2004 Season
Minnesota Soaring Challenge
(MSAC)
1. The competition will start on April 1st and end on October 31st.
The contest is intended to be fun contest and expects participants
to conduct themselves in an ethical manner.
All flight claims will be based on the honor system
Silver division non silver badge holders or less than 10 cross country flights
at the start of the season
Gold
division for all other pilots
Open Contest (for any cross-country flight).
Weekend Contest (for cross-country flights made on weekends or
legal holidays).
Height Contest (for height gain flights only).
4. For each competition a pilot may enter any number of flights but only the best four will count towards a final placing. No more than one cross-country and one height gain may be claimed from a single flight. Any single flight may be entered for all
Contests for which it qualifies.
5. The pilot's word will be accepted for flight times, rounding
turnpoints and landing positions except that MSAC Trophies will only be awarded in each of the
Contest Categories with GPS logger evidence.
5.1. Turnpoints.
In a single flight, turnpoints will conform to one of the following:
FAI 90-degree sectors, as for badge flights.
0.5km-radius cylinders (Barrel Sectors) with the following provisos:
The scoring distance will be reduced by 1km per turnpoint.
Turnpoints may not be claimed by pilots not carrying GPS.
MSAC Trophies will only be awarded with GPS-Logger evidence.
Flights that use both types of turnpoint will be scored as using
0.5km radius cylinders.
5.3. GPS Logger Evidence
GPS logger files will be accepted.
File security will be verified for all flights consider for award consideration.
Please send e-mail to the address shown below and attach logger files to your
e-mail.
5.4. Barograph Evidence
Barograph traces must be submitted
to the contest administrators for height claims. Logger files should be
attached to e-mail using the e-mail address shown below (note please change
the suffix from netto to net)
6 Flights in gliders with motors are accepted. If the engine is used in flight, the glider is scored from the furthest GPS position logged prior to engine start. If qualifying for a
Contest trophy, GPS logger evidence is required to substantiate whether or where the engine was used.
7. Declarations must be made before take-off, either electronically or in writing as appropriate, and must include the start point, up to four turning points and the finish point. All declared turnpoints must be either an airport
as shown on the corresponding sectional aeronautical chart (scale 1:500,00) in any of the following states MN., WI, IA, IL, SD, or a turnpoint from MN. turnpoint database
8. Up to four
MSAC turning Points may be used for Undeclared flights. If any other point is turned, the nearest MSAC TP that gives a shorter scoring distance will be used for scoring purposes.
9. The competition handicap (Si) will apply to all cross-country tasks.
10. For declared but uncompleted tasks, the distance counted for the uncompleted leg is the length of that leg as declared, less the distance between the landing point and the next turning point (as in
MSAC contest rules). For undeclared flights the full distance counts.
For gliders carrying GPS loggers, the termination point of a pre-declared task may be taken as the furthest recorded GPS position on track for the purposes of calculating achieved distance. Logger files must be uploaded onto the web if pilots intend to submit flights online that include GPS
land outs.
11. Points are given for Cross Country distance and/or speed and for Height gains.
11.1. Full cross-country points plus a bonus are awarded for declared flights where the declared start, turn and finish points are all rounded in the declared order AND the height loss between the start and finish points is the lesser of 1000m or 1% of the distance flown.
A proportion of full points are given to declared/incomplete flights where a declaration was made but not achieved. A smaller proportion is given to undeclared flights.
11.2. Height points are awarded for gain of height. No points may be claimed for flights above 15,000ft without oxygen.
12. Calculation of points.
12.1. Cross Country Points
A * S * dh * (4000 + (va * vh)) / 2000
where: Si = competition handicap
dh = handicapped marking distance in km
= (distance covered in km) * Si
va = actual speed in kph
vh = handicapped speed in kph
= actual speed in kph * Si
A = 1.1 for declared and completed tasks
= 0.5 for undeclared tasks
= (distance achieved) / (distance declared) for declared but uncompleted tasks
S = 1.10 for 28% triangles
= 1.10 for 25/45 triangles of
500km and over
= 1.05 for out-and-returns
= 0.80 for quadrilaterals and other 4-leg tasks (but see notes 1 and 2 below)
= 1.00 for all other task shapes
Note 1: For closed-circuit tasks with 4 legs, S may be scored as a triangle provided the pilot declares the task distance to be measured as a triangle with Leg1 + Leg4 replaced by the straight-line distance between the first and last turnpoints.
Note 2: If four turning points are used in addition to the start/finish point, the following conditions apply:
The task must be closed circuit.
The task will be scored as a quadrilateral defined only by the four specified turnpoints.
12.2. Height Points ((height gain in feet) - 5000) / 10
12.3 Airspace violations into Class B Airspace,
Prohibited, or Restricted will disqualify the flight claim
13. Details of each flight must be submitted by the pilot , within one month of the flight taking place. Full details of flights, including GPS Logger evidence when available, must be submitted
.
14. A pilot may only win one trophy and, if qualifying in more than one
Contest, will win the trophy for which there has been the greater number of entries.
15. Safe flight operations is a top priority for the contest. All task finishes must be at least 500 ft AGL. Any reported unsafe flight may result in a flight disqualification.
Note that MSAC Trophies will not be awarded if supported by logger files that show illegal penetration of airspace.
