It is not that difficult to watch a launch and determine if it is excessive line tension that breaks the line. Usually much after 60 degrees. After 60 degrees, a launch should be flown out. And if the "recovery" launch is more than 45 seconds after last launch a re-flight of the whole group ensues.
Steve Meyer SOAR LSF IV
At 07:58 PM 5/16/2005, Barry Andersen wrote:
Most all the OVSS winches now use the 290# line. It is very hard to break. When out practicing, or playing, I haven't broken a line in a couple of years. I have broken lines at contests, including the NATS, I don't launch any differently there than normally, but the line at a contest is sometimes questionable, was crossed and dragged by the timer tapping down or a host of other mysteries that has caused it to be weak in just one small spot.
While I guess it's possible that guys might try to purposely break a line, it seems a stretch to me (pun intended), moreover, if the line is good, it's hard or maybe not possible to break.
When we stagger launches in seeded MOM, the high score is always launching first, the last guy always has a slight advantage, even then, lift is not often apparent right off launch.
I suggest a time limit from first guy to last guy, maybe 2 minutes, but launch master uses his head
If it's longer, you get bumped to the next round where it's tougher.
If it's the last flight group, move fast. More than one break, everybody comes down. Seems like this is pretty much what we've been doing to date.
It really sucks to be penalized for a line break, particularly when nearly every time, it's a weak line that causes the break. If someone has travelled a great distance to be essentially tossed out for a line break, it ain't so fun anymore.
There's enough dumb things I can do to blow a contest, purposeful line breaks aren't in my bag of tricks to find the air. I don't believe that most pilots play that way; bad booga booga, not likely to really work, and might have the result Gordy got, and richly deserved, if he was really playing that way.
We've done ok to date, seems to me. I agree that we don't want to regulate the fun out of contests, but if I break a line, I expect a way to get in the air to fly, that flight group or the next.
Hey, the stakes are really high!!
My .02
Barry
On May 16, 2005, at 5:47 PM, pfsiegel wrote:
I would like to throw this topic out to the soaring exchange to see if there is any consensus of opinion on policy concerning winch line breaks during launch, particularly during man on man competition.
What would be a good standard policy for line breaks that could be universally adopted for a contest series like the OVSS?
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