Local Rules

Parâng Open 2016 Petrosani, Hunedoara, Romania http://www.airtribune.com/po2016 Version 1.0.2/25.06.2016

Introduction

Parâng Open 2016 is a FAI-2 paragliding cross country (XC) open competition, the 3'rd stage of Romanian Championship and Romanian Cup. Competition will held in the area of Parâng Mountain near Petrosani, Huneadoara County, Romania between 20 July 2016 and 24 July 2016.

Sporting Code

Parâng Open 2016 runs according to the General Section and Section 7b of the FAI Sporting Code. References to Section 7b refer to the latest edition of this Code that can be found at http://www.fai.org/downloads/civl/SC_7B. These additions supersede section 7b and are in place to promote pilot safety and improve the sporting nature of the events.

Purposes

Sporting Behaviour

  1. Behaviour Competitors not behaving in a fair, safe, proper, friendly and a sporting manner will be penalised and may be disqualified.
  2. Abuse Any Verbal or Physical abuse of any of the competition officials will be dealt with according to the FAI General section chapter 5.2 of the sporting code rule concerning stewards and jury members and Section 7b Chapter 12 of the FAI Sporting Code.

Safe flying

All pilots fly under their own responsibility. It is each pilot's responsibility to take all necessary actions to maintain their own safety during the competition and to ensure that they do not act in any way that might endanger any other pilots during the competition. It is a condition of entry to the Parâng Open 2016 competition for all pilots to accept without restriction to hold the Organisers blameless, and waive all claims to compensation.

Sportsmanship

The purpose of the Parâng Open 2016 is to provide a sporting, fair, competitive and safe contest, to determine event winners in the many different categories involved, see §8, and to reinforce friendship among competitors and pilots from visiting nations.

Flying Site

Tasks will be held in Parâng Mountain, Huneadoara County, Romania with possibility of triangles. Access to flying site is from Petrosani city.

Takeoff area

Bancute Take Off

Croco's Take Off

Organisation

Lead organizer is Club Sportiv SkyTribe Timisoara http://skytribe.ro/contact and their members.

Event runs under auspice of Aeronautic Federation of Romania (FAR) and the Federation Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).

Staff

  1. Meet Director Ilie Mihai, mihaiiliebalon@yahoo.com,Tel: +40 (723) 245 924

  2. Safety and Competition Director Valeriu Jurca (Croco), croco@parangsports.com, Tel: +40 (723) 593 424

  3. Scoring Gheza Luka, Email: gheza@skytribe.ro, Tel: +40 (747) 025 193

  4. Retrieve Manager Valentin Nagy, vali@skytribe.ro, Tel: +40 (0)729 009 619

  5. Accomodation Manager Mihai Roventa, mihai@skytribe.ro, Tel: +40 (0)723 306 191

Documentation required for registration

Insurance

We advise all participants to have a valid medical healthcare insurance (covering all hospital expenses, rescue and repatriation) as well as third party liability insurance with an insured limit of at least EUR 50 000 (or foreign currency equivalent).

Entry fee, registration and selection

  1. Entry Fee

    90,- € for all participants (93,53 € for PayPal payments).

  2. Payment methods Bank Transfer, PayPal, Cash at registration. Paypal and Bank details are found on the event website: https://airtribune.com/po2016/info/details__selection

  3. Registration All registrations are to be made on the event website: http://www.airtribune.com/po2016

  4. Selection Maximum allowed number of pilots is 60.

    If there are more than 60 registered participants, pilots will be selected by payment date.

  5. Validation The registration is only valid once the organisation has received the registration fee. The pilot will be marked as Confirmed on the event website.

  6. Cancellation of registration The registration may be cancelled by the pilot, and the registration fee minus bank transfer fees returned, up until two weeks before the event. After this deadline the registration fee will only be returned provided another pilot from the waiting list is found to fill the vacant space.

The registration fee includes

Schedule

Parâng Open 2016 will take place between 20 July 2016 and 24 July 2016.

