Results of the Online Soaring Contest (OLC)

Transcription

1 Results of the Online Soaring Contest (OLC) Steve Hill October 27, 2010 Good evening Mr. Mayor and Councilors. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell you about the Online Contest or OLC as it is known. Tonight I will be presenting information from 2007 to I have a few slides with quite a bit of data so please stop me at any time to ask a question or make a comment.

2 Background Traditional Soaring Competition Racing for speed over a triangular course Regional, National, World levels Crews, travel, hotels, eating out Gliders or sailplanes have been competing for more than 100 years. The first criteria was duration, then distance, then speed became the measure. Modern soaring contests are speed events with a prescribed triangular course and the fastest pilot to fly around the two turnpoints and back to the starting point is the winner. Cameras were mounted in the glider and the pilot had to take a picture of each turnpoint to prove he was there. Contests last from 3-10 days and points are awarded as a percentage of the winning speed with the winner each day receiving 1000 points. Contests are held yearly world wide at the regional and national level and a world meet is held every two years. The next world meet will be held in Uvalde, Texas in Hobbs, NM hosted the worlds in These contests require the pilot to trailer his glider to the site and to bring a crew along with him. The pilot and crew will either camp or stay in a motel during the contest.

3 Background OLC Style Competition Flying for Distance mainly Speed is also considered Local flying, no crew, no travel Provides incentive to fly more The online contest is mainly about distance but speed is also considered. The great thing about the online contest is that anyone can compete anytime and anywhere they fly. No crew is necessary and flights can be from anywhere in the world. The online contest gives the pilot an incentive to fly more and makes each flight a competition flight without the drawbacks or expense of traditional contests.

4 What makes OLC Competition Possible? GPS data loggers Internet Handicapping system Constantly record position and altitude of glider Flights are submitted to the OLC website A glider with a handicap of 1.00 gets 1 point per kilometer flown. Higher performing gliders get less than one point per km and lower performing gliders get more than one point per km. The online contest makes use of two key technologies- the internet and GPS data loggers. The data loggers are carried in the glider and they record the location and altitude of the glider every few seconds. They are a black box and their data cannot be tampered with. After a flight, the pilot downloads the flight information from the data logger and uploads it to the OLC website. The OLC calculates the best possible distance for the flight and assigns a score based on the performance of the glider being flown. A world recognized handicapping system attempts to even out the points regardless of the type of glider being flown. A glider with a handicap of 1.00 gets 1 point for each kilometer flown. Higher performing gliders get less than one point per km and lower performing gliders get more than one point per km. The contest is held every day for one year starting in October. Every pilot in the world can compare his flight to all the other flights in the world submitted that day.

5 OLC Basics Points are awarded to: Individual pilots Groups of pilots called Clubs Airfields Worldwide and National, Regional Statistics Each pilot submits his flights and points are awarded to him. Pilots can assemble in a group called a Club and his points also go to the club. Any pilot anywhere can belong to any club. The club gets the points no matter where the pilot flies. Points are awarded for each flight from a given airfield like Moriarty. No matter who flies from the airfield their points count for the site where they took off. Statistics are kept for the World, each continent, individual countries and regions within countries.

6 OLC Statistics-Pilots/Clubs Total Pilots ,411 12,781 12,878 Total Clubs US Pilots US Clubs Moriarty Pilots Moriaty Pilot % WW 0.49% 0.36% 0.42% 0.38% Moriarty Pilot % US 6.41% 4.87% 5.69% 5.21% This shows how many flights, clubs, and pilots participated from The numbers have been increasing each year with almost 13,000 pilots participating worldwide in We have good participation here at Moriarty. As you can see around 5% of the pilots in the US that participate in the OLC fly here at Moriarty

7 OLC Statistics-Airfields Airfields Worldwide Airfields in US US % 17% 18% 17% 16% This shows the number of airfields from which OLC flights were submitted with about 16% of the worlds airfields located in the US.

8 OLC Statistics-Flights Flights Worldwide 71,032 85, , ,265 Flights/Day WW Flights in US 8,869 9,489 10,244 10,750 Flights/Day US Flights in Moriarty Moriarty % US 8.2% 5.4% 7.0% 4.8% This shows the number of flights submitted in each year with more than 100,000 flights submitted worldwide in 2010 which is 275 flights every day. Once again, Moriarty generates a significant number of the total US flights considering that there are around 250 airfields in the US.

9 OLC Statistics-Miles Worldwide 12,265,679 15,510,690 17,165,180 17,483,520 Miles in US 1,518,886 1,589,153 1,770,351 1,700,136 Moriarty Miles 141, , , ,871 Moriarty % US 9.3% 6.7% 8.4% 7.0% This is an amazing chart. Pilots are flying MILLIONS of miles in aircraft that have no engine! Over 17 million miles flown in 2010 worldwide and 1.7 million in the US. Again, Moriarty pilots generate a significant percentage of the total miles flown in the US with almost 119 thousand miles flown in 2010

10 OLC Statistics- Moriarty Pilots World Rank US Rank Flights Pilots Total miles , , , ,871 These are the results of the distance competition for the last four years. Your Moriarty pilots have placed in the top 10 worldwide and in the top two in the US.

