Hallo John, I for one, REALLY appreciate the effort that you (and no doubt a very few un-named others), have put in to try and try and get this comp up, as a stand alone event in Victoria for 2014/15: THANK YOU.
***************************************************** I wonder what this abysmal result says about the mind set of firstly GCV pilots (the potential host club), then Victorian pilots in general, and finally that of pilots in SA & NSW who could quite easily (?), also attend? [Yeah I know all about those pathetic excuses, that start " I only have 4 weeks annual leave per year, and I have already committed to spend 2 weeks of that at the beach with my family".] Anyone considering this matter, must also think about the concurrent 2014/15 SA State Comp debacle. To my mind, there is not the slightest doubt that at the National level, the performance of pilots competing at this level continues to advance. This is not surprising given the increasing International exposure gained by many of the competing pilots. This experience feeds back into the system:. The performance advance, not just of the top 3 or so pilots, but of the whole field is quite marked. I think that as far as competition flying is concerned, at the National and International level things are basically on track. As to the rest? The only thing I can say is that it takes time and effort to become a good soaring pilot. If you want to be a good competition pilot, or a good distance flyer, there are additional skills that must be learned. Club Regattas and State Competitions are the ideal training ground to learn competition flying skills. If you want distance, start early and finish late. None of this is impossible: however it does require YOUR commitment. The OLC is basically about distance flying. Are there differences here to flying State/National Competitions which are basically only about speed flying ? Of course, but perhaps surprisingly, the essential skills required are, in the main, exactly the same. Mostly the top scoring Australian OLC pilots also include the top scoring Australian competition pilots. Have a re-read of James Cooper's very recent article in Gliding Australia - issue 21 - on "Winning the OLC". You will see that his final comment is on the total commitment that is required. Regards, Gary From: aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net [mailto:aus-soaring-boun...@lists.internode.on.net] On Behalf Of John Switala Sent: Sunday, 23 November 2014 1:46 PM To: Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net Subject: [Aus-soaring] VIC State Comps at Benalla called OFF The VSA State competition that was re-scheduled to Benalla between 29 November and 6 December 2014, has been called OFF. There were only 7 participants, spread over 4 classes, not enough for a valid comp. Also, we had organised people to help run the comp, including one who was taking leave to help us, and it is hardly fair on them to give up their time and then not have a valid comp. The VSA State comps will probably be run in-conjunction with Horsham week in February 2015. Regards John Switala
_______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