  1. General schedule

    Tuesday, 19 July 2016

    Official Registration and Training Day

    18:00-21:00 Registration

    Wednesday, 20 July, 2016

    Registration and competition day

    09:00-10:00 Registration

    10:00 Mandatory Safety Briefing

    11:00 Competition day

    Thursday, 21 July - Sunday, 24 July, 2016

    Competition days

    Sunday, 24 July, 2016

    19:00 Prize giving ceremony

  2. Daily schedule

    09:00 - Headquarter opens

    10:00 - Deadline for the previous day protests

    11:00 - Daily briefing and transportation to Take off

Any other schedule items are subject to Meet Director regulations

Open Class

Open Class is permitted at the Parâng Open 2016 competition.

Prize classes

All categories compete for FAI points (WPRS).

1st, 2nd and 3rd ranked Overall in the competition

All participating pilots will be ranked.

1st ranked Team in the competition

Participating pilots can be part of a team. Please specify at registration your desired team. Team score for each task will be assembled from best 2 results.

IMPORTANT: Pilots holding a Romanian NAC licence will be automatically assigned in a corresponding team based on their sporting club membership.

1st ranked Sport Class (EN-C, LTF/DHV 2)

There are prizes for 1st in the Sport Class, if there are not less than 5 registered pilots. If you are competing in the Sport Class, please make sure you are registered as flying as Sport Class (EN-C, LTF/DHV 2) wing at the registration.

1st ranked Fun Class (up to EN-B, LTF/DHV 1-2)

There are prizes for 1st in the Fun Class as well, if there are not less than 5 registered pilots. If you are competing in the Fun Class, please make sure you are registered as flying as Sport Class (up to EN-B, LTF/DHV 1-2) wing at the registration.

1st, 2nd and 3rd ranked Woman

Women participate in Overall and Women’s ratings.

Romanian National Champion

This year the Romanian National Champion will be selected from at least 3 competitions, Siria Open 2016, SkyTribe XC 2016 and Parâng Open 2016.

The ranking will be calculated by adding resulting scores from all competitions.

Only pilots licensed under the Romanian NAC (FAR) are eligible to take part.

Organisers and Committees

  1. Meet Director (MD) The Meet Director is responsible for the successful management of the flying part of the event, assisted by other officials

  2. Task & Safety Committee (TC) The Task & Safety Committee consists of:

    This task committee must unanimously agree each day’s task, considering all issues affecting task safety. They should also remain in contact during the task in order to continuously evaluate conditions and make decisions regarding safety.

  3. Protest Committee Following a protest, at the next general briefing two pilots shall be elected by the pilots and will constitute, with the MD, the jury in charge of dealing with a protest. Protest Committee will decide for punishments, if needed.

Transport to takeoff, retrieve and second start

  1. Transport to takeoff The transport to takeoff will be done by car . All pilots will be almost at same time on the takeoff.

  2. Retrieval Retrieval will be done by cars, buses and off-road vehicles.

    Go to Retrieve Rules section.

Complaints, Protests and Appeals

  1. Any pilot enrolled in the competition can make a written (in English) complaint to the Meet Director. It has to be made within 1 hour from the announcement of the provisional results. The Meet Director will deal with the complaint.

  2. If the person complaining is not satisfied with the outcome, he has the right to protest.

  3. Protests must be made in writing (in English) and be handed to the MD with a protest fee of EUR 30 within 2 hours of the announcement of the decision regarding the complaint. The protest committee decision will be displayed on the official information board. The fee will be refunded if the appeal is upheld.

Tasks and Scoring

Scoring begins when the pilot brings GPS to download tracks at the competition HQ. The opening of the physical scoring will be announced at the task briefing.

Tasks will be scored using the FS scoring program using the latest GAP scoring formula. GAP parameters will be announced at registration.

The list of available tasks corresponds to FAI code.

Flying and safety regulations

  1. Compliance with Law Each competitor is required to conform to the law and rules of the air of the country in which the event is taking place.

  2. Airspace Task setting will avoid flying through restricted airspace where possible. Pilots must be fully conversant with air law and must be in possession of an altimeter.

  3. Flight Limitations Each glider shall be flown within the limitations of its Certificate of Airworthiness or Permit to Fly and its manufacturer's published limitations. Any manoeuvre hazardous to himself other competitors or the public is prohibited.

  4. Damage to a Competing Glider Any major damage shall be reported to the Meet Director without delay and the glider may then be repaired. Any replacement parts must conform exactly to the original specifications. The Meet Director can give permission to replace the glider, for reasons of damage, loss or theft beyond the control of the competitor. It may be replaced by an identical make and model, or by one with similar or lower performance, eligible to fly in the same class. The Meet Director may allow resumption of the original glider when it is retrieved or repaired.

