NATS scoring?

Please pardon the dumb question... but, How is PA at the NATs (or any other contest for that matter) scored? Not points per maneuver but for the event? What is the procedure?

Generally, you have 3 attempts to fly 2 official flights. The best score of the two is used to determine your position.

At the nats, for multiple round events, total scores for two official flights are used.

A flight can be aborted anytime up to the wingover for any reason.

Once that manuever is begun, the flight becomes official even if it is not completed or is over run.

>
>A flight can be aborted anytime up to the wingover for any
>reason.
>
>Once that manuever is begun, the flight becomes official
>even if it is not completed or is over run.
>
>Curt

Actually, it's when you pull out inverted in the Reverse Wingover.
If you pull out upright, I guess you could re-adjust your jaw and try it again. Prior to that, you can signal the judges and call it an attempt. Interestingly enuf, the Beginner Pattern has no Reverse WO, thus this "bailout" is not available. I would like to see this addressed in the regs by allowing the Beginners to complete the WO and then wave off the pattern. It may also be a good idea to specify a few alternate signals. You just never know, somebody could have their signaling arm in a cast or something. Steve

>If you pull out upright, I guess you could re-adjust your
>jaw and try it again.
Absolutely right. In fact, it happened to me during the Nats. My nerves were a little shaken but I was able to put in an okay flight (lucky it wasn't an FAI competition, though).
-Rob G.

>Please pardon the dumb question... but, How is PA at the
>NATs (or any other contest for that matter) scored? Not
>points per maneuver but for the event? What is the
>procedure?

Each maneuver (in the US) gets judged individually with a range of 10-40 points (except landing which can be a zero). Then there are 25 pattern points for doing all and in order and up to 20 appearance points added to the total for a possible 645 maximum. Unlike ice skating where a tenth of a point from a perfect score is considered bad, here 500 to 550 is considered excellent to very excellent.

Some local contests will have two flights in a day and the best score used as your final.

Some events will use preliminary rounds and then finals.

For the Advanced and Open events which are now getting the publicity because of Friday's winds, The contestants are divided into two groups. Wednesday and Thursday each group is given the opportunity to fly two flights with an additional attempt if needed. Everyone in the group flies before the same judges and the best score from Wednesday and Thursday is added together to get the final results for qualifying. The top ten in each circle then advance to Friday and all previous scores for them are erased. It is here, for the first time, that all contestants in Advanced and all contestants in open fly before the same judges. They are again given the opportunity to fly two flights, but both are added together and this determines the placement in Advanced. For Open, positions 6-20 are determined on Friday and the top 5 move on to Saturday to now fly three flights before the same judges with the top 2 being added together to determine the final score. Friday was thus a qualifying round in Open to determine who would fly on Saturday for the top 5 positions. Thus survival became the name of the game as both Advanced and Open contestants needed two flights to place at the top. (And of course, it was still going to be the highest score, even if that was given through one flight, or even a partial flight or combination of such.)