11 Moriarty vs Top Clubs Worldwide Moriarty World # World Rank US Rank Flights Pilots Total miles , , , ,871 World Rank Country DE DE NL DE Flights Pilots Total miles 206, , , ,590 This shows how Moriarty compares to the top clubs world wide. Since the points are an accumulation of distance flown it is obvious that the more pilots you have and the more flights you make the more points you will earn. Moriarty does quite well with a smaller number of pilots and fewer flights than the top clubs in the world.

12 Moriarty Club vs Top US Clubs Moriarty US # US Rank Flights Pilots Total miles , , , ,846 US Rank Club Warner Warner Mor. Tucson Flights Pilots Total miles 147, , , ,156 Moriarty is among the top few clubs in the US. The Tucson club did very well this year by having a smaller number of pilots flying more flights. Our weather was not as good this year and we had a lot of days when the wind was blowing across the runway making it unsafe to fly. Warner Springs is in the San Diego area and has an active club.

13 Moriarty vs Top Airfields Worldwide Moriarty World # World Rank World Rank US Rank Flights Pilots Total miles 145,101 91, , ,222 Country DE NA FR AU Flights Pilots Total miles 233, , , ,488 Miles/ Flight Miles/ Flight Visitor Flights- 2007/89, 2008/57, 2009/124, 2010/66 Moriarty is truly one of the best places to fly gliders ranking in the top 25 worldwide. Again compare the much higher number of pilots and flights at the other airfields which automatically accumulate more miles and points. Notice the top airfield in This is in Namibia in East Africa and they had a phenomenal year with an average of 446 miles for each flight. Several pilots from other countries visit Moriarty each year who come to get a taste of the excellent soaring conditions. We had 124 flights from visitors last year and 66 flights in 2010

14 Moriarty vs Top US Airfields Moriarty World Rank US Rank Flights Pilots Total miles 145,101 91, , ,222 Miles/ Flight US # US Rank Airfield Moriarty Parowan Moriarty Tucson Flights Pilots Total 145, , , ,079 miles Miles/ Flight Moriarty is definitely one of the best places to fly gliders in the US placing either first or second for the past 4 years. Traditional competition can make a difference for a given site. Look at 2008 in the right hand table. Parowan is a small airfield in southern Utah. It has no club associated with it but it hosts a regional contest each year and collects points for every flight. As you can see it had a relatively small number of flights but they were long flights. Pilots from many other states come to Moriarty each year to pad the point total for their clubs which are often located in areas with less than optimum conditions.

15 Moriarty Club Speed Ranking Worldwide th nd st st 19 rounds on summer weekends only (OLC League) Speed is calculated for the fastest 2 1/2 hours of each flight Top three fastest pilots of each club are scored Now, the distances being flown are impressive but speed is the real test of a top pilot. There are only so many soarable hours in a day so the faster you fly the farther you can go before it gets dark. On summer weekends, the OLC makes an additional calculation to find the fastest 2 1/2 hour period during each flight. Your Moriarty pilots as a group are among the fastest pilots in the world placing consistently in the top 5 worldwide and winning the last two years running.

16 Moriarty Pilots Speed Ranking Worldwide Total Pilots (1).01% Jim Payne (CA) (2).03% Bill Hill (7).10% Chip Garner (10).14% Jim Cumiford (13).18% Tim Feager (40).56% Bob Leonard Total Pilots (1).01% Jim Payne (CA) (7).08% Tim Feager (16).18% Bill Hill (29).33% Jim Cumiford (41).46% Ralph Woodward (53).60% Howard Banks Total Pilots (1).01% Jim Payne (CA) (3).03% Bill Hill (4).04% Chip Garner (6).06% Jim Cumiford (8).08% Tim Feager (10).10% Bob Leonard Total Pilots (1).01% Klaus Ohlmann (DE) (4).04% Jim Payne (CA) (7).07% Bill Hill (12).12% Jim Cumiford (41).42% Tim Feager (49).51% Bill Lemon You have some really talented pilots flying here at Moriarty. These are individual speed rankings worldwide and only take the best 6 flights of each pilot. You have several pilots performing consistently in the top 1% of the world!

