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2023 Dust Devil Dash Contest Rules and Procedures
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Thomas Coussens
Aug 1, 2023, 12:35:22 PM8/1/23
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It's August, which means the Dash is next month!
The 39th Annual Dust Devil Dash will be held on Saturday, Sept 9, with Sunday Sept 10 as an alternate date. Be assured that the Dash will never again be cancelled in advance due to weather.
Please read the attached Rules and Procedures, as there are new changes for this year which should make gridding and launching a little easier. Early launchers, please pay particular attention, especially to the First Four Lotto.
Help Needed: The Dash is in need of a non-competing pilot or experienced crew member to be the Launch Director. The LD establishes the Launch Roster and is the ultimate authority of the grid and all launches during the DDD launch sequence. Please reply to this email or call me at 661-993-3411 if you would like to commit to this key role.
Those of you who are members of clubs other than tehachapisoaring, please forward this message
to your group message board.
Looking forward to a great Dash this year. See you there!
Tom Coussens
Contest Director
CONTEST RULES AND PROCEDURES BELOW
2023 Dust Devil Dash – Official Rules & Contest Procedures
1. The Dust Devil Dash is an annual, one-day straight out handicapped distance event for sailplanes and motor gliders, and is held on the first Saturday following the Labor Day weekend (September 9, with September 10 as an alternate date this year). Any licensed pilot with any sailplane or motor glider may enter.
2. Competing pilots bear complete and sole responsibility for their tow fees, their crew, their decisions, and the safe conduct of their flight. The Dust Devil Dash is only a forum for meeting on the same day, at the same place for the conduct of normal cross-country soaring flights by pilots who would still fly cross country that day on their own.
3. The Dust Devil Dash is intended to be friendly, safe, and legal. Any pilot who behaves in an unsportsmanlike, dangerous, or illegal manner, and whose behavior is brought to the attention of the contest director, may be disqualified. Disqualification is entirely at the discretion of the Contest Director (CD).
4. Only one flight per aircraft will be eligible for consideration. The flight must originate on the date and location selected for the Dust Devil Dash.
5. Tow fees are the responsibility of the pilot and his/her crew and should be arranged with Skylark North prior to the flight. Pilots are required to observe the Skylark North Operating and Safety Procedures.
6. Both single and dual-place aircraft may enter. In the event a dual-place aircraft wins, both pilots will be recognized as the winners.
7. All aircraft must be equipped to record their flights on an .igc file which can be uploaded to OLC.
8. The release altitude shall be no higher than 3,500 feet above MVA elevation (7700 ft MSL). All gliders will be towed to the same suitable release area selected as weather conditions dictate.
9. Motor Gliders: Motor gliders shall launch from the main runway (27R/9L). Motor gliders may launch from Tehachapi Municipal Airport (TSP) by prior arrangement with the CD. The .igc file must include the entire flight and show motor start and stop times. The motor must be stopped at or below 7700 ft MSL, and in the vicinity of the tow release point for the pure gliders. If the motor is not re-started, the flight will be scored to the landing point. If the motor is restarted on course, one of two options will be applied: 1) If the motor glider pilot elects to fly back toward Mountain Valley Airport, the flight will be scored to the landing location; 2) If the motor glider pilot elects to continue in a direction away from the Mountain Valley Airport, the flight will be scored to the nearest site behind the location of engine restart (in the direction of MVA) that is deemed an acceptable landing site by the Contest Director (CD).
10. All competing aircraft will be scored using the current Sailplane Handicap system as published by the Soaring Society of America (SSA).
11. Pilots choosing to fly with water ballast will have their SSA aircraft handicap multiplied by 0.93 for scoring. Each pilot must indicate Y/N on the Roster when they register at the Pilot’s Meeting. Aircraft with water ballast shall launch from the adjacent runway (27R/9L) in sequence with the activities on the glider runway.
12. Normal adverse soaring weather, i.e. rain, overcast sky, lack of thermals, etc., shall not constitute a valid reason for cancellation of the Dust Devil Dash. For the year 2023, the alternate date will be the next day, Sunday, September 10. In the event of a long flight on the alternate day, pilots and chase crew should plan for a Monday retrieve.
13. Participating pilots must post their flight to OLC to enable their flight to be included in the final score. The winner(s) will be the pilot(s) whose landing location is the greatest straight-line handicapped distance from Mountain Valley airport (MVA) before Local Sundown, logged as an .igc file on OLC. As a back-up, smart phone photos with date, time and location transmitted to the CD will be accepted.
