This is no different from Wright Stuff in the past, circle size there was a contributor to performance (though not the most important if you didn't go too small). You will have all the usual problems of last minute room changes, event supervisors, etc.twototwenty wrote:One thing I thought of in regards to changes in the rules was the part about releasing room dimensions before the competition. Since the room width/length affects how wide a circle of descent you want and thus affects your build, you would need to know far in advance, and the way that part is worded, I can just see competitors being told the morning of the competiton at some regionals, which would not be good.
We cannot from the national dictate the room for flying events at every tournament, we can only suggest. Heck, from the nationals ceiling dicussion thread you can see us rules writers can't even dictate the national room!!! While most tournaments may be good about announcing in advance, you as a competitor MUST be prepared for surprises. If you learn nothing else from SO, learn that and you'll be well prepared for real life.
If you haven't already heard of this old cliche, learn it: Murphy's law, whatever can go wrong, will. Common view among engineers, Murphy was an optimist, when it goes wrong, it will be the worst way at the worst time!
This does not mean things are out of your control. While you can't beat Murphy, you can minimize his impact. Prepare for surprises by efficiently determining what the likely surprises are, less likely and real unlikely. Then have pre-determined answers for the most likely, some of the less likely, and a strategy for how you'd react for the least likely.
Speaking to 'room surprises' what are they and how do you deal with them. The most common are: height, minimum horizontal dimensions, ceiling type, obstacles, air conditions.
How do you deal with them?
Height: You will find three broad ranges of heights start driving very different gliders. Backup plan, have alternate gliders trimmed for different heights and select correct one on day of competition. This is possible for gliders as they are relatively simple and cheap to build.
Min horizontal dimensions. Larger is better, but not in a linear fashion. Try different size circles and see how it affects time. You'll find beyond a reasonable diameter, not much is gained. Trim for a safe diameter in the announced room. Then, practice CHANGING your turn diameter. It is very doable on a finished glider but not something you want to do the first time in a contest. Basically you 'break' and repair the glider with new trim settings!
And so on, I'll leave some stuff for you guys to figure out till later or when have more time to write.
Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI
haha