17 Moriarty Pilots Distance Ranking Worldwide 2007 All Flights-WW 9917 pilots Pilot Flights Rank Percent Miles Klaus Engelhardt (DE) Bill Hill Tim Feager Howard Banks Jim Cumiford Mark Mocho Bob Leonard % 32, % 17, % 16, % 12, % 12, % 10, % 10, All Flights-WW 12,782 pilots Pilot Flights Rank Percent Miles Alfredo Giretti (IT) % 39,724 Randy Acree (AZ) % 25,124 Bill Hill % 18,406 Jim Cumiford % 11,927 Tim Feager % 10,173 Mike Carris % 8,137 Mark Mocho % 7,744 Bob Leonard % 8, All Flights-WW 11,411 pilots Pilot Flights Rank Percent Miles Alfredo Giretti (IT) % 41,011 Randy Acree (AZ) % 18,052 Jim Cumiford % 12,226 Bill Hill % 11,173 Howard Banks % 8,510 Tim Feager % 8,596 Angel Pala % 6,484 Deor Jenson % 5, All Flights-WW 12,876 pilots Pilot Flights Rank Percent Miles Pepe Gresa (ES) % 33,014 Randy Acree (AZ) % 22,227 Bill Hill % 16,227 Jim Cumiford % 8,784 Mark Mocho % 6,736 Barton Tate % 6,099 Bob Leonard % 5,716 Howard Banks % 5,582 Your pilots are also top performers when it comes to distance. You have several pilots performing consistently in the top 4 5% worldwide! Look at the top pilots in the world. They are flying THOUSAND miles each year! They are averaging around 2 flights per week for 52 weeks out of the year. We have a limited season but these pilots travel to Australia and Africa in our winter and rack up the points then travel back to the northern hemisphere to earn points during our summer. These are dedicated, hardcore pilots. You don t have any pilots like this at Moriarty yet they are still competitive.

18 Estimated Economic Impact- Tows Flights Fuel Flowage fee to City Tow Sales Avg GRT Rate GRT on Tows $ $ $ $ $16, $13, $16, $13, % 6.38% 6.84% 7.38% $1, $ $1, $ Assumes: $1.00 per tow Fuel Flowage fee 1/2 of tows by Sundance at $ /2 of tows are club furnished This is just a simple estimate of how the OLC flights contribute to your economy. Sundance Aviation pays a flowage fee for fuel sold at Moriarty. The club buys all its fuel from Sundance so all tows generate about $1.00. Sundance pays gross receipt taxes on all tows and this is an estimate on the gross receipt taxes generated by OLC flights. I don t know how much of this comes back to the city but is does make a contribution.

19 Questa Taos Bill Hill miles 4 hr 56 min 87 mph! Southern Colorado Las Vegas Moriarty Williard This is from the software that is used to analyze the flight information that comes from a data logger. The colored line is the actual flight path of the glider superimposed on a map. The color of the line indicates the altitude. Yellow and green are lower and blue is higher. On this flight on Aug 11th, Bill Hill flew north from Moriarty past Santa Fe, past Taos, past Questa, past Costilla, all the way into southern Colorado. He turned around and flew all the way back down to Pedernal east of Williard, turned back north and flew up near Lamy and then returned to Moriarty. The online contest draws straight lines between the extreme points of his curved path and granted him 423 miles at 87 mph all without an engine. The data logger knows when a glider is being towed and the OLC does not count that part of the flight.

20 Moriarty Chip Garner miles 6 hr 17 min 89 mph! Vaughn Roswell Carlsbad Holloman AFB El Paso Here is an amazing flight flown to the south. Chip Garner is one of our top pilots and has represented the US on the World Glider Team several times. On June 17th he took off from Moriarty and flew SE past Vaughn, past Roswell, past Carlsbad and into Texas! When he got close to the Mexican border he said that the liftindicating clouds went as far as he could see into Mexico. Then he turned around and flew all the way back to Moriarty! 562 miles at 89 mph!!!

21 Moriarty Jim Cumiford miles 5 hr 40 min 104 mph!!! Fastest flight of 2010 Conchas Carrizozo Sierra Blanca Peak This was the fastest flight from Moriarty this year. In June, Jim Cumiford flew 583 miles at an amazing speed of 104 mph!!! He started out flying SE from Moriarty down past Corona, turned SW and flew to Sierra Blanca peak near Ruidoso, turned NE and flew all the way to Conchas Lake, flew BACK to Sierra Blanca Peak then all the way back to Moriarty!

22 Moriarty Bill Hill miles 6 hr 48 min 92 mph! Longest flight of 2010 Claunch Sierra Blanca Peak Conchas This was the longest flight out of Moriarty this year. On the same day that Jim Cumiford flew the 583 mile, 104 mph flight, Bill Hill flew almost the same track as Jim between Sierra Blanca Peak and Conchas Lake but went a little farther east to just south of Vaughn and farther west out to Claunch and ended up with 612 miles at 92 MPH!!!! These are just a small sample of the truly amazing flights that happen all summer. Moriarty should be very proud of its pilots!

23 Conclusion Moriarty is a world renowned place to fly gliders and ranks among the top places in the world as measured by flights submitted in the Online Contest. Moriarty glider pilots are ranked in the top percentiles world wide for both speed and distance in the Online Contest. Moriarty is a world renowned place to fly gliders and ranks among the top places in the world as measured by flights submitted in the Online Contest. Moriarty glider pilots are ranked in the top percentiles world wide for both speed and distance in the Online Contest.