Rules

AUSTRALIAN XCONTEST 2009 rules_updated16Dec08.doc

AUSTRALIAN XCONTEST - National rules for 2009- updated 16 Dec 2008

1. GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1. Summary

The Australian XContest is a national cross-country flying competition running for a given period, by submitting valid IGC files of flights documented by flight recorders (GPS’s etc). Flight documentation must be uploaded to the Australian XContest site for validity.

1.2. Organizer

The organizer is the Australian national administrator, Kym Fielke, with the help of www.xcontest.org/

1.3. Competitors

Pilot wishing to compete in the Australian XContest must hold a current Hang Gliding Federation of Australia (HGFA) pilot’s license. During the XContest registration process your HGFA pilot number must be provided.

1.4. Conditions of participation

Competitors who have satisfied the entry requirements for the Australian national contest running under XContest server will also be automatically entered in the World XContest.

1.5. Entry fee

No entry fee is required.

2. GENERAL REGULATIONS AND RULES

2.1. Flying rules

O nly flights conducted in accordance with all applicable Australian and/or international airspace laws can be submitted. The pilot is solely responsible for ensuring this compliance. Should a pilot be discovered by the organizer or national administrator/s to have submitted a flight which infringes Australian air space, the flight will be removed from the scoring. It is a pilot’s responsibility to fly outside of restricted airspaces without appropriate permission.

2.2. Competition duration

Competition start date: 1/10/09. Competition end date: 30/9/10.

2.3. Flight area

Australian continent only

2.4. Launch methods

Foot-launch, winch-launch, and ultralight-towing (hang gliders only; max. release altitude 3280 ft (1000 m) AGL) are permitted.

2.5. Classification

Recognized distance rounded to 0.01km will be scored by the relevant disciplines coefficient. There is no minimum flight distance.

3. DOCUMENTING FLIGHTS

The Australian XContest allows pilots to fly cross country without having to declare a task before take off. Documenting a flight may only be done through the use of an appropriate instrument:

a. Standalone GPS

b. GPS with variometer and barograph

c. GPS integrated flying instruments

d. Data Logger

For flights exceeding a nominal distance of 75km, an altitude record (either GPS or barometric) must be supplied.

Further information on compulsory features necessary for instruments and software can be found in section 8's "Technical specifications” of these Rules.

3.1. Deadline for flight claiming

From 1/10/09 and until 15/10/09 any flight can be uploaded, however after the cut-off date of 15/10/09, the deadline for uploading a flight is 14 days after day of the flight. Flights which are claimed after the deadline will be rejected.

3.2. IGC tracklog files

Every pilot must keep a personal backup of all his/her tracklog files uploaded to the Australian XContest site for one calendar month after the flight. Once a pilot has uploaded an IGC tracklog file to the site it becomes public property.

4. CLASSIFICATION

4.1. Evaluation of tracks

After landing, the recorded tracklog should be examined to determine the scoring distance flown. Here the start point, up to 3 turnpoints and the finish point are to be positioned on the tracklog to provide the greatest possible distance. A flight may be scored as a triangle, when the distance between start point and finish point is less than 20% of the entire distance as given by the 3 turnpoints. The scoring distance will then be given by the turnpoint distance, minus the gap (finish to start) distance.

4.2. Tracks value

1. Free flight - Free distance which does not conform to a triangle track specification: 1 km = 1.00 point

2. Flat triangle - A triangle which does not conform to the FAI triangle specification: 1 km = 1.40 points

3. FAI triangle - A triangle conforming to the FAI definition (the shortest leg of the triangle must be at least 28% of the total triangle): 1 km = 1.80 points

(*N.B. These coefficients for the Australian XContest are based on recommendations by Victorian paragliding comps organizer Geoff Wong).

The scoring rule which gives the most points will always be used. All scoring results will be rounded to 2 decimal places. For valuation of each flight will be chosen from such tracks, whose distance exceeds the minimum distance.

4.3. Evaluating the flight tracklog

After landing, the recorded tracklog should be transferred from the flight recorder to a computer and saved as a valid IGC file (i.e. it must contain a G-security record). You can use a number of free programs to do this with, such as GiPSy (https://www.xcontest.org/gipsy/), the very simple GPS Dump (http://www.gethome.no/stein.sorensen/), MaxPunkte (http://www.glidingcontest.org/~maxpunkte/) or G7ToWin (http://www.gpsinformation.org/ronh/) for example. Once you have a valid IGC file it should then be uploaded to the XContest server to be entered in the scoring.

5. CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSES, PROVISIONAL RESULTS AND FINAL RESULTS

5.1. Number of flights which count for the final score

A pilot may register as many flights as he or she may wish; the best 6 flights will count for the final score.

5.2. Classes

Scoring:

PG Open score – best 6 flights of a pilot on any paraglider (FAI-3)
PG Sport score - best 6 flights of a pilot on any paraglider max. DHV/LTF 2-3, CEN D or AFNOR Performance
PG Standard score – best 6 flights of a pilot on any paraglider max. DHV/LTF 1-2, CEN B or AFNOR Standard
PG Women score - best 6 flights of any female pilot on any paraglider (FAI-3)
PG Tandem score - best 6 flights of a pilot on any tandem paraglider
PG State score - best 5 PG Open scores of pilots from each state
HG Open score - best 6 flights of a pilot on any FAI-1 class hang glider
HG Women score - best 6 flights of a female pilot on any FAI-1 class hang glider
HG State score - best 5 HG Open scores of pilots from each state

From the overall scoring will be published the following scoring classes:

PG Open
PG Sport
PG Standard
PG Women - PG Open score women only
PG Tandem
PG State
HG Open (FAI-1)
HG Women
HG State

The pilot with the most points in each scoring class is the “Australian XContest 2009 Champion” for this class.

5.3. Provisional results

Provisional results will be constantly updated and may be viewed on https://www.xcontest.org/australia/

5.4. Final results

Final results are valid once the protest deadline has been reached. Final results may also be viewed at https://www.xcontest.org/australia/

6. LIABILTY AND DISQUALIFICATION

6.1. Liability

The organizers accept no liability for damages to competitors or third parties.

6.2. Disqualification

Competitors who willfully make false flight claims or fail to comply with these regulations in order to benefit themselves in the scoring, or who give good cause for belief that this is so, can be disqualified from the competition.

7. PROTESTS

7.1. Protests against other competitors

Should an organizational committee not accept a complaint regarding flight scoring or the scoring advantage of another competitor, the pilot in question may protest this decision.

The protest must be sent to the organizer and must arrive no later than one month after the flight took place, or one week after the end of season. The organizer will then decide if the protest is valid. The final decision on the protest may be taken by a protest jury (see below).

Protests due to infringement of controlled airspace will not be handled by the organizers. National air traffic control authorities are solely responsible for airspace observation and enforcement.

7.2. Protests due to non-acceptance of a flight

Should a flight not be accepted by the organizer, then every pilot has the right to firstly register a complaint, and thereafter to enter a written protest against the decision.

A protest must arrive no later than one week after the end of season. The national organizer/administrator is responsible for deciding if a protest is valid or not and makes the final decisions with regard to protests. No further appeals or legal actions are permitted.

8. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Every pilot is responsible for choosing his or her own recording instrument, logger or GPS. The pilot is responsible for recording a continual tracklog, correct transferal, evaluation uploading as an IGC File. Recorded tracklogs may only originate from a single instrument; tracks compiled from recordings from more than one instrument will not be accepted.

Should a logger split a continual flight into more than one tracklog, then the pilot should contact the manufacturer to rectify this problem. Manufacturers which certify their instruments as GNSS approved loggers (FR, flight recorder) comply with the FAI regulations.

8.1. GPS hardware recommendations

The organizer makes no special recommendations regarding GPS hardware. Flight documentation performed via GPS is fully equivalent to that performed with a GNSS-logger. The compatibility of a particular piece of GPS hardware is largely dependant on the supporting software available for it.

8.2. Recording interval

A continuously recorded tracklog must have at least one position recording per minute – i.e. the maximum recording interval is 60 seconds. It is recommended that the tracklog recording interval be set between 5 and 15 seconds to reduce the chance of a 60 second interval with no position recordings occurring. Should a pilot intentionally switch off the GPS during a flight, this invalidates the tracklog.

8.3. GPS failure

GPS failures may result in one or more breaks in the tracklog longer than 60 seconds. One or two separate GPS failures less than 15 minutes long within a tracklog will be accepted.

Flights with GPS failures of longer than 15 minutes or more then two separate GPS failures will not be allowed for the registering and scoring.

8.4. Altitude record

For flights exceeding a nominal distance of 75km, an altitude record (either GPS or barometric) must be supplied.