An Introduction to Gliding Competitions.

Like many sports, Gliding has evolved through competition. Ever since man first took to the air, pilots of these heavier-than-air craft have been trying to out-do each other. At first, it was who could fly the the longest (measured in minutes), the furthest (in the early days this was measured in metres), and the highest (also measured in metres). The first of these, duration, died out quite quickly as pilots were able to stay aloft almost indefinitely on the rising air caused by wind blowing over ridges; the flights were terminated after the pilots eventually fell asleep at the controls. However, as gliders got better, speed became increasingly important . Not surprisingly, duration as a competitive sport has disappeared. Although there are still records of distance, speed and height to be broken, when gliding competitions are discussed, it is usually referring to pilots racing against each other to see who can complete a cross-country in the shortest time.

Cross-country flights are now measured in kilometres (many flights from Booker exceeding 500 and several 750) and speeds are measured kilometres per hour (100 plus is not uncommon). There are also competitive aerobatic competitions. Indeed some gliders are fully aerobatic and can perform a surprisingly wide range of manoeuvres which can include inverted flight.

As both glider performance and pilot ability became good enough for gliders to fly away from their home airfield cross-country started. In the early days, it often involved seeing who could fly the furthest away (called 'free-distance), or to another airfield (or goal). This resulted in some incredibly long retrieves for the poor crew who had to come and get the pilot, and his machine, from the far edge of Cornwall or the west coast of Wales, often driving right through the night without the benefit of motorways and in the middle of the summer holidays. Modern competitions now consist almost exclusively of closed tasks where everyone races around an aerial route that finishes up back at base. As the weather plays a major part in the choice of these tasks, as well as the performance of the machines, and the experience level of the pilots, the final decision on the task for the day is often made only a few minutes before launch. Tasks of up to 500km. have been set and completed at past Booker competitions.

All modern competitive gliders carry satellite navigation units as well as flight recorders. This enables them to navigate precisely and safely around their task. These logger records are used to calculate the winning time and also to check the pilot's route, even for infringement of airspace regulations, which incur penalties. If pilots do not complete the task and "land out", they receive a proportion of the winners points for their distance, but no "speed points". A substantial proportion of the points are usually awarded for completing the task, with the remainder made up from the speed element.