SSA United States Decentralized Soaring Contest (SSA-UDSC) Competition Rules

1 General Rules

1.1 Purpose of the SSA-UDSC

To promote cross-country soaring and support the development of competitive pilots within soaring clubs and organizations affiliated with the Soaring Society of America (SSA). To determine the United States National Champion in cross-country soaring.

1.2 Organizer

The organizer is the Soaring Society of America (SSA).

1.3 Competition Date and Location

The SSA-UDSC takes place during the scoring period from October 1st to September 30th. Only flights conducted within this period will be scored. The SSA-UDSC is conducted on a decentralized basis.

1.4 Clubs and Participants

Participating clubs may be any soaring club that is a member of the Soaring Society of America. Furthermore, participating clubs based at the same airfield may form local combined teams. Participants may be any glider pilot holding a current membership in a participating club or the SSA. Participants may submit flights for up to two participating clubs within a single scoring period. Participants are considered Juniors if their 25th birthday falls within the calendar years of the competition, or if they are younger.

1.5 Rules

Participants are solely responsible for compliance with all applicable legal and governmental regulations (e.g., Federal Aviation Regulations - FARs), as well as all other rules and recommendations applicable to glider flight.

The FAI Sporting Code for Gliding applies to the planning and execution of scored flights, unless superseded by specific regulations in these SSA-UDSC rules. Distance calculations are based on the WGS84 ellipsoid model (Vincenty's formulae). Only flights with a launch within the United States will be considered for scoring. Scored flights must be submitted online via the WeGlide platform.

1.6 Registration for the Competition

A participant's first submitted flight for scoring is considered their registration for the competition. By registering, the participant accepts the SSA-UDSC rules and waives the right of legal recourse. With the submission of a flight for scoring, the participant consents to the collection, processing, and use of personal data for the purposes of scoring and publication of flight data. The data privacy policy available on the WeGlide platform used for flight submission shall apply.

1.7 Violations

Participating clubs and individuals who attempt to gain an advantage in the standings through false statements or unfair methods may be disqualified from the current SSA-UDSC. In cases of intentional violations of the SSA-UDSC rules, a 5-year ban will be imposed, and the name of the person/club concerned will be published. For repeat offenses, the ban is extended to 10 years. Regional SSA organizations reserve the right to take further action in such cases.

1.8 Protests

A protest must be submitted to info@weglide.org no later than 48 hours after the flight has been scored. A decision on a protest should be made promptly, and no later than October 10th following the end of the scoring period.

1.9 Awards Ceremony

The announcement and publication of the winners of the SSA-UDSC for the respective scoring period, as well as the awards ceremony, will take place at the subsequent SSA Convention.

2 Scoring Categories

Participants may submit any number of flights for scoring. Each flight must be uniquely assigned to one participating club. A flight is scored in the class assigned to the glider type in the current DMSt handicap list. All gliders with a handicap up to and including 106 may also be scored in the Club Class.

Club Class aircraft may be flown with variable ballast in accordance with the flight and operating manual. If a participant has submitted flights in aircraft from different classes, they will be scored in each of those respective classes or categories.

Flights in two-seat gliders will also be counted in the Women's or Junior's rankings (2.2.1.1, 2.2.1.2) if the co-pilot is also a woman or Junior, or if the two-seater is flown solo. All flights are scored using the handicap of the aircraft according to the currently valid DMSt handicap list.

2.1 Class Distance Scoring

Winners in the distance scoring categories are determined in the following classes:

• Open Class
• 18-Meter Class
• 15-Meter Class
• Standard Class
• Club Class
• Two-Seater Class

The winner in each class is the participant with the highest point total from their best five flights in that class.

2.2 UDSC Ranking Lists

A cumulative Distance Ranking List will be created using the five highest-scoring distance flights from each participant, taken from any of the individual classes listed in 2.1.

2.2.1 Distance Ranking List - Women

The scored distance flights of female pilots will be additionally compiled into a Distance Ranking List for Women. The individual winner is the participant with the highest point total from her five best flights.

2.2.2 Distance Ranking List - Juniors

The scored distance flights of Junior pilots will be additionally compiled into a Distance Ranking List for Juniors. The individual winner is the participant with the highest point total from their five best flights.

2.3 Team Distance Scoring

Three participants from a single participating club form a team with their single highest-scoring distance flight from the ranking list under 2.2.1. Multiple teams per club are possible. The winning team is the participating club with the highest point total for its team.

2.4 SSA Gold & Silver League

The SSA Gold & Silver League is a team competition for all clubs participating in the SSA-UDSC. The League takes place over 19 weekends between late April and August of a competition year. The exact schedule will be announced no later than March of the competition year. Each weekend constitutes one round.

2.4.1 SSA Gold & Silver League System

The SSA Gold & Silver League system is structured hierarchically as follows:

• The SSA Gold League is the highest division, with 25 clubs. At the end of the season, the bottom five clubs are relegated and will be replaced in the following season by the top five teams from the SSA Silver League.

• The SSA Silver League is the second-highest division, with all other clubs. The top five teams are promoted to the SSA Gold League.

