SDHGPA XC contest 2019

The SDHGPA 2018-2019 Season XC Contest pages have been set up for the year and ready to list & score flights for the season.

Looks like Brad is in the current leader position for this year, but hold onto your seat boards as we are just two months in and the prime season is yet to begin. 

You don't need to be a contest leader to join in on the fun. The Shirt Awards are for individual achievements and . . .  it is never too late to join in!

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Not just for the big fish . . .
Open and fun for those just starting out in XC flying . . .

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Chris Cote on the Annual SDHGPA XC Contest:

The annual SDHGPA XC Contest is just getting under way for the 2018-2019 Season (Nov-October). I'd like to ensure all newer pilots know of this contest and I can help if anyone has questions.

Below is a few bits of info.
If you'd like to take part:

1. Join SDHGPA ($40 a/year).
2. Get added to the SDHGPA PG Forum Leonardo filter.
3. Go fly and post your flights to Leonardo.

If your an aspiring low hour pilot do the above then start by:

• making it out to Blossom, get to know that site and the pilots. Blossom is a great site for honing your skills mid week.
• Little black is another great site, but sees less daily use.
• Palomar is our prime site to hone your skills when starting out and is fantastic for low stress small close into home (designated LZs) triangles and testing bigger glides. Palomar is also great for bigger triangles by flying the flats and jumping spines for more advanced pilots.
• Volunteering to drive retrieve is another way to learn without the risk.
• Having a tracker linked to livetrack24 and the xcfind page is necessary for many reasons not only for XC, but adds to your safety while site flying. There is also an option of running free apps on your phone that can also link to livetrack24 without a satellite tracker & satellite tracking plan. (Best practice is to run both satellite & phone tracking for redundancy) 
• Familiarize yourself with Leonardo it has some search functions, under the SDHGPA filter you can easily see our local pilots flights. It's a great tool for learning routes, where others have found thermals and so on.

You don't need a high $$ instrument for xc flight. There are many apps you can run on your phone coupled to a Bluetooth vario. Track logs can be uploaded directly from your phone too!

The contest will help you to learn our sites, get better at weather guessing and ultimately help you fly more and better!

All the specifics for the contest are on the Club website under More & XC Contest. Any question can be posted here or sent to myself or Steve Rohrbaugh.

Any other seasoned pilot have recommendations please add those in the comments.
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Safe flights!!