1-26 Association Cross-Country Soaring Sweepstakes Rules

Revised January 1, 2003

Sponsor

The Cross-Country Sweepstakes Program is sponsored by the 1-26 Association, a Division of the Soaring Society of America.  This is a North American program with winners awarded in three Divisions of the 1-26 Association: Eastern, Central and Western Divisions.  Refer to the 1-26 Association Log or the 1-26 Association web site for a map that defines the Divisions. 

 

Eligibility

Pilots must be members of the 1-26 Association.  Membership applications and dues may accompany the Sweepstakes Flight Report Form.

 

Categories

The Sweepstakes Program includes three pilot Categories based upon the experience level of the pilot as of January 1 of the Sweepstakes year.

                Bronze:                 Pilots with less than Silver Badge.

                Silver:                    Pilots with Silver Badge, but less than Gold Badge.

                Gold:                      Pilots with Gold Badge or better.

Flight Qualifying Rules

1.        All flights shall be made in a Schweizer 1-26

2.        A qualifying flight must be at least 50 km (31.07 miles).

3.        Flights must originate in the Division for which the claim is made. The pilot does not have to be a resident of the Division.

4.        Qualifying flights may be straight-line distance flights or distance achieved around turn points.

5.        Flights submitted for the Sweepstakes year may be made from January 1 through December 31 in the Sweepstakes year.

6.        Flight claims must be postmarked or E-Mailed by January 10 following the Sweepstakes year.

7.       Flights around turn points need not be closed course flights.  Turn points need not be declared before the flight. The number of turn points is not limited, but no turn point may be used more than once.  No turn point may be less than 10 km (6.21miles) from any other turn point or from the start point.

8.       Flights made as part of the 1-26 Championships are not eligible.

Flight Documentation Rules

General Rules

1.   Verification and certification of the flight shall be accomplished by a Sweepstakes Observer (SO) who can be an SSA Official Observer, a member in good standing of the 1-26 Association, or the fixed base operator of a soaring site.  The SO will review the documentation, verify to his satisfaction that the documentation listed below is correct, and will certify the flight by signing the Flight Report Form.

2.       Sweepstakes flight documentation for straight-line distance flights shall include only the Flight Report Form signed by the pilot and take off and landing witnesses, or the Flight Report Form and GPS track log.  Barograph trace or photos are not required for straight-line distance flights.
3.       Documentation for flights around turn points shall include the Flight Report Form signed by the pilot and the take-off and landing witnesses, and either photographic or GPS documentation as described below.  Analysis of photographs or GPS data by the SO will satisfy the requirement for take off and landing witnesses.

 

4.   The flight documentation may be mailed or e-mailed to the Sweepstakes Manager.  If emailed, the Flight Report Form shall be submitted as an attached Microsoft Word document. All blocks of the form must be filled out. The telephone number and name of the Sweepstakes Observer shall be provided in lieu of the SOs signature.  The Sweepstakes Manager will verify the findings of the SO by telephone.

Photographic Documentation Rules

Documentation to be submitted with the Flight Report Form shall include developed photographs, not negatives, using a mounted camera showing the take-off area including the wing tip of the glider flown, and turn points in the sequence flown. An additional photo shall be taken in the landing area that includes the tail number or N number of the glider flown and any prominent feature of the surrounding landscape.  This photo is not required if a landing witness signs the Flight Report Form. The photographs shall be annotated by the SO with the film sequence information on the back of each photograph including turn point name, turn point number, film sequence number and the initials of the SO.

The Sweepstakes Observer shall certify the flight by signing the Flight Report Form. In certifying the flight using Photographic Documentation the SO shall verify the following:

A. The photos were taken during the claimed flight, the photos verify that the turn points were made in the sequence claimed and that the turn point photos were taken from within the FAI Observation Zone.

B.       The coordinates submitted for the start point, landing point and each turn point are accurate and meet the Flight Qualifying Rules.

C.       The coordinates for the landing site are consistent with the photograph taken after landing or the landing witness statement.

D.      Flight Distances submitted with the claim are accurate.

GPS Documentation Rules

Documentation for GPS documented flights shall include the Flight Report Form and the track log flight data.  Track log data may be submitted as printed maps illustrating the flight in sufficient detail to verify that the turn points were achieved, or via e-mail or mailed disks with data from a GPS receiver.  Flight data submitted on disk or  via e-mail must be in a format suitable for downloading to the SeeYou flight analysis program, as well as the phone number and name of the SO for verification purposes.   This includes, but is not limited to, the IGC or Garmin formats.

The Sweepstakes Observer shall certify the flight by signing or providing a phone number on the Flight Record form.  In certifying the flight, the SO shall verify the following:

A.      The flight data track log was downloaded under his/her control.

B.       The coordinates submitted for the start point, turn points and landing point are accurate and meet the requirements of the Flight Qualifying Rules.

C.       Each turn point represents a distinct and easily recognizable landmark that might also serve as a photo turn point.

D.      The track log clearly indicates that the flight entered the FAI Observation Zone of each turn point.

 

Awards

A.  Awards will be made to the top three pilots in each Category within each Division on the basis of the total distance flown.  

B.       The winning pilot in each Category and Division will be the pilot with the largest accumulated distance in five or fewer flights.  In the case that more than five flights are submitted over the course of a year, the longest  five flights submitted will be scored