areas, like our TAT. In addition to circles, pie-slice shaped areas (with or without the point bitten off) are allowed in the AAT. Thankfully, no Task Setter with any wits calls a task that uses the pie shapes.
The Start and Finish rules are unfamiliar to Americans. They may by lines or circles (which are called Rings). There are no sensible rules about energy control at the Start, and all attempts to make Starts both safe and fair have failed, so far. Finishes are no better, as evidenced by the recent history of finish line accidents [in other contests, not this one, apologies to all emailers].
The multifaceted differences in scoring formulas deserve their own separate blog post. Perhaps I can get John to write that one.
If I think of some more obvious differences, I’ll try to point them out. I have to go now, to check the official Results (not “Scores”).
Lyrical
by Bill Elliott •
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| Phil, Pat, Graciela, and José, who was the only one who knew all the words in English |
Late report, synoptic version
by Bill Elliott •
At 10pm (which is dinner time in these parts), the scores from today have been published. On our Team, Sean did the best with a 6th place finish in the Club Class. Sarah was with him until the very end when she couldn’t connect with that la…
19:45
by Bill Elliott •
Vi kom i dag et godt stykke over mod Ventana i et meget øde område. Et imponerende syn! Fine CU’er over Chaves og i startområdet, men ren tørtermik hele vejen rundt på opgaven. En svær dag, der skulle overleves. ZB ser ud til at have et rigtigt godt resultat. Det gik perfekt for mig indtil […]
Begge ankommet
by Bill Elliott •
Kl. 18:15 Både ZB (Felipe) og DP (Morten) er kommet igennem opgaven og landet hjemme sammen med mange andre flotte hjemkomster. Felipe har fløjet med 90 km/t og har vist ramt tiden på 2,5 timer rimelig godt. Mere info følger når vi har lidt info fra piloterne. /Kristina