14. The official winner(s) will be determined by the Dust Devil Dash CD when all pilots have posted their landing locations on OLC. The final contest results will be published once all of the flights are compiled. Contestants are requested to text or call to the CD (Tom Coussens) at 661-993-3411 upon landing, so that he can post preliminary results by the end of the contest day.
15. Pilots with FLARM-equipped aircraft can participate in real-time tracking of their flights (ex.: glideandseek.com) for the benefit of their chase crew, spectators, friends and family. Register on OGN at http://wiki.glidernet.org/
16. The Tee-Shirt, customized for the winner(s), (the ultimate goal of the competition!) will be presented to the winner(s) of the Dust Devil Dash at the next year’s DDD pilots meeting or mailed if the winner is unable to attend.
Rev 2023
SEE CONTEST PROCEDURES BELOW
Day of The Dash – Contest Procedures
Pilot’s Meeting
As a reminder, The Dust Devil Dash is only a forum for flying on the same day, at the same place for the conduct of normal cross-country soaring flights by pilots who would still fly cross country that day. A Pilot’s Meeting will be held at 0900 outdoors under the trees on the west side of the Skylark North office. Registration will be at the meeting. Final notes such as airspace restrictions and various launch procedures will be addressed, as well as a current course weather briefing. The man (or woman) of the hour, the Launch Director (LD), will be introduced. To have their scores counted, ALL pilots (or their designated crew) must register on the Dash Roster and include their and their chase crew’s cell phone numbers. A donation for the winner’s prize may be paid at that time. All proceeds over the cost of the prize will be donated to the Lazerson-Barrett Memorial Soaring Scholarship Fund in honor of Larry Barrett, the co-founder of Skylark North.
Launch Procedure
New for 2023: Immediately following the Pilot’s Meeting, the “First Four Lotto” will be conducted by the LD. Pilots wishing to launch in the first four grid positions will give the LD a slip of paper with their call sign. The LD will draw the first four positions lotto-style (a suitable hat will suffice). After the lotto, the first four may horse-trade if desired, but must provide the final order to the LD prior to staging. As before, the contest starts when the first position glider rolls out to the runway.
After the first four, pilots or their crew members may obtain their launch positions on a first come, first served basis by giving their call signs to the LD, who maintains the launch order. New for 2023: pilots may specify a desired launch position; the pilot is no longer required to take the next available position. The LD will be present at the Pilot’s Meeting and at the takeoff area and will be wearing a Launch Director tee-shirt.
NOTE: Positive Control checks shall be performed and reported to the Launch Director prior to staging.
Mountain Valley Airport is an active glider port; thus, the pilots must be ready to launch immediately after their aircraft is staged. Only four aircraft may be staged on the runway at one time. (NOTE: Skylark North is allowing four gliders on Rwy 9 for this event.) All other aircraft must be parked a safe distance from the runway.
Pilots may not stage on the runway prior to obtaining a launch position from the LD. Pilots must stage their sailplanes and be ready to launch when their launch position comes up. If not in position and ready, the sailplane will be removed from the runway and a new launch position must be obtained from the LD. Only one relight is permitted. Relights have last priority in the launch order.
New for 2023 - Launch Sequence: During the launch sequence, Skylark North will not stage any training flights or rentals, and the DDD has sole control of staging all gliders. The launch of any non-registered gliders during the sequence is at the discretion of the Launch Director.
Motor gliders shall launch from the adjacent runway at their discretion as safety allows. Launching from Tehachapi Municipal Airport (TSP) is allowed by prior arrangement with the CD. If a “relight” is required, the motor glider pilot has the option to land and relight via aerotow, or restart the motor and proceed to the designated release area at no higher than 7700 MSL, where the motor must be shut down. Only one relight (either powered or aerotowed) is permissible for participating motor gliders.
After Landing (Touchdown must be prior to Local Sunset)
1. Secure your aircraft.
2. As soon as possible, call or send a text message to the CD at (661) 993-3411 with your landing location and let us know if you’re OK.
3. Complete your retrieve.
4. As soon as is convenient, post your igc file to OLC. As a back-up, pilots may send a digital photo of their glider at the landing location that includes the date, time and location via text message to (661) 993-3411 or email to couss...@gmail.com.
