From Martin Godden
Task G: 5 Second ladder, starts at 10 seconds and steps up
through 15, 20, 25, etc.
This task is fairly straight forward but needs
good co-ordination between timekeeper and pilot. We've found a count DOWN of
time left is best, every 5 seconds, then 5,4,3,2,1 and a very clear "COMPLETED"
call when the watch shows the task time. No anticipation by the caller, as this
can confuse the pilot and lead to an early catch and a flight needing
re-flying. Time keepers need to be on the ball and only worry about the watch,
they have no time to spot air (which is only needed for the last couple of
rungs anyway). It is much harder than you think to count down from a stop watch
counting up and a bit of practice for time keeping is worth while (OK you may
get strange looks from the family but do you want to let your mate down??). The
other thing to watch is that your flyer does not wander out of the zone.
Repeated catch and re-launch moves you a surprising distance into wind and the
time keeper needs to call you back (frequently).
Task C: Next to last and last flight count, 3 min max per
flight.
No real surprises here, it's either two 3 min maxes (we can all
do that right? ) or a question of making a good call on when to give up. One
max is normally a decision point with the question being "Are you confident of
beating the flight before the max?". If you fly after the max and have a bad
flight you are going to have to have a very good reason to launch again
(because if you do you have just thrown away your max).
Task E: All up last down, score per second flown.
You need to have an idea where you are going and concentrate on getting
your best launch. Just throwing it up there and winging it from then is a
fairly risky approach. You can pick the pundit in your group and follow them,
but then you need confidence you can launch as high and range as far. The main
thing I've noticed is the lift at launch height can be small and broken, so fly
your plane and how it reacts to the air. Just because a guy is circling above
you does not guarantee your plane is in the same lift (though it can be a nice
pointer). Lots of watching the trees, birds, the mylar tape near the control
tent and any changes in wind direction will all add up to knowing where you are
going before you launch. This task is also a great opportunity to bury the
other pilots and you need to keep you concentration when they notice you are
the only one still flying and start the banter (it can make sledging in Cricket
sound like taking tea with the vicar, but it's all in the best possible taste.
Task F: Increasing time, 3 minute max on first flight, times
must increase by >1 second to score.
There are two basic approaches
to this task base upon how much lift is about and how far a single thermal will
travel. Either you start small and try for lots of flights building up by
seconds each time (i.e. trying to keep all you flights within the dead-air time
of your plane and launching capability) or you get in a short flight and then
start looking for thermals. If you find a thermal you aim to get high and fly
out the slot (conditions will give you days when this is easy and days when
it's nigh on impossible without a second or third thermal). You are doing it
the hard way if you put up your dead air time in the first flight and do 2-3
min flights thereafter as you need to find lift after each launch to score.
Task I: Poker - variable target time, Best 5 flights.
Once you nominate you keep flying till you exceed the nominated time at
which point the nominated time scores. OK this is my bete noire (and Pete
Mitchell likes it too). Five flights count so in bad conditions it may be
sensible to get some bankers down early then up the nominations. At the last
comp I took about 6 or 7 attempts to fly 45 seconds (may dead air is around
55-65 so I thought I was being conservative) as the air was atrocious (a 120
second total won the slot, that's from a possible 600!!). This task is a
question of knowing your limit and making good calls if you find lift on a
"short" flight. You have to be certain you can get back to it before you start
nominating up to two and three minute times.
Task M: Five longest flights, two minute max per flight.
The five two's is a tough test in good air as the total time will
depend on swift turn arounds carefully timed at the two minute mark. It's a
nice task as tactics are not that involved, the only real decision is to leave
indifferent air and relaunch to improve your overall time. The cardinal sin is
flying more than two minutes on a single flight. Nearly as bad is not knowing
where you are going on the next flight if you've had good lift on the current
one, you should use the height you have gained to "scope out" the air if you
are not confident of going back to the same thermal.
Task P: 1, 2, 3, & 4 mins max flights in any order, best
four count.
This task has similar comments to task M above. The added
twist here is chosing whether the air you have is good enough for a longer
flight. Another angle is finding lift and zeroing in in the first 1:30, so do
you land at 2:00 and relaunch to use the lift you've just found for the 3:00
(or 4:00) thus getting two good flight scores from one thermal. This is easier
than it sounds if you found the thermal up wind and it's drifted you back to
near the launch area.
So there you have a few thoughts. I'm sure you will find it's all a lot of fun and it certainly keeps you on your toes more than sitting at 1,500ft half a mile down wind with 10 other models.
Goddo