  5. Protective Equipment Every competitor shall wear a certified protective helmet and must carry a serviceable reserve parachute. All pilots must fly with a harness certified to EN1651, LTF09, or LTF03. The harness must be equipped with a back protector certified to LTF09 or LTF03.

  6. Fitness A pilot may not fly unless he/she is fit. Any injury, drugs or medication taken which might affect the competitor's performance in the air, must be reported to the Meet Director before flying.

  7. Collision Avoidance Circuit, turning and landing patterns given at the briefing must be complied with International collision avoidance regulations and good observation must be kept at all times. Any glider joining a thermal established by another glider shall circle in the same direction, regardless of height separation.

  8. Turn Direction The MD will confirm each day the direction of all 360 deg. turns in front of take-off, within a given area and time. Failure to comply with turn direction will incur a penalty.

  9. Cloud Flying Cloud flying is defined as any part of the glider or the pilot disappearing into cloud. Cloud flying is prohibited and will be controlled by flying marshals, GPS track log and evidence supplied by more than one pilot. For safety reasons, including collective cloud flying, the MD may cancel the task before the last landing time. Should a pilot enter cloud he/she must be seen by pilots to return to a point of no advantage. This means leaving the cloud in a timely and safe manner and losing height to return to a position lower and further (in relation to next turn point/goal objective) than when the pilot entered cloud.

  10. External Aid to Competitors External aid to competitors is not permitted

  11. Communication Equipment Radios should be carried in flight by all participating competition pilots and radios may only be used in the air for safety reasons. The Organiser of the event will announce an official safety frequency. For retrieval the Organiser may announce one or more frequencies. The Organiser is not responsible for pilots flying without a radio. Voice activated microphones (VOX operated) are not allowed and must be deactivated. Frequency on 2m radios will be within 144 -146 MHz range (VHF).

    We recommend that you leave your mobile phone switched on and readily reachable during flights. This MAY aid in locating you if you are injured, and it will surely make it easier for yourself to call for help. Additionally we higly recommend to use the Airtribune App on your smartphone which provide quick location of each pilot participating in the competition.

  12. GPS

GPS will be used for flight validation. Each pilot must be equipped with at least one GPS with the ability to record a (3d) track log. If the primary GPS fails a second GPS with a 2D track log may be acceptable to validate a competitor's flight provided there is no dispute over the flight ( NOT IN THE CASE OF ALTITUDE VIOLATION FLIGHT ) .

GPS needs to have a 3d track log or be in accordance with the FAI Section 7B

Pilots should provide the proper software and cables.

IMPORTANT: In the case of restricted airspace by flight altitude, pilot will be ask to present a valid 3D GPS track. Please note that some instruments are not recording gps altitude into the track log. Such a recording will be not accepted in the case of altitude check. It is pilot responsibility to have adequate instrumentation in such an event.

  1. Pre-fliers The competition’s Pre-fliers will be notified to all pilots at the competition briefings. They will be experienced pilots familiar with the local sites, who understand the importance of their role. They will not be competitors.

  2. Punishments Protest Committee will deal with protests and decide punishments, if needed.

Live Tracking using Airtribune (optional)

For this event, you can benefit of Airtribune Live Tracking using an Android/IOS operated phone with a data plan (pilots responsability) and the Airtribune App.

  1. For Live Tracking on this event please prepare:

  2. Benefits

Safety Report Back system

  1. Assumed participation If you have registered for the event and are present on the registration evening we will assume that you are also flying all tasks unless you specifically tell us the opposite. This means that if you do not report back before the report deadline a search-and-rescue operation will be initiated.

  2. Reporting back It is very important that you let us know as soon as practically possible that you have landed and you are safe and sound. "As soon as practically possible" means right after landing, or as soon as you have GSM coverage thereafter. The preferred method of reporting back is by using the Airtribune App or by phone call / SMS to the retrieve phone number. Go to Retrieve Rules

Start cylinders, turn points and goals

  1. Start systems used The start system for both Elapsed Time races and Race to Goal tasks is a start cylinder that must be either entered or exited after a time given on the briefing. We may decide to have a Turnpoint 0 that must be taken BEFORE the start cylinder. This is done to reduce congestion in the air around the start.