2.3.2 SSA Gold & Silver League Scoring

The basis for the SSA Gold & Silver League round scores is the points result from a club's flights on a given weekend, calculated as the sum of the three best results from different participants in the WeGlide speed scoring (4.2), weighted at 100%.

The points results of the participating clubs for a weekend are sorted in descending order and ranked. The championship points for the SSA Gold & Silver League rounds are awarded as follows:

• Every club with a valid score receives at least one championship point.
• The 1st place club gets three more points than 2nd place, up to a maximum of 20 points.
• Clubs in 2nd-4th place get two more points than the club ranked below them.
• Clubs in 5th-14th place get one more point than the club ranked below them.

In the overall standings, the championship points from all rounds are summed. The winner of each SSA Gold & Silver League is the participating club with the highest total number of championship points.

3 Flight Documentation and Submission

Flights may only be documented using IGC-approved GNSS flight recorders or with position recorders approved by the SSA Contest Committee (e.g., Flarm without IGC approval, FlyWithCE). The task declaration must be made in the same flight recorder used to document the flight.

Cross-country tasks can be declared online or via a GNSS flight recorder: For GNSS flight recorders, the last valid declaration (C-record in the flight recorder) before the actual flight is binding.

The online declaration is made via the SSA-UDSC organizer's platform. If an online declaration exists, any declaration in a GNSS flight recorder or position recorder is void. An online declaration is only valid if it:

• is made before take-off, and
• no other online declaration is made after take-off until the flight is submitted. The IGC file must have a valid digital signature (G-record). This implies that the file can be validated using standardized procedures.

The participant is responsible for the proper documentation of the flight. A flight will only be scored if it is conducted from the departure point to the finish point without motor assistance, and an uninterrupted altitude trace and proper documentation of the flight path from takeoff to landing are proven. If motor assistance is used between the departure and finish points, the flight will only be scored up to the last coordinate proven to be reached without propulsion.

The interval between two recording points should not exceed four seconds. If technical problems occur, gaps in the flight recording of up to 180 seconds will be tolerated. Flights must be submitted online by 12:00 PM (noon) local time on the second day following the flight.

4 Scored Flights and Procedures

A minimum score of 50 points for distance is required for a flight to be ranked.

4.1 Distance Scoring

Flights from a departure point over up to three turnpoints (max. four turnpoints for a quadrilateral, max. twelve for multi-lap tasks) to a finish point can be scored. The altitude difference between the lowest possible departure point and the highest possible finish point may not exceed 1000m.

4.1.1 Declared Tasks

For a declared task, all goal points of the flight (start, turnpoints, and finish) must be uniquely defined by their geographical coordinates in the flight recorder or via online declaration in the specified sequence before take-off. For closed-course flights, the start and finish points must be identical. A flight with different task declarations in different flight or position recorders is not permitted and will be considered an intentional violation of the SSA-UDSC rules. The goal points must be flown and documented in the declared sequence.

4.1.2 Free Flights

For undeclared, so-called "free" flights, only recorded coordinates from the flight path will be used as the start, turn, and finish points. Free flights are considered closed-course if the start and finish points are no more than 1 km apart. Free flights are possible over a maximum of three turnpoints.

4.1.3 Documentation of Start, Finish, and Turnpoints

Turnpoints are considered successfully rounded if entry into the 90° sector (per the Sporting Code) is documented. The start and finish points are considered successfully passed if entry into a 1 km radius circle around the start/finish point is documented.

4.1.4 Point Calculation

The score for a flight is calculated from the scoring distance in kilometers (km), plus the sum of any applicable bonuses on the scoring distance, divided by the aircraft's handicap/100.

4.1.5 Bonus Rules

Declared tasks that are successfully completed and documented according to 4.1.3 receive a 30% bonus.

4.1.5.1 Triangle Task

For a closed-course triangle flight, an additional 40% bonus is added if:

1. the shortest leg is at least 28% of the total distance, or
2. for a scoring distance of 500 km or more, the shortest leg is at least 25% and the longest leg is no more than 45% of the total distance.

For triangle flights, the distance between the three turnpoints is considered the scoring distance. The start point can be located on a leg between two vertices of the triangle.

4.1.5.2 Quadrilateral Task

For a closed-course SSA-UDSC quadrilateral flight, an additional 40% bonus is added if the area between the turnpoints (or turnpoints and start/finish point) can be described by two triangles for which:

• both triangles must meet the same requirement as in 4.1.5.1
• the triangles must share one identical leg
• the triangles must not overlap

The scoring distance for quadrilateral flights is the perimeter of the quadrilateral. The start point can be located on a leg between two vertices of the quadrilateral. Free (undeclared) quadrilateral flights are not permitted for scoring.

4.1.5.3 Out-and-Return Task

For a closed-course SSA-UDSC out-and-return flight, an additional 30% bonus is added for a flight from a start point, over one turnpoint, and back to the finish point.

4.1.5.4 Straight-Line Distance Task

For a SSA-UDSC straight-line distance flight, an additional 30% bonus is added for a flight from a start point to a finish point.

5 Additional Rules for Motor Gliders

The motor glider must carry a flight recorder with a propulsion recording device suitable for the engine system, as specified in the FAI Sporting Code, Section 3.

6 Error Codes

The validation of flights is based on the Error Codes defined by the provider, WeGlide.