Other information
1. Mountain Valley Airport – (661) 822-5267
2. Mountain Valley Airport (L94) Lat & Long: 35° 06’ 00”N and 118° 25’ 45”W
The 39th Annual Dust Devil Dash will be held on Saturday, Sept 9, with Sunday Sept 10 as an alternate date. Be assured that the Dash will never again be cancelled in advance due to weather.
Please read the attached Rules and Procedures, as there are new changes for this year which should make gridding and launching a little easier. Early launchers, please pay particular attention, especially to the First Four Lotto.
Help Needed: The Dash is in need of a non-competing pilot or experienced crew member to be the Launch Director. The LD establishes the Launch Roster and is the ultimate authority of the grid and all launches during the DDD launch sequence. Please reply to this email or call me at 661-993-3411 if you would like to commit to this key role.
Those of you who are members of clubs other than tehachapisoaring, please forward this message
to your group message board.
Looking forward to a great Dash this year. See you there!
Tom Coussens
Contest Director
CONTEST RULES AND PROCEDURES BELOW
2023 Dust Devil Dash – Official Rules & Contest Procedures
1. The Dust Devil Dash is an annual, one-day straight out handicapped distance event for sailplanes and motor gliders, and is held on the first Saturday following the Labor Day weekend (September 9, with September 10 as an alternate date this year). Any licensed pilot with any sailplane or motor glider may enter.
2. Competing pilots bear complete and sole responsibility for their tow fees, their crew, their decisions, and the safe conduct of their flight. The Dust Devil Dash is only a forum for meeting on the same day, at the same place for the conduct of normal cross-country soaring flights by pilots who would still fly cross country that day on their own.
3. The Dust Devil Dash is intended to be friendly, safe, and legal. Any pilot who behaves in an unsportsmanlike, dangerous, or illegal manner, and whose behavior is brought to the attention of the contest director, may be disqualified. Disqualification is entirely at the discretion of the Contest Director (CD).
4. Only one flight per aircraft will be eligible for consideration. The flight must originate on the date and location selected for the Dust Devil Dash.
5. Tow fees are the responsibility of the pilot and his/her crew and should be arranged with Skylark North prior to the flight. Pilots are required to observe the Skylark North Operating and Safety Procedures.
6. Both single and dual-place aircraft may enter. In the event a dual-place aircraft wins, both pilots will be recognized as the winners.
7. All aircraft must be equipped to record their flights on an .igc file which can be uploaded to OLC.
8. The release altitude shall be no higher than 3,500 feet above MVA elevation (7700 ft MSL). All gliders will be towed to the same suitable release area selected as weather conditions dictate.
9. Motor Gliders: Motor gliders shall launch from the main runway (27R/9L). Motor gliders may launch from Tehachapi Municipal Airport (TSP) by prior arrangement with the CD. The .igc file must include the entire flight and show motor start and stop times. The motor must be stopped at or below 7700 ft MSL, and in the vicinity of the tow release point for the pure gliders. If the motor is not re-started, the flight will be scored to the landing point. If the motor is restarted on course, one of two options will be applied: 1) If the motor glider pilot elects to fly back toward Mountain Valley Airport, the flight will be scored to the landing location; 2) If the motor glider pilot elects to continue in a direction away from the Mountain Valley Airport, the flight will be scored to the nearest site behind the location of engine restart (in the direction of MVA) that is deemed an acceptable landing site by the Contest Director (CD).
10. All competing aircraft will be scored using the current Sailplane Handicap system as published by the Soaring Society of America (SSA).
11. Pilots choosing to fly with water ballast will have their SSA aircraft handicap multiplied by 0.93 for scoring. Each pilot must indicate Y/N on the Roster when they register at the Pilot’s Meeting. Aircraft with water ballast shall launch from the adjacent runway (27R/9L) in sequence with the activities on the glider runway.
12. Normal adverse soaring weather, i.e. rain, overcast sky, lack of thermals, etc., shall not constitute a valid reason for cancellation of the Dust Devil Dash. For the year 2023, the alternate date will be the next day, Sunday, September 10. In the event of a long flight on the alternate day, pilots and chase crew should plan for a Monday retrieve.
13. Participating pilots must post their flight to OLC to enable their flight to be included in the final score. The winner(s) will be the pilot(s) whose landing location is the greatest straight-line handicapped distance from Mountain Valley airport (MVA) before Local Sundown, logged as an .igc file on OLC. As a back-up, smart phone photos with date, time and location transmitted to the CD will be accepted.
