Powered
Paraglider Competition
Everything for USPPA Competition
2012 Events
Paratoys is our only scheduled competition in 2012 although there may
very well be more. This year we will be running the new style that is
more spectator and pilot friendly, more discriminating, and can be run
with fewer judges. Every task involves a scored launch and landing so
consistency will be a must for anyone to be competitive.
2011 Events
The first event, at Paratoys, is in the bag and we're anticipating
two more this year. If that happens, it will make 2011 the most number
of competitions ever held in the U.S. Join us at Beach Blast where John
Black, the Organizer, is trying to improve the experience for
competitors by having them at a completely separate, and much larger
field.
2010 National Champion Named
With no more competition events scheduled, we're proud to give
congratulations to the 2010 U.S. National Champion Chad Bastian, of
www.FlyAboveAll.com in
California. The year was abbreviated because we were unable to complete
the Beach Blast event. And congrats also to our runners up, Paul
Lundquist and Dave Fore.
The final standings were:
#1 Chad Bastian with 800 points,
#2 Paul Lundquist with 684 points, and
#3 Dave Fore with 647 points.
Job well done! In 2011 we hope to run at least two events starting
with Paratoys in early Feb (register
here) and also at Beach Blast in May.
U.S. POWERED PARAGLIDER PILOTS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WORLD
XCONTEST
Sept 6, 2010 Have you ever
felt that surge of competitive adrenalin course through your veins just
at that point of a powered paraglider (PPG) flight when your feet break
the bonds of gravity? Perhaps you would like to harness that energy of
wing and will, but you have frankly been somewhat intimidated by the
typical cloverleaf task or Japanese slalom event that requires steep
turns at low altitudes. If so, the World XContest may just be your
ticket to entering the global stage of PPG competition.
This is a great opportunity for National and International
recognition for American PPG pilots, and the best part is that you are
probably already performing the tasks. All that is required is proper
documentation of your flights.
The Paramotor World XContest, http://paramotors.xcontest.org, is open to
all pilots who fly cross country by PPG. "That's all well and good," you
may be thinking, "but all of my flights are flown locally, just for
fun." As we enter the eve of September of 2010, while the world-leading
flight thus far this year is a respectable 214.39 km (133.13 miles) in
length by Lee Soarer from Germany, some of the recorded flights are less
than 1 km (.621 miles) in length. Even your local flights qualify for
consideration.
Here is the deal: Every free flight that is recorded with a Global
Positioning System (GPS) receives a point for each kilometer flown.
Flights
that are flown in a triangle receive two points per km. To get the most
points for your flight, you have to fly a triangle as defined by the
Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). The FAI is located in
Switzerland and has been keeping world-wide aviation records from
human-powered to space flight since 1905. An FAI triangle is defined as
a triangle where the shortest leg of the triangle is greater than 28% of
the total triangle length. Those flights are valued at a whopping four
points per km of distance. As an added bonus, the contest is free, it's
fun, and flights do not have to be pre-declared prior to take-off. Just
record your flight, download your track log to a computer into an IGC
file format, then zoom it off to the World XContest. One of the really
neat aspects of this program is that your flight can then be reviewed on
the XContest web site using Google Earth so that others can see the view
that you actually saw from the air! Your altitude graph data is also
included.
This is the third year of the competition, which awards its winner
with the choice of a new Dudek glider, and the number of countries
represented has swelled from 14 in 2008, to 22 countries as of August of
2010. Incredibly, not a single U.S. pilot is represented among the 243
participants, who have recorded 2304 flights this year. To add to our
fledgling U.S. enticement to participate, at the end of each year, a
national score is tabulated from the best five scores from each country
and is ranked on a world-wide scale. Thefine countries of Armenia and
Suriname are represented in this competition; as of August 2010, the PPG
pilots of the United States of America are not!
Let's step it up a notch, America. We not only need to consider
entering this competition individually, we need to have a national team
represented. This contest is also ripe for sponsorship in 2011. We have
an opportunity for an American PPG company to gain recognition by
offering a suitable prize for our U.S. winners.
The USA had a great showing in our first (invitation by qualification)
international competition at the World Air Games in Turin, Italy, during
the
summer of 2009. America's own Jeff Goin was awarded an admirable sixth
place in that global competition. The World XContest offers our
rank-and-file pilots the opportunity to pick up our flag and proudly fly
with it. Let's have our corner of the aviation industry wave "OLD GLORY"
as
we run with the big dogs on a world-wide scale. Are you "UP" for it,
America?
David R. Rogers,
Member, United States Powered Paragliding Association Competition
Committee
theUSPPA@gmail.com
Why
Compete?
Primarily this is a way to
add another layer of enjoyment for those who aspire to such things. Many
enjoy improving their skills and then comparing their efforts with
fellow pilots all over the country. Secondly, it makes for a more
enjoyable spectator activity as pilots stretch themselves and do
precision tasks that sometimes surprise the un-initiated (and the
initiated as well).
Pilots should also be
keenly aware of an increase in risk during competition. Whenever the
primary focus leaves the simple act of flying safely, there is added
risk. Additionally, pilots are doing more demanding maneuvers, closer to
the ground, and with the additional personal pressure of wanting to do
well. This is why a minimum experience is required (see the Rules
section).
