НАМ ПИШУТ

Julia,

you must be happy! An excellent event! I do not remember any event
with as many tasks (and have been present at about 85-90 events).

After Velikie Luki I wrote a memo about different event formats. Today
I added some detail for you. I am sure that your federation will
organise many, many events.

Risto

Pros and Cons of Competition Formats
Version 5, July 26 2012

A) Only observers and target teams used

Pros:
- cheaper than using observers, target teams and loggers
- ground contacts can be observed
- provides very interesting and rewarding experience for observers
- keeps observer corps alive

Cons:
- very long days for pilots, crews, observers, debriefers and scorers
- one day of rest very much needed
- maximum 4 tasks per flight (for reasons above)
- PZ violations can not be reliably detected



B) Observers ad target teams used, loggers used only for detecting PZ violations

Pros:
- PZ violations reliably detected
- ground contacts can be observed
- provides very interesting and rewarding experience for observers
- keeps observer corps alive

Cons:
- very long days for pilots, crews, observers, debriefers and scorers
- one day of rest very much needed
- maximum 4 tasks per flight (for reasons above)
- more expensive than A (logger rent, track analyzers)



C) Observers, target teams and loggers used for determining results

Pros:
- ground contacts can be observed
- may provide interesting and rewarding experience for observers (depending on how many marker tasks are set)
- PZ violations reliably detected
- setting logger-only tasks possible
- more than 4 tasks per flight possible
- may keep observer corps alive

Cons:
- the most expensive alternative
- observers frustrated if not enough to do
- Results based on track point nearest to goal or target are calculated at 1 meter resolution, but the real accuracy is from 5 to 12 meters, propably closer to 12 meters. (With WAAS/EGNOS the real accuracy would be about 3 meters.) The discrepancy between result resolution (1 meter) and result accuracy (5-12 meters) brings an element of lottery to ranking. This is accepted by the ballooning community.



D) Loggers and target teams used, with BFA Scoring Program

Pros:
- shorter days for pilots, crews and officials (no need for searching markers; pilot debriefing faster than observer briefing)
- resting day not necessary
- PZ violations reliably detected
- from 5 to 7 tasks possible on morning flights, from 3 to 5 in evening, when there is less time  for flying
- very fast scoring possible if Event Director listens to Chief Scorer's advice
- the third cheapest alternative (no observers)

Cons:
- ground contacts can not be detected
- Results based on track point nearest to goal or target are calculated at 1 meter resolution, but the real accuracy is from 5 to 12 meters, propably closer to 12 meters. (With WAAS/EGNOS the real accuracy would be about 3 meters.) The discrepancy between result resolution (1 meter) and result accuracy (5-12 meters) brings an element of lottery to ranking. This is accepted by the ballooning community.



E) Only loggers used, with BFA Scoring Program

Pros:
- shorter days for pilots, crews and officials (no need for searching markers; pilot debriefing and track downloading faster than observer debriefing)
- resting day not necessary
- PZ violations reliably detected
- from 5 to 7 tasks possible on morning flights, from 3 to 5 in evening, when there is less time  for flying
- very fast scoring possible if Event Director listens to Chief Scorer's advice
- the cheapest alternative (no observers, no target teams)

Cons:
- no marker tasks (however: all tasks of chapter 15 possible, and several variations)
- ground contacts can not be detected
- Results based on track point nearest to goal or target are calculated at 1 meter resolution, but the real accuracy is from 5 to 12 meters, propably closer to 12 meters. (With WAAS/EGNOS the real accuracy would be about 3 meters.) The discrepancy between result resolution (1 meter) and result accuracy (5-12 meters) brings an element of lottery to ranking. This is accepted by the ballooning community.



F) Only target teams and limited scoring areas used

Pros:
- event can be arranged when trained observers and loggers are not available
- simplified rules and scoring methods can be used
- cheapest alternative (local people used as measurers; no loggers, no loggerscoring specialists)


Cons:
- pilots who miss the scoring are receive no result (can happen to all pilots…)
- target teams may misplace the target if not handy with GPS and coordinates (possibly no observing background)
- quite demanding for the Event Director: must have good forecasts and wind reading, must find suitable scoring areas and common launch sites (failure results in tasks where nobody gets a result, everybody unhappy)

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NOTE: The CIA logger is not yet fully supported by BFA Scoring Program (it does not yet detect the pilot-entered electronic marks and declarations) but it can be used with the CIA logger.  After the electronic marks and declarattions have been detected using another program, they can be entered manually into BFA Scoring Program for calculating the results.

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