NOTAMS

[C Rule]

Hi Folks
As many of you know I am involved in the organisational side of Gliding competitions with particular responsibility for NOTAM co-ordination.
I have been concerned for a number of years that we do not have away of communicating with the greater GA community details of where they may encounter competing gliders.
In the past the NOTAM issued by the CAA has only really indicated that the activity will be within a 5nm radius of a particular launch site. This does not reflect the reality that the gliders could well be on a task some 200nm away from that site.
There will be some changes this year. There will be 2 NOTAMs issued for each competition in the format shown below.



NOTAMN PROPOSAL EGGN

A) ICAO

B) YYMMDDHHMM

C) YYMMDDHHMM

D) Insert individual Days/Times here

E) GLIDING. MAJOR GLIDING COMPETITION. INTENSE ACT WI XXNM RADIUS LAT/LONG (PLACE, COUNTY). UP TO XX GLIDERS AND XX TUG ACFT MAY PARTICIPATE. FOR DAILY ROUTE INFO WWW.BGALADDER.CO.UK/SHOWTASK.ASP OR PHONE NUMBER AND Insert Frequency. ACTIVITY NUMBER/ AS3

F) SFC

G) UPPER FT AMSL



Area Notification



NOTAMN PROPOSAL EGGN

A) EGTT/EGPX

B) YYMMDDHHMM

C) YYMMDDHHMM

D) Insert individual Days/Times here

E) GLIDING. MAJOR X COUNTRY GLIDING COMPETITION OPR FROM (PLACE, COUNTY). UP TO GLIDERS MAY OPR UP TO XX 200 MILES FROM ORIGIN AD. DAILY ROUTE INFO AVBL WWW.BGALADDER.CO.UK/SHOWTASK.ASP OR PHONE NUMBER. ACTIVITY NUMBER/ AS3

F) SFC

G) UPPER FT AMSL

From the link shown in the NOTAM you will also be able to navigate to http://showtask.cadnodevelopment.com
Which will provide a better presentation of competition task tracks.
If you want to have a look on this web site and enter the date 6 Aug 2016 you will see what the presentation is like.
Any feedback would be welcome.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Colin

[AlanR]

Thanks for the info Colin, I confess to having eyes out on stalks when in the vicinity of gliders!

A bit of a thread drift maybe but something I have been told is that gliders participating in competitions are told to turn off Flarm for some reason. Can you confirm if this is a normal modus operandi for competitions or perhaps enlighten me why this is done please?

[C Rule]

Hi Alan
You are correct that Flarm used to be put in "Stealth mode" for competition flying as it was thought that a competitive advantage could be gained by its use. However new IGC rules mandate it as "ON"
Colin

[Ian Melville]

That is good news regarding the new IGC rules. I am bracketed by several glider sites, and it can be hard work some days.

I like your thinking regarding the NOTAMS. The second which covers the task is the difficult one. Knowing where to look for the task data on the day is helpful. I'm no expert on these things, but I would seem to me a good idea to post it on the Flyer Forum. There are pilots on there and ATS bods that have vast experience of such things. There are muppets on there as well so you may get some flack as well.