HPAC/ACVL

Fred Wilson

The Event scene here in Canada is in a sorry state of affairs. Our association and clubs leadership could be key to reinvigorating it.

We have many events that struggle (even some with little or no entry fee.) This discourages organizers.

Yet we also have Events that are doing so well they reinvigorate their organizers each and every year.
Examples: Quebec Events, the WCSC BFAR and the Invermere BC Lakeside Event.

What are their secrets of success? Please share your thoughts with us here.
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1. Event organizer Support and assistance. See:
. .a) The meet organizer assistance package

. .b) Organizing an Event

. .c) HPAC Event Planning and Forms

2. Event Organization and Management Critique (FAI Cat 2 Steward) Report:
This is the document to use to assist novice Event Organizational Teams:
A step by step, day by day critical analysis of the success, failures and innovations of the Event Organization and Team.
During the organizational period of the event, meet regularly to address progress.
- During the event, there should be a short meeting every morning or evening to go over updates to this.

There is no such thing as a steward for Cat 2 events except for Pre-Category 1 events, where the Steward is required to be there.

At Cat 1 Events the ONLY ones that see this are the FAI HQ, their Lawyer and the Executive of the CIVL Bureau.

At Cat 2 Events the Steward processes the document BUT meets with the org team ± every day, progressively more so as the meet day approaches and lets them see the FULL doc and critique.

3. A a key factor is early publication of the Event.
This ensures that pilots who MUST lock in their holidays early in the new year can do so.
Our National Associations have Nationals Bids Deadlines for a reason. (The HPAC's Nationals Bid deadline is "December 1st to be awarded by January 10th.")
Competition organizers fought for this as it was vital to maximizing registration numbers.
- Overseas, events announced a year in advance are seeing all available slots filled within a very short period of time.

4. An informative website with good visual appeal and regular news feeds will attract the attention of pilots. See this resource.

5. A top notch Local Rules Document should be there the day the website goes up. These are now standardized in a logically ordered format so pilots can quickly find the exact information they are after.
Standardization has also dramatically cut down on translation issues - you can expect considerable numbers of pilots to arrive with little or no English language skills. Your local rules can be key to your Event's success.
Write them with the intention of covering most if not all anticipated eventualities. This will buy you precious time during the Event. Copy the best version(s) you can find on line like the CIVL's here.

Category 1 Local Rules are written for very experienced competition pilots. Category 2 Local Rules (See here) on the other hand are in some ways better as you are providing Information
for less experienced pilots who may be unfamiliar with the area or expected conditions. Including Site Guides and Flying Area and routes information will bring success in the form of in increased numbers of pilot entries.
Question: What % of available slots must be allocated to foreign pilots in order to obtain Cat 2 Sanctioning? Shocked

?

Fred Wilson

By comparison: the overseas competition scene in New Zealand and Australian are strong.

Secondly: New European competition organizations with built in scoring and support systems are sprouting like weeds.
Roaring successes we are just now starting to take advantage of with the HPAC's XC League supplied and supported by XContest http://www.xcontest.org/canada/en/

Examples:

1. The Paragliding World Cup (which built its success around a system less all the FAI / CIVL Cat 1 headaches and expenses.)

Update:
2. BHPA British Club Challenge (British Hangliding and Paragliding Association.)
FLYBBC Forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FLYBCC/messages

3. FAST Retrieve
FAST Retrieve was first developed to try and reduce the workload on the organisation staff during the retrieval stages of the British Championships at St André in 2007.
It began as a way of reducing the paperwork and the time involved in checking who was still 'at large' and has since evolved into a complete messaging and monitoring system specifically developed for retrieving competitors quickly.

At the heart of the system is a bespoke SMS messaging server which accepts incoming messages from Competitors, decodes and extracts the required co-ordinates and feeds the information to the relevant parts of the system to indicate competitor status and position on a map.
Competitors are tracked from first requesting a retrieve through collection by a vehicle and all the way up to final check in back at the base. cont...

4. . XContest (Hang Gliding and Paragliding) with their built in Nationals (and Regional) Competitions while also supporting Fly-In XC XCamp Events all with Scoring provided.

5. . XC Open (Paragliding) with their XC Open Worlds and XC-Camp XC Fly-In style Event all using the Scoring Programs provided by XC Open.

