Competitions
The Pennine Soaring Club runs a number of friendly competitions, (organised by the Competition Secretary) as a means of encouraging pilots to;
- Develop their flying skills and self development.
- Develop XC flying from Pennine Sites.
- Provide a social outlet for Club, Inter Club, National and International relations.
Awards to Best XC Pilot, Most Improved Pilot, Loop League and Bent Upright (for prangs) for the year, are awarded at the AGM. Contact the Competitions Secretary, or for full details of any individual competition visit the Club website, or relevant Inter Club, or National website.
Club Competitions
The top six flights only of any pilot are counted in any league shown below. Proof of flights in competitions now usually requires the evidence of a flight data from an appropriate flight logger.
The PSC Loop League
The Loop League is a friendly gentle competition, for flights from any of the Pennine sites that start and finish at the same point. These usually start from Parlick, with triangles to Fairsnape or Dunsop Bridge, Longridge, along the ridge and out front, or from Pendle, where pilots have even made it to Parlick and back. As long as the flight follows FAI rules pilots are encouraged to attempt to enter the league. Entry is via the XC league site http://www.xcleague.com/xc/index.php , if you enter the Pennine league only this is free.
There are 3 options.
- FAI Triangle. The optimum flight with the highest multiplier. This is a triangular flight with 3 turn points in addition to the start/ finish point. The shortest leg of the triangle must be at least 28% of the total distance. Multipliers vary on the flight distance with a maximum of 2 for flights over 25K. The league works out the points for you, but you can check on GPS Dump to work out the best option.
- Flat Triangle. This is a triangular flight with 3 turn points in addition to the start/finish point that doesn't satisfy the 28% rule. As the easiest triangle flight it scores up to 1.7x the total distance.
- Out and return. This is a flight with up to 2 turn points and has the same multipliers as the flat triangle
So next time you're flying locally and find yourself high with no intention of going XC, why not try to make a loop flight?
Parlick Grid Challenge
There are 15 scoring cylinders in Parlick West Bowl (see website for details) T score, simply visit as many cylinders as possible, in numerical order then send in your igc file.
- Your score will be the highest number you reached.
- You must record at least one track point inside each cylinder for it to count.
- Where scores are equal, the most recent flight is highest.
- An extra point is gained by making it back to the start point.
These flights are now tracked as part of the Northern Challenge Series (formally Northern Challenge Trophy)
Northern Challenge Series
The Northern Challenge Series is an extended competition offering a fresh approach to accommodating the British weather and pilot availability through a series of standing, focused tasks. In short, it provides maximum convenience and flexibility for pilots wishing to be involved. In large part it's a response to the difficulty of getting enough pilots and the weather to coalesce around fixed date events. The NCS is designed to overcome current difficulties and add extra spice (and learning) to a day's flying.
For more details go to https://www.xcflight.com/northern-challenge-series-2024/
Results page: http://www.xcmap.net/index.php?c=Northern%20Challenge%20Trophy&y=2024
The Pennine Soaring Club XC League
This is a friendly, informal competition to encourage cross-country flying, among club members. It is open for all, and wishes to encourage relative newcomers. Rules for the Pennine Club XC League are the same as the National XC League and can be found along with the results at http://pgcomps.org.uk where there is access to a pdf of the year’s rules. The Club League results only count if they are from a Pennine Site.
National XC League
This is an XC League open to all registered and participating BHPA Clubs and pilots from any UK site. The pilot with the highest score from 6 flights wins the individual competition. The Club with the top scoring four pilots in the League wins the club competition.
Key examples of the Rules
- The flights can be open distance, out and returns or triangles. Minimum distance is 5km.
- For open distance, 10km for out and return and 15km for triangles.
- All flights must be flown on the paraglider/hang glider between November 1 and October 31. Details of flights must be submitted within one calendar month of the flight but by November 10 at the latest.
- It is recommended to obtain the FAI Sporting Code Section 7 from the BHPA office (£5 including an AI license) to ensure full understanding of, for instance, photographic turnpoint sector, and how to claim British and world records.
- All flights must comply with current airspace regulations and restrictions.
BP Cup
This is a friendly competition series which gives you an opportunity to hone the skills needed to fly XC successfully. You will be assisted to program your instruments and fly competition tasks, learning in the process that flying with other pilots and having a goal makes XC flying so much more enjoyable. If you struggle with the technicalities of instruments, don’t worry, there will be offers of help. In a competition you will discover that the Meet Director takes care of all the onerous weather forecast interpretation, site choice and task setting, leaving you to just take off and fly the task – simple! Time permitting there will be a daily task debrief, led by either the Meet Director or a senior experienced competition pilot. You will have a great time, meeting a lot of fellow pilots while learning an incredible amount of new skills to help make your flying better and safer.
Entry restricted to BHPA members rated Pilot and above flying EN A, B and C gliders only
The BP Cup is organised by a few dedicated individuals but with the assistance of the clubs and some very experienced pilots.
Full details & rules at: https://www.bpcup.co.uk/