2012 Course

 

View the Picture Gallery for the 2012 Rally.

View the movies of the GPS tracks of Rally aircraft for both legs.

Check out the video of planes crossing the timing line at Checkpoint Goering. (Quicktime required).

Click for the complete scoring results for 2012.

The Rally awards much more than just 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Here are some of the other fun awards for 2012:

Special 2012 Awards
Performance Award	Race 11, Mitzi Saylor
Red Baron Award	Race 3, Scott Alaway and Jessica Allaway Bessler
Worst Fuel Score	Race 41, Robert Larkin & Shelia Larkin
Best Overall Time Score	Race 24, Hal Beers & Michael Saboff (5 seconds total!)
Best Renter	Race 77, Derek Au & Dennis Lou
Worst Time Score	Race 42, Mike Smith
Tail End Charlie	Race 41, Robert Larkin & Shelia Larkin (8124 points)

 

Each of the Rally's two legs each include:

• 1 Start Point
• 3 Mandatory Checkpoints
• 1 Timing Point
• 1 Stop Point

The checkpoints, and therefore the course, change every year.  The required checkpoints which define the course are announced the day before the race (see the race schedule) at the briefing and are documented in the race book provided to each team.  The exact course flown is chosen by the pilot of each aircraft.  Remember, this is not a speed race, it is a proficiency race; accuracy counts.

So that prospective racers can get better idea of the materials provided during the briefing, a PDF copy of the 2012 Race Book is available for download here.

Checkpoints are to be overflown by race aircraft. Each checkpoint can be adequately identified from the air. The two timing points at Checkpoint Nat and Checkpoint Goering are also overflown and race officials on the ground will record the time overhead the timing line.

The 2012 course is described here to provide an example only, the 2013 course will be different, and will not be announced until the day before the race during the briefings. 

The 2012 course included the following checkpoints and stops:

• Hayward (HWD) - Race Starts
• Funny Farm (4CA2)
• Moronis (92CL)
• Mystery (39-40.54N, 122-31.29W)
• Checkpoint Nat (40-21.894N, 122-13.038W @ 68CA) - Timing Point
• Redding (RDD) - Landing, Fuel and Lunch
• Lake County (LKV)
• Paisley (22S)
• Table Rock (OG06)
• Checkpoint Goering (50OR) - Timing Point
• Bend (BDN) - Landing, Fuel, Race Ends

 

Here are the GPS-logged tracks from all Rally aircraft - where they actually flew! There seems to be some question about the best way to get there.

Each checkpoint has a question to be answered to ensure positive identification. A typical checkpoint question looks like this:

Checkpoint #4	Lake County (LKV)
Elevation 4733'
Pattern Altitude 5533'	Lat 42 deg. 09.67'
Overfly above 6100'	Long 120 deg. 23.94'
Painted on the central main ramp is an
J. outline of an American flag.
K. oblong hatched yellow area.
L. arrow for directing ramp traffic.

 

The checkpoint at LKV looked like this from the air:

 

So, the answer was: K. oblong yellow hatched area.

The winner of the 2012 Rally was Race 73, Sam Sun, flying solo with only 109 points.