6. For Paragliding Accuracy, SIV and Aerobatics events see: http://www.hpac.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=477

Fred Wilson

Assigned Area Tasks (AAT) totally re-invigorated the sail plane competition scene a decade or so ago.
Our sports is just now starting to adopt this highly appealing competition format, which has an excellent history of inspiring novice competitors.

SeeYou and Area Tasks (AT) Software at: OzGAP 2005 and Assigned Area Tasks

See: XContest Assigned Area Tasks (AAT) and http://www.xcontest.org/xrace/rules/

More information on Assigned Area Task Competitions (AAT) at: http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21610

Large area tasks can be very confusing, even to the experts.
Example: Understanding the Task Objectives (PDF)

An introduction to Assigned Area Tasks: http://www.soaringpilot.org/dokuwiki/doku.php/soarpilot/assigned_area_tasks
From: Doug Jacobs Contest presentations: http://www.dragonnorth.com/djpresentations/ (Enough reading here alone to fill an entire winter!)

See the British Gliding Competition Rule Book (PDF) (Sail Planes are at least a decade ahead of us in the competition format scene.)

Fred Wilson · Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 02:59 am Post subject: Airspace Kmz files.

Clubs could support regional events by posting kmz files of:

a) The Launch Sites, Landing Fields and "Do Not Land Here" areas;
b) Typical Competition Race routes and their turnpoints;
c) Typical Competition Assigned Area Tasks (AAT);
d) Proof reading the Canadian Airspace kmz file for their region. http://www.lloydbailey.net/airspace.html (Thanks to the WCSC's guru: Chiumanfu!)
Click the map to download airspace files viewable on Google earth, to download the kmz file, click next on the Google Earth popup.

Fred Wilson · Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 03:00 am Post subject: Weather Resources.

Weather Resources.

Check out this great site: It offers lots of different graphs & data and a very intuitive interface.
See: http://weatherspark.com/

The HPAC or Provincial Associations should encourage someone to create RASP Website pages for all of our major competition areas.
This would useful to pilots who are intensively into weather analysis.

WCSC Example see: http://www.chiumanfu.com/RASP/univiewer.html

Yes, products like http://www.xcskies.com/ are out there, but:
There is a reason the Big Gun event's "Weather Gurus" also use the likes of Dr Jack's RASP and BlipMap information.

1. Tremendous Weather Resource here.

2. Environment Canada Weather and Meteorology Information

3. A Simple Guide To Understanding Skew-T Diagrams etc from http://www.theweatherprediction.com/

4. Haby's Weather Forecasting Hints

5. K Index and Lifted Index for Soaring Forecasts

6. Competition Weather Forecasting here.

Fred Wilson

Event organizer assistance links - Updated Dec 23'd 2012

HPAC Event Planning and Forms

The meet organizer assistance package

Organizing an Event
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FAI / CIVL Appoved Software for Online Contest Systems

. a) NavITar SeeYou Competition Software - their Pilot User Version is here.

. b) Davis Straub's Scoring Program and Manual (version 1.60)

AAT (Assigned Area Tasks) - the future for our Comp scene?
- AAT Oz GAP scoring script for SeeYou

. c) The Tennessee Tree Toppers (TTT) Automated scoring for local contests

FAI Sporting Code General Section

. d) FAI / CIVL Competition Regulations Section 7A Hang Gliding (PDF) and Section 7B Paragliding (PDF)

. e) FAI / CIVL Section 7A Aerobatics (PDF)
. . - Aerobatics in Hang Gliders: Understanding Operating Limitations. (9 page article by Wills Wing.)

. f) FAI Aerobatics Commission Documents

. g) Paragliding Forum discussions on Acro and SIV Manoevers

. h) FAI / CIVL Section 7C Sporting Code Paragliding Accuracy Events (PDF)

. i) Paragliding World Cup Rules

. j) XC Open Event Rules
. . . - Pilot's Guide for XC-Open Comps

. k) XCountry.org and their Hang Gliding and Paragliding Cross Country Rules - including Assigned Area Tasks (AAT)

. L) British Hang Gliding Competitions web site. Welcome to GOAL!

UPDATE Dec 23'd 2012:
. M) Validating track logs: http://ozreport.com/1356112515

Fred Wilson · Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 03:04 am Post subject:

Updated Aug 19th, 2012

A Beginners Introduction into Competition Soaring.

