Interested in your first race, but feel a little intimidated? DON'T
BE!
Races begin with a pilot's brief. We explain the contest rules and procedures
and emphasize safety. We also discuss race strategies and cross country technique.
We have experienced pilots who are always happy to take the time to answer your
questions. (We all benefit by having more people involved.) A few good resources:
1. See the "Contests" section on the SSA
page for Rules and Handicaps. 2. The Sailplane
Racing Association (SRA) has good information on how to get started in the
Guide
to Soaring Competition.
We race with 2 Classes: A Class for Experienced racers and
B Class for Novice racers, most "B" class entrants had never
raced before their first GTA. You choose where you feel comfortable flying,
you will get "graduated" out of B class if you win too much (the A Classers
are hungry for new meat!). The B class is usually assigned closer turnpoints
and/or shorter tasks, but we try to be close enough to the A Class to tag along
a bit.
The GTA is based on SSA Sports Class Regional Rules. This means
you can use any type of glider. The handicap system helps equalize the differences
in aircraft performance. You do NOT need the latest machine or avionics
to compete. For example the 12meter SGS 1-26 has a handicap of
1.650 and it can compete against a 22meter ASW-22, which has a handicap of 0.795.
If the 1-26 completes its course at 30mph it can beat the ASW-22 which did its
(probably longer) course at 60mph (30mph X 1.650 = 49.5Hmph, vs. 60mph X 0.795
= 47.7Hmph).
Races are scored individually every day for 1000 points. We schedule about 18-26
race days in a season [weather only permits us about 11-20 days]. For season
winners we count only the best days, so you don't have to attend all of them.
Each season ends with Trophies handed out for both Classes at an Awards dinner.
Requirements to join us:
1. Have access to a glider that you can to bring to our meets.
Actually many partners team fly their glider (alternating pilots), club ships
are allowed. You do not even need to bring the same one to each race, we just
use a different handicap number when Francois brings his PW-5 or his ASW-27.
Present proof of ownership of the sailplane, or permission of the owner to fly
the sailplane in the competition.
2. Register: mail both Waiver
& Registration Form (print it, cut and
paste the text into your word processor, OR to copy to your hard disk right-click
on it to "save link as") to the address shown on the registration form. $20
suggested donation per
year [toward trophies and other costs] gets
you a season of flying and a chance at a trophy. [All funds are used to cover
costs of our events and season - the GTA is a nonprofit organization].
3 Payment Options:
1. Pay the annual donation via this Paypal link
2. Logon to paypal on your own and Pay the annual donation via PayPal to:
3. Mail a check to Tim's Address as shown on the registration form
3.
Cross Country Skills & Experience, Enough where you feel confident
of your decision making and landout skills, and have
earned the SSA Silver badge, etc... You are
responsible for your own safety.
4. Proof of insurance for the sailplane, with a minimum coverage
of $1,000,000 per occurrence for bodily injury and property damage liability.
5. Valid FAA Private or Commercial Glider Pilot Certificate (or the equivalent
from another country) [student certificate is not sufficient].
6. Parachute packed within 180 days.
7. Read the current SSA Sports Class Regional Rules.
8. As of the 2003 season we require 100% GPS scoring so some type of
GPS is needed to produce a valid .igc file. The .igc file can come from either
a secure logger or simply from any GPS which can be connected to a PC or PDA
[insecure
logger]. There are several low cost ways to do this.
If you have a laptop, you can create a valid .igc file from any Garmin GPS with
the
SeeYou, Strepla
or the free G7ToWin program.
You can then transfer the file to a diskette or memory card and give to the
scorer. Also if you have a PDA, you can use the G7ToCE program available at
the same site and hand the compact flash card to the scorer. If you'd like a
more capable flight computer type of program which can record the flight from
almost any GPS with a PDA try Winpilot,
Glide Navigator II, GPS_LOG,
SeeYou Mobile, PocketStrepla,
flyWithCE, or XCSoar.
9. A Fun and SAFE attitude.
Note: All pilots
that participate in GTA events do so at their own risk, are expected to make
their own decisions, assume full responsibility for their actions, follow all
applicable regulations and common sense. Participation is completely voluntary
and can be declined at any time.
Contact us for further info:
Join the GTA group email! We send out news and info on an occasional
basis. Send a message and let us know you want to SIGN
UP.
GTA Racemaster:
3 Payment Options:
Pay the annual donation via this Paypal link
2. Logon to paypal on your own and Pay the annual donation via PayPal to:
3. Mail a check to Tim's Address as shown on the registration form
Webmaster: Chris Ruf greeneggsandham@worldnet.att.net
- Comments, Submissions & Suggestions are welcome.
Note to PRINT this page you may need to set your browser's
option to "Print Text as Black".
Download
& Print this GTA PDF flyer - Post it at your
Clubhouse. 
Copyright © 2003 by GTA. All rights reserved. http://home.att.net/~g.t.a.race/
Updated: 1/4/2009
