July 5 was a good day for FAI triangles**.  Thanks for towing, Rick!
Dan & 
Greg join the New England 500K FAI triangle club, which I reckon numbers about 8 pilots and fewer than 20 such flights.  These guys have it figured out.  Superb flying.  Well done!
Evan had a good day, as well.  Most of the flight was too involved for sight seeing, but the Green Mtns offered "hero conditions" that allowed a moment of relaxation and a few quick photos.
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| T8 Northbound on the Green Mtns.  Mt Snow at center. | 
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| Same location as photo above, looking NE. | 
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| Same location, looking East. | 
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| EA approaching NH's lakes region. | 
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| Lake Winnipesaukee as seen from EA. | 
**For courses under 750km, the definition of an FAI triangle is a course defined by three waypoints, with the shortest of three legs being at least 28% of the total distance.  The start & finish points must be co-located, and may be either on one leg or at a vertex.  If more than 750K, the definition isn't quite that restrictive, but nothing we've needed to worry about in New England.  Yet.
 
 
9 comments:
What is an "FAI Triangle?"
Making the start/end point a vertex of the triangle forces the other two vertices to be farther from "home", thus a bigger challenge - especially with the added requirement of per-declaring the turnpoints. My personal challenge for years has been such a 300km triangle. I managed that once, 20 years ago. Still trying for the same again, with shorter wings this time.
Hi Moshe. That doesn't make sense. There is no requirement to start/finish at a vertex of the triangle in any Sporting Code achievement, as far as I know.
A FAI Triangle is a right triangle. Fly the right triangle and you win.
Don't be obtuse, Gregg.
What happens if you declare a 751 km triangle that barely satisfies the 25% rule, but you claim the two turnpoints by flying just within the 500m circles?
Your credited distance is reduced to 749 km. Is that still a legal FAI triangle?
Triangle Lines Matter
Rick: like I said, it's my personal challenge. Nothing official with the FAI or any other group. And when I say "pre-declare" I mean to myself. And perhaps to my buddies. It's all for fun.
I guess this one doesn't count, since the start/end point is in the middle of a leg. Oh well.
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=5947239
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