Race Tips for Newbies

Race Tips for Newbies

• This presentation is designed to help you through your first race.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeLj1Jn2FtA

How Do I Stay Safe?

• Be professional !!!

• Stick to the plan

• Be vigilant for other traffic.

• If you are not comfortable with something, don’t do it.

How It Works

• You are racing the clock, not other racers.

• Aircraft depart in order of fastest first.

• If everything works right, you won’t pass anyone, nor will you be passed.

Racing Conventions & Norms

• Call sign: Use your Race number

• Use knots

• For position reports, use distance from next turn point.

How Should I Plan?• Study the course and rules, provided by

the race organizer

• Go to the race website and carefully read the course description

Make sure your plane is ready

How Should I Plan?• Draw the course on a sectional

– Determine the magnetic course/initial heading for all race legs

– Determine the ground elevation for all legs of the race and establish the legal minimum based on everything seen on the course line

– Locate towers & obstructions along the course line

How Should I Plan?

• Program the race turn points into your GPS. Make sure you know how to use your GPS’s trip function. Fly it.

• Typical GPS coordinates for an airport are usually the CENTER of the airport, not the turn point!

• Double check the organizer's lat/long points with GoogleEarth

How Should I Plan?

• Get on Google Earth or Google Maps and look at the course.

• Estimate how much fuel you will need. (Rule of thumb 100 lbs. costs 1 kt.)

• Get today’s winds aloft, look at the course, and think how that might affect your altitude strategy. Do it again in a couple days when the winds are different.

How Should I Plan?

• Make a race checklist

• Best way: Fly the course ahead of time.

How Should I Plan?

• Think how you will approach each individual turn

• Mark up your sectional charts for radio frequency changes.

In Case of Emergency

In Case of Emergency

• Use Mayday call in the event of engine trouble, fire, etc.

• State position in terms of distance to next turn point.– “Mayday, Mayday. Race 123 is18 miles from turn 3 –

engine trouble”• State intentions – emergency or precautionary• The rest of you keep quiet – The race is over• Closest aircraft: breakoff and visually locate

distressed A/C. Stay with him as needed and relay radio calls.

What is Racing Like?

• Things will be a little different.– Engine running faster.

• Your focus changes to things like:– Strict course and altitude control– Monitoring engine performance.

• Maintain your outside awareness– Head on a swivel

Shortest Distance is a Straight Line

• Strict attention to course.

• Plan your turns ahead of time.

• Best practice would be to fly the course ahead of time.

What Power Setting Should I Use?

• What kind of score would you like, compared to the other racers in your class?

• Wide open throttle, maximum RPM, leaned for best power with the airplane trimmed for hands-off straight and level flight.

What Altitude Should I Fly?

What Altitude Should I Fly?• Sec. 91.119 — Minimum safe altitudes: General.• Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person

may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:• (a) Anywhere. An altitude allowing, if a power unit fails, an

emergency landing without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.

• (b) Over congested areas. Over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons, an altitude of 1,000 feet above the highest obstacle within a horizontal radius of 2,000 feet of the aircraft.

• (c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. In those cases, the aircraft may not be operated closer than 500 feet to any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.

What Altitude Should I Fly?

• Observe the race organizers’ restrictions

• Check winds aloft

• Plan the altitude for each leg based on the aircraft performance parameters in climb, level flight and descent

• Watch your GPS groundspeed to help determine best altitude

What Altitude Should I Fly?

From the SARL e-mail group:

• Here is my rule of thumb, “for every 1000 feet of altitude gained, I need one extra knot of tail wind to make it worth the effort”

Air-to-Air communication• Use assigned frequencies.

• Minimize transmissions.

• Call turns “Race XX, turn 4.”

• When reporting a location, say your race number and distance in Nautical Miles from next turn

How Much Fuel Should I Carry?

• Sec. 91.151 — Fuel requirements for flight in VFR conditions.

• (a) No person may begin a flight in an airplane under VFR conditions unless (considering wind and forecast weather conditions) there is enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and, assuming normal cruising speed—

• (1) During the day, to fly after that for at least 30 minutes;

How Much Fuel Should I Carry?

• Fuel weighs something. Weight detracts little from your speed. – Rule of thumb: 1 kt/100 lbs

• Figure at least 33% more fuel consumption than you would normally use at cruise. Better to test it.

How Do I Enter the Turns?

• Good question • What approach angle?• What bank angle?

– Make the turns tight & precise with the correct outbound heading

• Avoid ballooning in the turn– Find the turn point, fly close, and roll out

precisely on the outbound heading

How to Pass an Aircraft

• FAR 91.113. Each aircraft that is being overtaken has the right-of-way and each pilot of an overtaking aircraft shall alter course to the right to pass well clear. – This often conflicts with race rules that say to pass on

the outside of turns

• Radio call may be in order: “Red RV – Race 22 passing to your right” – KEEP IT BRIEF!

How to Pass an Aircraft

• Passing at turn points

• Pass on the outside of the turn– This can be a problem if the leading racer

doesn’t fly a tight expected course - visual contact is not always possible and inexperienced pilots can get lost! Racers do have to use good judgment in this area.

Finish Line

• Slow, gradual descent

• Watch your redline

• Finish pass - No higher than 250 feet.

• Climb to pattern altitude as soon as you pass the timing point.

• Breathe deeply.

• Be extra vigilant for other aircraft.

Post-Race

• Write down some of the mistakes you made

• Write down some things that would increase your time

• Now, go and enter another race!