Gliding Competitions - A Typical Competition Day

A Typical Competition Day

Gliding contests generally last one week, but international contests last two weeks. Sometimes days are allocated for practice before the contest to allow non-local pilots to familiarize themselves with the contest area.

Each day an initial decision is made as to the likelihood that the conditions for the day are adequate to remain aloft. If so, the pilots are told to prepare (assemble) their gliders and move them onto the runway launch grid and prepare to launch. The order of the gliders on the grid is predetermined for each day and rotates amongst the pilots. The contest pilots gather at the start of each contest day to learn about the day's forecast weather conditions, to obtain briefings on operational and safety related issues, to hear about the previous day's results (if any) and possibly to hear from the previous day's winning pilot(s). Behind the scenes, the weather forecaster will discuss the local predicted conditions for the day with the task-setter (which is sometimes a committee). Once the task for the day has been decided, a pilot's briefing is held to describe the task and provide an update on forecast weather and any airspace restrictions. Often a non-competing pilot will make a preliminary flight to verify conditions aloft (known as a "sniffer"). Launching takes place when the director believes that the gliders can stay airborne.

The task for the day is based on the predicted soaring and weather conditions of the day and is made up of a combination of a minimum time in the air (between 2 and 5 hours) coupled with a collection of locations (turnpoints) which must be overflown (within a specified radius). Some turnpoints may be mandatory, others may be optional, or a combination of both. Some days can simply not be flown and are referred to as "non-contest" days. In a typical 7 day regional contest, at least 3 days must be "contest days" to constitute a valid contest.

Launching all the gliders usually takes less than an hour. While gliders are being launched, the other gliders which are already airborne will attempt to remain aloft and stay in the vicinity. Gliders that land due to loss of lift are allowed to relaunch ("re-light") but must wait until all other gliders have been launched at least once. Once all gliders in a class are launched and have had time to get into a position to start, the launch director will announce that the "start gate is open" via radio. This means that pilots can begin flying their assigned task by making a start, if they wish. The pilot must announce his start time via radio. Each pilot will then attempt to fly the task as quickly as possible.

Some pilots will be unable to find lift during some part of the task and so will be forced to 'land out' in a farmer's field or at another airfield. Sometimes this is caused by deteriorating weather, sometimes because of rejecting an area of lift and flying on in the hope of even better lift. For those that land out, the glider is either de-rigged and towed back in a trailer, or a tow-plane is send to re-launch the glider and so return it to base. Generally the start and finish locations are at, or quite near to, the home airfield for the contest. If there are severe weather conditions, an alternate "safety finish" location may have to be announced to the competitors.