14. The official winner(s) will be determined by the Dust Devil Dash CD when all pilots have posted their landing locations on OLC. The final contest results will be published once all of the flights are compiled. Contestants are requested to text or call to the CD (Tom Coussens) at 661-993-3411 upon landing, so that he can post preliminary results by the end of the contest day.
15. Pilots with FLARM-equipped aircraft can participate in real-time tracking of their flights (ex.: glideandseek.com) for the benefit of their chase crew, spectators, friends and family. Register on OGN at http://wiki.glidernet.org/
16. The Tee-Shirt, customized for the winner(s), (the ultimate goal of the competition!) will be presented to the winner(s) of the Dust Devil Dash at the next year’s DDD pilots meeting or mailed if the winner is unable to attend.
Rev 2023
SEE CONTEST PROCEDURES BELOW
Day of The Dash – Contest Procedures
Pilot’s Meeting
As a reminder, The Dust Devil Dash is only a forum for flying on the same day, at the same place for the conduct of normal cross-country soaring flights by pilots who would still fly cross country that day. A Pilot’s Meeting will be held at 0900 outdoors under the trees on the west side of the Skylark North office. Registration will be at the meeting. Final notes such as airspace restrictions and various launch procedures will be addressed, as well as a current course weather briefing. The man (or woman) of the hour, the Launch Director (LD), will be introduced. To have their scores counted, ALL pilots (or their designated crew) must register on the Dash Roster and include their and their chase crew’s cell phone numbers. A donation for the winner’s prize may be paid at that time. All proceeds over the cost of the prize will be donated to the Lazerson-Barrett Memorial Soaring Scholarship Fund in honor of Larry Barrett, the co-founder of Skylark North.
Launch Procedure
New for 2023: Immediately following the Pilot’s Meeting, the “First Four Lotto” will be conducted by the LD. Pilots wishing to launch in the first four grid positions will give the LD a slip of paper with their call sign. The LD will draw the first four positions lotto-style (a suitable hat will suffice). After the lotto, the first four may horse-trade if desired, but must provide the final order to the LD prior to staging. As before, the contest starts when the first position glider rolls out to the runway.
After the first four, pilots or their crew members may obtain their launch positions on a first come, first served basis by giving their call signs to the LD, who maintains the launch order. New for 2023: pilots may specify a desired launch position; the pilot is no longer required to take the next available position. The LD will be present at the Pilot’s Meeting and at the takeoff area and will be wearing a Launch Director tee-shirt.
NOTE: Positive Control checks shall be performed and reported to the Launch Director prior to staging.
Mountain Valley Airport is an active glider port; thus, the pilots must be ready to launch immediately after their aircraft is staged. Only four aircraft may be staged on the runway at one time. (NOTE: Skylark North is allowing four gliders on Rwy 9 for this event.) All other aircraft must be parked a safe distance from the runway.
Pilots may not stage on the runway prior to obtaining a launch position from the LD. Pilots must stage their sailplanes and be ready to launch when their launch position comes up. If not in position and ready, the sailplane will be removed from the runway and a new launch position must be obtained from the LD. Only one relight is permitted. Relights have last priority in the launch order.
New for 2023 - Launch Sequence: During the launch sequence, Skylark North will not stage any training flights or rentals, and the DDD has sole control of staging all gliders. The launch of any non-registered gliders during the sequence is at the discretion of the Launch Director.
Motor gliders shall launch from the adjacent runway at their discretion as safety allows. Launching from Tehachapi Municipal Airport (TSP) is allowed by prior arrangement with the CD. If a “relight” is required, the motor glider pilot has the option to land and relight via aerotow, or restart the motor and proceed to the designated release area at no higher than 7700 MSL, where the motor must be shut down. Only one relight (either powered or aerotowed) is permissible for participating motor gliders.
After Landing (Touchdown must be prior to Local Sunset)
1. Secure your aircraft.
2. As soon as possible, call or send a text message to the CD at (661) 993-3411 with your landing location and let us know if you’re OK.
3. Complete your retrieve.
4. As soon as is convenient, post your igc file to OLC. As a back-up, pilots may send a digital photo of their glider at the landing location that includes the date, time and location via text message to (661) 993-3411 or email to couss...@gmail.com.
Other information
1. Mountain Valley Airport – (661) 822-5267
2. Mountain Valley Airport (L94) Lat & Long: 35° 06’ 00”N and 118° 25’ 45”W
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