The Online Contest

by Doug Levy AKA Hangman

Last updated 06/02/03

I want to start out with a disclaimer about the accuracy of this article, as this is very new to me.

The Online Contest (OLC) is run from Germany and provides a free scoring from gliding pilots and clubs worldwide on a daily basis. No declaration or paper work is required. Anyone can download flight track logs from any participants. IGC flight tracks from an approved data logger are required. Contest points are given at 1 point per kilometer after the release up to the first 4 turnpoints, .8/kilometer from 4th to the 5th turn point and .6/k for the remaining distance to the landing. The points are multiplied by 100 then divided by the glider handicap, the 1-26 A&B&C is .61, .63 for D & E. Flights have to be submitted by midnight Tuesday following the flight. The best six point flights determine the winner. The contest ends on October 13th. Please don’t let these complicated rules deter you from entering, as it is very easy to enter flights from your computer, you don’t have to calculate the flight manually. Complete rules are available at www.onlinecontest.org.

If you have access to the Internet you can see the recognition value of this contest for a 1-26 pilot and the 126 Association Club by visiting the OLC website. I’m the first to enter flights in the 126 Assoc. Club. Comparing total points as of 5/28 we are in 9th place of the 22 clubs entered in the U.S. with just 4 flights entered. Internationally we are 422nd place of 831 clubs. On 5/23 I posted the longest handicapped flight world wide compared to over 100 entries. On 5/24 I was 10th place of 350 pilots. The handicap makes a big difference. With more flight points we can push the 126 Association Club into 1st place. You can be sure many pilots are checking the scores for who is winning and what glider type they are flying.

To enter I use See You software (www.seeyou.ws/tour.php). This is my favorite program for managing waypoints, reviewing flights, planning task and communicating with electronic devices. It is the only way I know to enter a flight into the OLC.

Here are the steps to enter the contest.

  1. Go the OLC website and select Online Contest USA.
  2. Select Competition Entry
  3. Fill in the fields and select the 126 Association from the Club list. Write down and save your password, your name exactly as you have entered it, etc.

Here are the steps to enter your flight from See You.

  1. Down load the flight from the logger into See You.
  2. In See You, under edit select optimize. This will calculate the points for you.
  3. Select (OLC- gliders) then at the bottom select (Submit).
  4. Fill in the name info and other fields. Select the glider type, etc. Don’t worry about the handicap as this will change when you go on line.
  5. Click submit at the bottom, this will take you the OLC entry web site.
  6. Here you need to make sure your name, etc is the same as your registered entry name. At the bottom the red text will tell you of errors. It will tell you your flight is too short until after you send your flight. Correct what you can then press (Upload your IGC file).
  7. Find the IGC file on your computer in the window and push (Send IGC file).

You only have to enter a flight once in your country. It is automatically sent into the International competition.

If you have a logger and a copy of See You version 2.31 or higher this is easy and a fun way to compare the 1-26 pilots on a handicap basis to higher performance glider pilots and a way to show others the viability of the 1-26.

brntwavaBack to the 1-26 Association Home Page