See article at: http://www.esparacing.com/sport_pilot/comp_soaring.htm

Then read: http://www.gfa.org.au/imis15/GFA/Sports_Content/Further___Faster.aspx

Flying In Paraglider Competitions By Tim O’Neill

Soaring Techniques

Tnx to the Sail Plane Gurus.

Cross Country Coaching Manuals

Cross Country Clinic Course Outline

Cross Country Paragliding Competitions by Tom Payne: How to Get a Perfect Start

Cross Country Paragliding Competitions by Tom Payne: Tactics

Cross Country Paragliding Competitions by Tom Payne: A Task Setting Philosophy

Cross Country Safety Safety Tips for our favorite pastime. Includes: Competition and XC Planning Tips

Best Glide and Speed to Fly for Paraglider Pilots

Speed to Fly and the McReady Theory

The Bottom Line On Speed-To-Fly for Hang Gliders and Paragliders

Mads Syndergaard mentioned he was writing a book on competition paragliding. It's out now:

Flying Rags for Glory: a Guide to Competition Paragliding at XCShop.com Exerpts are now posted for browsing.

Fred Wilson

Foreign Events: for Comparison Purposes

Tennessee Tree Toppers Team Challenge is designed to help pilots learn about cross country flying, mountain launching technique, team flying and more. There is simply no other place that you can learn this much at any other place in the world in such a short amount of time.

More info at: http://ozreport.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22651

The USHPA Foundation For Free Flight

Fred Wilson · Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 03:40 am Post subject: Resources

The FAI Hang Gliding and Paragliding Commission (CIVL)

List of National Associations

CIVL's Subcommittees, Working Groups and Technical Officers

CIVL's Competition Information and Resources.

CIVL's CIVL World Ranking System (WPRS) - Information and how to get a CIVL WPRS ID
See: http://civlrankings.fai.org/

CIVL's International Pilot Proficiency Information (IPPI) Card

Fred Wilson

Waypoint Planner Upgrade + XC Planner and their Manuals
_______________________________________________

Tom Paynes Waypoint Planner has just been Upgraded,
See: http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=36354

Waypoint Planner User Manual: http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=34143

- targeting online XC league supporting organizations like Leonardo and
XC Contest National and Regional XC Leagues via its National XContest and
XC Camp Fly-In Features

See: http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=36354

Also Tom Paynes's XC Planner (Routes and Distances) http://xcplanner.appspot.com/

XC Planner User Manual http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=24141
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PS:
Follow the list of Nations that are being added to XC Contest XC Leagues here.
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Read: Cross Country Coaching Manuals

Fred Wilson · Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 12:00 pm Post subject:

Obtaining additional Radio Frequencies for Team Use during Aviation Competition Events.

Message from Spectrum Management

Please contact the Industry Canada office nearest to where the Aviation Competition event will be taking place for assistance.
To determine that, please consult Radiocommunication Information Circular 66, Addresses and Telephone Numbers of
Regional and District Offices (RIC-66), http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf01742.html
found on the Spectrum Management and Telecommunications website of Industry Canada.

This in response to the question
Re: http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf02129.html

1. Is it possible to apply for additional Airband Radio Channels for Team Use during Aviation Competition Events?

Hang Gliding (and Paragliding) is allocated 123.400 in Canada,
but large groups of pilots and their ground chase crews ie at a major competition would overwhelm one frequency.
To ensure event safety, a selection of channels that can be allocated to teams would free up one, ie: 123.400 for Event Safety Management.

2. What can be done to obtain channels for Foreign pilots whose National Governments mandate that they use different radio types.

Example:
USA hang glider and paraglider pilots are required by US law to use the following frequencies (and radio type) in the USA, and thus do not own Aircraft Radios.
Reference: http://www.ushpa.aero/hndbook.asp#RADIOAUTHORIZATIONS
"Pilot and Rogallo Members of the USHPA may be authorized to use or designate use of type accepted radio equipment on the frequencies of 151.625 MHz, 151.955 MHz, 151.505 MHz, 158.4 MHz or 151.925 MHz, (or call WPRY420) for the purpose of conducting USHPA business, cross-country meets, events and retrievals."

Other nationalities use other Radio Types.
Example HGFA Australia (Pff) who use UHF

I will update here what the possibilities are (and if there are any costs associated with this.
Years ago I recall that additional Airband frequencies were easily obtainable at no cost.)

Fred Wilson · Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 07:51 pm Post subject: Wind Tech Manual

Wind Technician Manual