Manufacturer’s team trophy

The following has also been emailed to everyone who competed in the 2003 UK National Championships

 

Now the UK Foot Launched Microlight National Championships are over, it has been noted that there wasn’t anything published in the 2003 rules about how Manufacturer’s teams should be scored despite the fact that a Manufacturer’s team winner was announced at the prize-giving. 

 

Due to the absence of any rules, the only conclusion therefore is that any announcement which was made must have been invalid and must be withdrawn; there was no winner of a Manufacturer’s team trophy at the 2003 UK foot launched National Championships.

 

This is an error of the championship Director, which won’t happen again, and he sincerely apologises for any confusion which has arisen.

For the future

The principle behind a Manufacturer’s team trophy is that it should be totally independent of any restrictions by way of the pilot’s nationality.  This is designed to encourage manufacturers to support pilots competing in championships, and in the case of a National Championships where non-residents may not be eligible for the main prize, still enables them to compete for something.

 

The only rules that have been published for a Manufacturer’s team trophy are the ones for the 2003 World Championships, which are a close facsimile of the rules used in the 2001 World Air Games in Spain.  They are contained in the WMC 2003 local regulations as Annex 1 and copied here.

 

WMC 2003  Local Regulations, Annex 1, Organiser’s Trophies 1            Pilot achievement score 1.1          A Pilot Achievement Score (PAS) will be calculated in the following manner.             PAS score = Where: Sp = total pilot score in all tasks in the class Smax = maximum possible score in all tasks in the class 1.2          A pilot may only be awarded a PAS if, at the end of the championships he is not disqualified and the class he was competing in is a valid championship class in all respects. 2          Manufacturer’s Team Trophies. 2.1         Will be awarded in the Classic, PPG and PPT Classes. The team score is the sum of the 3 greatest PAS scores in each team. 2.2          Before the start of the championship, pilots of any nation may assemble themselves into teams where: Classic classes: their airframe OR engine are made by the same manufacturer. PPG: their backpack OR canopy OR engine are made by the same manufacturer. PPT: their airframe OR canopy OR engine are made by the same manufacturer - Each team will be identified by the manufacturer’s name. - There may be only one team for each manufacturer. - Pilots may not transfer between teams once the championship has started. - There must be least 5 teams with a minimum of two pilots in each team.

 

Although it looks complicated, a ‘Pilot achievement score’ (PAS) is necessary because a Manufacturer’s team trophy is often competed for across a number of classes which, in a single championship, may, for a variety of reasons, have had a different number of tasks or tasks scoring different values.  In this situation the scores from each class at the end of the championships must be normalized in the form of a PAS so they are comparable.   

 

In the National Championships this situation could arise if it was decided that there should be only one ‘foot launched microlight’ Manufacturer’s team trophy and Powered Hang-Gliders or 2 seat PPG’s were competing against each other in their own individual championships.

 

It is proposed that in future UK National Championships the Manufacturer’s team trophy should be scored according to the rules above, with the additional provisions:

1)    That pilots of any nation are eligible.

2)    That there must be a minimum of three teams with a minimum of two pilots in each.

 

Comments please to rmh