Santa Clarita Soaring Association

Contest Rules And Regulations

August 6, 2001

 

  1. The monthly contest CD will manage and score the contest, and may use any other club member to assist him in any way.
  2. The SCSA Contest CD will oversee the contest from a rules and regulations point of view, and will have final rule and regulation interpretations.
  3. The SCSA Safety Officer will oversee the contest from a safety perspective, and will have final safety decisions.
  4. The following rules and regulations apply at ALL SCSA contests, and it is the job of the monthly contest CD, with assistance from the SCSA Club CD, to make see that the rules and regulations are enforced:
    1. All contest tasks and scoring methods will be approved by the SCSA Club CD prior to the contest.
    2. All decisions by the monthly contest CD are final within the framework of the rules (the rules will never be changed during the contest). Any issues that are outside of the parameters of this document should be discussed, in private, with the SCSA Club CD who’s ruling is final. If the SCSA Club CD is not present, he will have appointed another member to act as the SCSA Club CD, or one will be appointed at the field by the monthly contest CD. If the SCSA Club CD is directly involved in the issue, he will excuse himself, and a group of three (the monthly contest CD and two other non-involved members) will discuss the issue, and apply the appropriate rules (or spirit of the rules). If the monthly contest CD is directly involved in the issue, he will excuse himself from any decision. 
    3. The contest tasks and scoring methods will be explained at a “pilots meeting” held prior to the start of the contest.
    4. Any trim and test flights will be completed before the start of the contest.
    5. Once the contest has begun, there will be NO flying of any aircraft other than those that are competing (electrics, hand launches, etc.).
    6. The field boundaries will be discussed at the “pilots meeting”, and will consist of the fenced area of the immediate flying field. Any plane that lands with the nose outside of these boundaries will be given a 0 for that round. The baseball fields can be in or out of bounds based on their use.
    7. There will be NO FLYING OVER THE HIGH SCHOOL, with the exception of the bungalows to the North side of the school. If any of the bungalows are in use, they will be declared as part of the school and hence a “NO FLY ZONE”. If a pilot has flown into the “NO FLY ZONE”, either on purpose or by accident, he will be given a warning by the monthly contest CD, the SCSA Club CD, or by the SCSA Safety Officer, or by a member, so designated, in the absence of those three contest officials. Once the pilot is warned, he MUST TURN AWAY from the “NO FLY ZONE” back in the direction from which he entered it. Crossing the “NO FLY ZONE” in any way constitutes an immediate 0 for that round. It is the job of the pilot’s timer to keep him informed when this infraction occurs. It is, however, the pilot’s final responsibility.
    8. Pop-Offs are usually unlimited at an SCSA contest, but the monthly contest CD can override that and declare some number of pop-offs, but if this is done, the monthly contest CD must watch every launch to determine if the pop-off was caused by the pilot or by the equipment. This rule will be discussed at the start of the contest at the pilots meeting. Failure to discuss this rule will institute the default which is unlimited pop-offs.
    9. Mid air collisions (mid-airs) or radio interference (radio hits) are an unfortunate part of soaring. There will be no special privileges given for either of these issues. The pilot must try and continue.
    10. Interference between two or more planes in the final landing approach (defined as a cube 100 yards downwind of the proposed landing targets, the width of the landing area + 100 ft on each side, and 50 ft altitude and a cube 50 yards upwind of the proposed landing targets with the same height and width as the downwind cube) can happen. It will be the pilot’s timers of the two (or more) planes involved in the interference that will make the decision on this. If it has been decided that interference has taken place both (or more) pilots will have the option of an additional landing attempt. If the pilot decides to try another landing, he will take the results even if his score is lower. Each pilot who chooses to retry the landing will be given a two minute precision to fly. Any time on either side of the two minute target will be subtracted to the pilots first attempt time if he was lower than his original target or added to it he was above the original target.
    11. The spirit of the landing rule is that to receive landing points, your plane must land right side up, and must be flyable (except for wing tape). No significant parts can be off or hanging off (stabs, canopy, wing, nosecone, elevator, aileron, flap). If the plane has rubber bands holding on the wing, they can be shed with no penalty. If you have any question, you can show your plane to the SCSA Safety Officer (or his designee), or in his absence the SCSA Contest CD for a ruling. If the nosecone of the plane has slid off of the fuselage more than ½”, it is considered a shed part and hence no landing score (tape your nosecone).
    12. At any time, the SCSA Safety Officer, or the SCSA Contest CD, or the monthly club CD (in that order) can disqualify a plane or pilot for safety reasons. The decision if final.
    13.  A contest will be deemed “official” and count in the yearly standings if the following conditions are met:

3 round contest – All three rounds must be flown

4 round contest – Three of the four must be completed

5 round contest – Three of the five must be completed

The exception to this rule is an add-em-up. All of the rounds must be fully completed for it to be official.

    1. Ending a contest early will only happen if unsafe conditions (wind) are present, or if equipment has failed. Calling a contest early, due to equipment failure, will be determined by the monthly contest CD. Calling the contest for safety issues will be the job of the SCSA Safety Officer, the SCSA Contest CD, or the monthly contest CD, in that order.

This document has been prepared, and will be maintained by the SCSA Club CD. This is a first draft, and if changed, a new document will be produced, and will be kept in with the contest equipment. 

Hank Schorz

SCSA Club CD 2001

Prepared: 8/6/2001

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