More questions from the British Team

[Barney Townsend (GB Team)]

Hi there

We have a few more questions please:

- Is it permitted for our pilots to free fly and train on Saturday before and after the Opening Ceremony please? The local regulations said that training days finished on friday.

- Also, the initial team leader briefing will be very long and go on very late into the night if they are briefing the first task at the same time. Would it be possible have a general initial briefing earlier on Friday or on Saturday morning before the ceremony, so that the evening brief is only for the next day's tasks?-

- On the task catalogue, The Economy Laps task 3.2, please can you confirm that the maximum height permissible is 200 feet?

- You replied to an earlier question of ours about the definition of "Backtracking" as: "Backtracking: flying backwards along a track line, as it has been written in the template task catalogue for many years". We have searched Section 10 and we cannot find any specific definition of backtracking. Last week a French pilot and European microlight champion incurred a zero score for "backtracking" when he believed he did not, so clearly there is still ambiguity about what pilots can do. Please clarify.

- The local regulations 1.12.4 say "Gates are normally a straight line 250m wide perpendicular to the briefed track". In previous years this has been wider. Please confirm that the total gate width is 250m i.e. 125m either side of the main track?.

- The local regulations 1.13.7 say "A scoring zone will normally be a cylinder of 200m radius". This gives a total width of 400m. Should this not also be the same as the gate width?

- Over the last few months there have been some clarifications and some amendments to the rules through this forum. Please can you publish a bulletin before the competition starts that summarises any amendments that have been made to the published task catalogue and local regulations.

Thanks

From the British team

[Barney Townsend (GB Team)]

Also:

 

- This morning we had been told that you needed to have a green flag from a marshall before you launch. However, some of our pilots were at the far end of the field and were told that they could just go anyway becuase the marshall was not near them. Please confirm the procedure.

 

- When the motors were in quarantine in several lines it is very difficult to retrieve a motor from the inner lines. Please can you ensure only two lines in future?

 

- Many pilots were sat very close to eachother in the quarantine area, and this could be open to abuse. Please can marshals regulate a suitable distance between all pilots.

 

- When weighing the fuel last night, for some pilots the marshal checked that the can was empty before pouring in the fuel, but this was not done for all pilots.Please can marshals check ALL cans are empty before putting them on the scales.

 

- We are still confused about which tasks we are or are not allowed helpers on the deck for. Please can you confirm for each of the following scenarios:

a) Precision Take off

b) No precision take off but regulated launch order (with penalties if you are delayed for more than six pilots take off)

c) Free launch

 

- Please can you provide links to the Spanish Aviation forecast on the main board?

 

- Fuelling the machines this morning used up precious flying time. We would request that the machine fuelling is done at night the evening before and the machines are left in quarantine overnight. This way we can take off earlier in better conditions.

 

Sorry for lots of questions but we thought it better that they are asked now than later in a briefing!

 

Thanks

[Barney Townsend (GB Team)]

Some more questions please:

- You mentioned in the last briefing that you would confirm later which parts of the aircraft (i.e. canopy, lines, pilot body, machine) must completely round pylons or sticks and which can touch. Please can you confirm your decision?

- The local regulations 2.3.5 state that "The pilot may be liable to penalty if he or any part of his aircraft touches the ground outside the deck before he has removed his harness". I think it was mentioned in the briefing that the canopy may be able to land outside the deck line. Please confirm if this is allowed or not.

- The scoring for several of the tasks is based on a pilot's distance or time relative to dmax or tmin. If a pilot incurs a penalty on the task, can their time or distance still be used as the maximum value in scoring?

- You mentioned that when mobile phones are sealed they must be turned off. Can another normal GPS be switched on and sealed inside a bag to act as another backup logger if needed?

- Thank you for defining the meaning of "Backtracking". We are still confused on what precisely constitutes a "devious" track though. The task catalogue 1.2  states "pilots who

are observed flying a devious path to adjust timing/speed errors may be penalised". Is devious the same as backtracking, as defined by turning more than 90 degrees from the defined path? If not,  Please can you provide examples of what you would see as devious with relation to specific tasks.

- on eco tasks 3.4 and 3.5, if  the speed section has been completed, and then a pilot lands out after this, do they retain their speed points for the scoring?

- In the last world championship there was a very complex system of using numbered boards to let pilots in the air know when it is their turn to enter the slalom tasks. Please can you publish what system you will be using for this? 

- What is the penalty for if a pilot does not get either the start gate or the finish gate in the duration task 3.1?

Thanks again for answering all of our last questions so quickly.

Barney