1996 SRA Pilot Opinion Poll Results

 

Results of the 1996 SRA pilot poll (43% of 500 ballots mailed by the SSA office):

The percentage of those planning to use a flight recorder in the next three years (by class):

Standard: 57%, 15m: 56% Open: 77%

Should the PST be retained: Yes 75% FAI classes only: Yes 72%

Allow GPS in Sports: Yes 77% Sports only: Yes 65%

Keep GPS in Standard: Yes 86%

Mandatory ELTs: No 87%

Restrict Sports contests to non-winners: No 73%

The SSA Rules Committee met in Houston the first week in November to review competition rules for the 1997 soaring season. Pending review and approval by the Board of Directors in January, the following actions were recommended:

ELTs will be voluntary. The committee reviewed the poll results and numerous comments that were submitted and decided against making them mandatory. Although many good arguments can be made for them, it was felt a voluntary approach would be appropriate.

GPS will be permitted in Sports and continued in Standard. Poll results and comments carried the most weight in the decision to allow GPS in Sports and Standard.

Flight recorder (FR) use in contests was opened up somewhat. A valid FR trace will be allowed as a substitute for a landing witness. Also, longer gaps in FR ogs will be permitted with certain controls.The committee also worked on the concept of allowing FRs to be used for start time interval updates and starts.The issues of safety and keeping the present equality between cameras and FRs led the committee to decide that experimentation with new techniques is advisable before any changes can be recommended.

Downloading FRs to a floppy rather than taking the recorder to the document turn in office is (and has been) permissible.

Requirements for camera backup for FR failure were relaxed so that cameras may take over at the point of FR failure so long as subsequent tp photos meet some distance criteria from previous FR tps. And, of course, preflight camera control procedures must have been followed.

Removal of the 20% grid inversion. A couple folks suggested that being first one day and last the next constituted a sort of "double jeopardy." So next year look for the inversion to be eliminated.

The PST was thoroughly discussed with no changes being recommended.

Restricting Sports to non-winners was not recommended by the committee. However, a sports pilot handicap was proposed that would be based on the seeding list. This concept may be tried at Uvalde in 1997 and will be a topic of discussion and the pilot poll before further action is taken.

Other committee recommendations to the board:

Reinstatement of mandatory liability insurance.

Reinstatement of the $5 administrative penalty.

Seniors seeding to be equal to that of regionals.

Easing of restrictions on guest pilots

Some corrections to the windicapping (suggested by Masak) and winglet (suggested by Ekdahl) handicaps.

Adjustment of the rolling finish rule.

Some subjects that were discussed and either not adopted or deferred were:

Last minute changes of regional dates in anticipation of weather problems (McQuigg).

Combining 15 M and Standards at low-turnout contests, and handicapping older model ships. (Cochrane)

Equalizing wingloadings at no-ballast contests.

Policy on large cash prizes if such should ever become available.

In-place elephant walk (rather than preserving assigned grid) when takeoff direction changes.

Addition of call sign to "mark" call by gate when glider crosses the line.(Kelly)

Pilots should be aware that the new contest ID system is in effect, so that in 1999 an ID that hasn't been used in the previous three years will be free for reassignment unless a $25 fee is paid. The SSA will attempt to contact assignees before freeing the numbers.

The revised US Team selection system is in effect for the 1999 Worlds in Germany. One member from each class will be selected next year and the remaining three the year after. This will permit half the team to fly in the pre-worlds. The down side is a greater difficulty for team members to qualify for subsequent teams due to contest overlapping.

The committee thanks the 61 individuals who submitted written comments for consideration. Although not all the suggestions could be put into the rules, they figured in our deliberations.

Karl Striedieck, Chair, SSA Rules Committee