Ten Minute Time Slot-- Each round of the contest consists of each flight group flying a ten-minute time slot. All flights must begin and end within the time slot to be counted for scoring purposes.  The time slots will be timed and announced by a timer or recording designated by the contest director.  The start of the time slot will be announced by providing a countdown then issuing a start signal. Elapsed time in the time slot will be announced regularly. The last 30 seconds of the time slot will be counted off as long as any flights are in the air. Any flight in the air before the beginning or after the end of the time slot will count zero for scoring. Once the contest begins, a five-minute, minimum, warm-up time will be allowed before each time slot. All test flying will be confined to that time and will only be available to those flying in the upcoming flight group. A flyer that who fails to fly in the assigned flight group or flies in the wrong flight group will be scored a 0 for the round. 

Scoring -- Scoring will be normalized on a flight group basis. The top non-zero scores in the flight group will earn 1000 points and all other scores within that flight group will receive a percentage of 1000 points proportional to the ratio of each flyer’s score to the top score. If all pilots in a flight group score zero, they all get zero for their normalized score. Pilots are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the score sheets. Raw scores will be in seconds of flight time or number of flights.  Scoring personnel will do the normalization of the raw scores for each flight group.  Timers are to round off times to the nearest second, record them on the score sheet, and turn them in to the scoring personnel at the end of each flight group’s time slot. Ties arising at the end of the ten rounds that affect placement in the fly off and at the end of the fly off will be resolved based, first, on head-to-head results using those instances when the tied flyers flew in the same flight groups.  If that fails to resolve the tie the pilots will be asked to agree on a tie breaking method, be it fly off, coin flip, spot landing, or …

Launching -- Models must be launched from within the field boundaries.  A pilot may have a thrower of his/her choosing launch the model, but the following restrictions apply:

1.        Pilots may not change throwers during a round.  The pilot may launch his/her own model at any time.

2.        The pilot must handle (touch) the model before each launch.  If the model has landed, the pilot must touch it before the thrower may pick it up and launch it.

3.        No launching equipment separate from the model may be used.

4.        No competitor assigned to fly in the same round may serve as thrower for another competitor in that round.

Field Boundaries -- A rectangular box will be laid out and marked on the ground that will be the field boundary.  All flights must begin and end within the box.  Any flight launched from outside the box or landing with any part of the model coming to rest outside of the box will result in a zero score for that flight.  In those rounds requiring a limited number of throws, flights that score zero due to violation of the field boundaries will count against the number of throws.

Changing Models -- The AMA rule on changing models during a contest is waived.  Flyers may change models at any time during a round subject to the restrictions that all models used by one flyer must be on the assigned frequency for that flyer, the same model may not be used by more than one flyer during the contest, and no more than one model per flyer may be within the field boundaries at any one time.  A model that has been replaced can be returned to competition at the flyer’s discretion.  No CD approval is required to change models.

Timers -- Each flyer is responsible for recruiting a timer to score his/her flights during each round.  Flyers are responsible for insuring that timers have an accurate, reliable stopwatch.  Timers should record the result of each flight on the score sheet. No time slots will be repeated or extended due to timing equipment failure. No flyer will be allowed to re-fly a round because of timing equipment failure.  In those rounds where a limited number of throws is required, a throw can be taken over without penalty due to timing equipment failure, but it must be declared while the flight is in the air and the time slot will not be extended.  Flyers are encouraged to time for each other.  A brief time will be provided between flight groups for flyers to get their equipment and timer and take their positions on the field before the start of the time slot.  Time slots will not be delayed for flyers and timers to get on to the field. Having timers launch models is discouraged, as it is difficult to get accurate scoring if the timer is also launching. 

Fly Offs --The fly offs will consist of three rounds to be flown in one flight group consisting of the top six scorers from the ten previous rounds.  In the event of a frequency conflict that cannot be resolved between qualifiers for the fly off, the lower scoring flyer(s) sharing the conflicting frequencies will be excluded from the fly off and their score will be final. The fly off will be flown with as many as are left after such exclusions.  Be prepared to change frequencies for this reason. Scores from the fly off rounds will be added to the accumulated scores of each contestant to calculate the final scores for the contest.

 

 Prizes – A prize pool of $40 per paid entry will be divided in a 4-3-2-1 ratio and awarded to first through fourth places respectively.  Places will be determined by the total points accumulated by each flyer through all rounds of the contest.  Flyers are not required to fly in the fly off to win a prize. Flyers must be present at the final pilots meeting to collect prizes. Prizes not claimed will be donated to the Soaring League of North Texas.   No guarantee of prize money is made beyond amounts from the prize pool.