  2. Turnpoints The Parâng Open 2016 competition uses GPS for task verification. This means, among other things, that all turnpoints are "virtual", i.e. if there is discrepancy between the physical object on the ground and the GPS coordinates then the latter overrules the former. All turnpoint sectors are FAI 400 m radius cylinders, and there is no tolerance on turnpoints. It is up to the pilot to make sure that there are track log points stored in his GPS from inside the turnpoint cylinder.

  3. Goal The goal is also a "virtual" cylinder with a 400 m radius. We may set a larger goal cylinder where the time is stopped but to be awarded the time points you must still make it into the smaller goal cylinder. This is one way to make sure that pilots do not race too hard close to the ground. There are no goal marshals to time goal arrival – arrival times are taken from the pilot's GPS.

Validation of tasks

  1. Task Validity The task will be validated when: The Launch window has been open for the minimum required time. The formula for the minimum required time is as follows: Number of competitors flying the task multiplied by 30 seconds.

  2. Stopping of a Task The Meet Director can stop a task in case of hazardous weather or other conditions that in his view could endanger the safety of pilots before the landing deadline is expired. Stopping of a task is announced on the safety frequency. Pilots who has heard cancellation must land as soon as possible while respecting the safety of their own and other pilots. If one or more pilots have reached goal at the time the task was stopped, the task is scored. If not the task is cancelled with no score.

  3. Cancellation after Landing Time After the last landing time a task can only be cancelled by a safety committee decision. The MD can ask for a decision on the validation of a task.

  4. Assistance to a Pilot in Danger All pilots must gather up their gliders immediately after landing. A glider lying open on the ground means "I need help!"

  5. Compensation to an Assisting Pilot A pilot rescuing an injured pilot will be compensated task points equal to his own average in the competition so far. For example a pilot who has scored 920, 771 and 894 in the three previous tasks will be awarded 861.66 (= 862) points after task 4 where he landed to assist an injured pilot. Landing to assist an injured pilot during task 1 will give the average score of all pilots on this day. If the task in question is not a 1000 points task, the score given to the helpful pilot will be calculated as follows:

    Winner of the day = 500 points (example)

    Helpful pilot average of previous tasks = 862 points or 86.2% of full day score. Score of helpful pilot on 500 point day= 500 x 0.862 = 431 points.

Retrieve rules

  1. Explanation The retrieve system is based on the same principal as the transport to launch in the morning. The system can only function if you are disciplined about your communications with the retrieve officers and/or drivers!

  2. Limitations The organised retrieve is limited to main roads along the task course. If you land in a rugged area, it is your responsibility to make it to a main road – these will be specified at the Task Briefings!

  3. Retrieve communications Once you have reached a main road you have a decision to make: You may decide to organise your own retrieve (by hitch hiking e.g.), or You may contact the retrieve officer for a retrieve.

    These two options should not be mixed! Once you have sent an SMS/Airtribune Message to the retrieve officer to ask for a retrieve from a position along a main road you should not hitch hike to another location! Doing so will confuse the system and cause delays for all the other pilots being retrieved, and you may be penalised in your day score if you muck it up sufficiently. You may cancel a retrieve via SMS if a very good lift turns up, but once you have cancelled your retrieve we do not want to have new SMS from you with retrieve wishes.

  4. Retrieve using Airtribune Android App Pilots using the Airtribune Live Tracking App can use the app for retrieve coordination. This is the preferred method of retrieve communications.

    Go to the Live Tracking using Airtribune section

  5. The retrieve SMS/Message The retrieve SMS should look as follows: Pilot no. XX wishes to be retrieved from GPS coordinates or approximate location (Village, junction, Turnpoint, km N-E-S-W of village/junction along road no).

We will not confirm the receipt of your SMS's at the competition HQ. You need to trust the system to work. One pilot may send a retrieve SMS for a group of pilots waiting in the same spot, but remember to ask all if they intend to remain there until the bus arrives, moreover remember to include all the pilot numbers in the SMS.

Imperfect days

If the weather in the morning is looking bad but there is hope of a late task we will be postponing the briefings up to the final decision.

Event results and reports

The official web-site https://airtribune.com/po2016 will reflect all the Event results.