| What is the process at briefing ? |
Normally a loud air horn will signify the imminent start of a briefing, ideally at 9 am on day 1 after registration is completed. Bring a pen and a note pad as you might get more information than you can remember.
Apart from the usual niceties regarding thanking hosts etc, the important bits will touch on safety. The BP Cup is an entry level comp and the concept of having a good time whilst improving your flying is encouraged. The Cup generally has a fair selection of experienced competition pilots flying in the comp either as wind dummies or in the Open category. If you want information on anything to do with comp flying, they will be very pleased to give you the right pointers.
The weather situation will be discussed and the site of choice will be announced. If the weather is not playing ball, a re-brief will be called and the time of that given there and then. Sometimes if a site is a reasonable distance away, there may be a briefing in the car park or on top of the hill.
Please try to double up with transport as some car parks cant cope with the numbers.
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| What do the tasks consist of ? |
Tasks are either Race to Goal, Elapsed Time or Open Distance. The latter is rarely used in comps these days and is not discussed further.
For a Race to Goal, your time starts when the task starts, regardless of whether you have actually taken off or not. For elapsed time tasks your time only starts on your last exit from the start gate (for an internal cylinder start gate ) or your last entry into the start gate (for an external cylinder gate). Both race to goal and elapsed time task may have zero or more turnpoints between the start and goal. You need to have a track point in a 400m radius circle around any turnpoints and goal. The start gate circle radius is normally larger than 400m and will be displayed on the task board.
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| How are tasks scored? |
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Points are allocated for distance, speed, departure and arrival. Apart from distance points you need to be in goal to get the speed, departure and arrival points. The points are calculated using a complicated formula called GAP. An explanation of the thinking behind the scoring can be viewed in this GAP PDF document (677k).
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| What happens at 'On The Hill' briefings ? |
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The Meet Director will have the local club pilots as advisors on weather, airspace and what is considered an appropriate task for the day. The primary consideration will be safety, and several questions will be addressed.
1. Can a large group of pilots all take off safely, given the size of hill and the weather conditions?
2. How can pilots be spread apart to avoid clumping when the gate opens?
3. Are excessive walkouts involved if pilots go down along track?
4. Will the topography and weather allow safe landings along track and at goal?
5. Is the weather set fair or may conditions become dangerous during the task period?
You are likely to experience several comp days in which individual flight was both possible and enjoyable but a task could not be set because of such safety criteria. Eventually a taskboard will be shown and it will have a lot of information on it. Make sure you have your pen and paper handy. See the tasks section of the FAQ for what all the abbreviations mean.
A phone number for SMS reporting of your safe landing will also be on the board along with a voice check in number and any emergency numbers you may need.
The task will be stated with respect to the waypoints that have been uploaded to your GPSs. Its not unknown though for a completely new waypoint to be given to you for manual entry. Make sure you know how to do this. If these are British Grid references, which is likely, you will need to change the GPS datum to British Grid or ORD SURV GB 361 before you enter the TP co-ordinates.
BP Cup tasks are usually quite straightforward. A race to goal directly, or via 1-2 turn points is the norm, but depending on the weather an elapsed timed race may be declared. In other words its not who gets there first but its how long the flight took.
Air starts are the norm these days and you will be given times as follows;
Take Off Window Open and Close,Task Start and Finish,Goal Close, Check-in Close, Land By, Report By.
Normally you are allowed to fly before the take off window opens, but you must land again and take off after the window opens to score in the task.
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| What's all the stuff on the task board ? |
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Window Open and Close,Task Start and Finish,Goal Close, Land By, Report By, Check-in Close, Single/Multiple Attempts
Window Open is the earliest time when you may take off to commence the task. If you are already in the air when the window opens then you must land again prior to taking off and flying the task.
Window Close is the time before which you must take off to fly the task.
Task Start time is strictly speaking the time the race section of the task commences. It should more accurately be called the Race Start time and is set in conjunction with either an internal or external cylinder (see below) set around a predefined waypoint. Note that from a scoring perspective a task ALWAYS begins with the takeoff point. The speed section ( section where time will be taken) may be different from the whole task, may start at later turnpoint than takeoff and may end at a turnpoint previous to goal. Generally for British comps, however, the goal and the end of the speed section are one and the same.
Task End time is the time the task finishes. If you are still in the air at this time then the scoring software will ignore any trackpoints made after this time. It is generally the same as Goal Close time.
Goal Close is the time goal closes. If you are still in the air at this time then the scoring software will ignore any trackpoints made after this time. It is generally the same as Task end time.
Land By is the time you must land by. You should make effort to land by this time though you will not be penalised if you considered it unsafe to do so.
Report By is the time you must Report In by. Reporting instructions will be given for each task. SMS is normally the primary method. It is not the time by which you must physically be back at base (see Check In Close). If we have not heard from you by Report By time then rescue procedures may be initiated on your behalf. Failure to report in by Report In time without good reason will result in a penalty.
Check In Close is the latest time you must physically report to base and submit your GPS. Check In time also serves as a safety feature in that we know you have returned to base. Failure to hand in your GPS by Check In Close without good reason will result in a penalty.
Tasks may be defined as a single or multiple attempt task. Other than landing for safety reasons, eg a knot in your line, a single attempt task means that you are only allowed one take off. If you land for safety reasons you should always confirm with the Meet Director before re-attempting the task.
Multiple attempts are normally conditional on where you land. E.g For sites with a large take-off area the Meet Director may specify an area in which it is OK to land to re-attempt the task. If you land outside the area you are not allowed additional attempts.
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| Can you help with cylinders ? |
A graphical representation of the task with respect to the turn points will be on the board along with the text version of the task. The pictures are there to help you understand the context of the cylinder into which you are flying. For example, turn point 1 (TP1) may have a 10km radius external cylinder around it declared as the start gate. This means that you must record a GPS point outside that radius after the start time has elapsed. If you enter the radius before the start time you must exit, record a point and then return. Once inside the start gate radius you then still have to get within the 400m radius of the turn point to score it as it is also declared as a turnpoint for the task.
Conversely the start gate might be, for example, 2km radius internal cyclinder from the take off, in which case if you go outside it before the start, you have come back inside it after the race start before proceeding.
Clicking on the picture will show a PDF file from Grita Rose-Innes which graphically explains internal and external cyclinders. Always check your understanding of the task before take off. If in doubt, ask.
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