[NSRCA-discussion] FW: Proposal

[J N Hiller]

Sorry guys but I thought I had something to say and my reply to a previous
post regarding a national database to rank pilots was too large as well.
Here it is.

Lighten up on the judges. We will always have judging differences from one
chair to the next regardless of what part of the world they apply their
efforts. True raw scores, even averages can be misleading but not nearly as
misleading as normalized placement results. The NSRCA through the efforts of
volunteer individuals in refining judging criteria and certification has
greatly improved national judging standardization from what we had twenty
years ago. Weather conditions probably influence raw score averages at
individual contests such as the NATS, more than judging inequities. For
every easy judge there is a hard one and they are everywhere. As with any
statistical database the larger the sampling the more accurate the average
however other factors such as individual improvement and flight schedule or
class changes tend to invalidate the average if the sampling is over an
extended period. I am in favor of publishing raw score averages derived from
flights used for contest placement as they are a much better indicator of
pilot performance that day under those conditions than normalized placement
scores dependant of someone else's performance.
A national database would have analytical value but may not be worth the
effort considering the mane variables involved. It may be enough to simply
publish raw score averages from large contests such as the NATS, which not
only attract the best pilots but a broad cross-section of national
competitors especially in the upper classes. I have probably said enough.
Attached are raw scores for rounds used for contest placement for the 1987
NATS I obtained from the July 1987 K-Factor. FAI used normalized scoring but
the AMA classes were still using raw scores. I got total "K's" and flight
maximum points from the 1986/87 AMA competitions regulations manual (the
black one). I think most lower class fliers and those note trading places
for first and second would find value in knowing just how high the bar has
been set, I know I would. Judging discrepancies are minor in the big
picture.
Jim Hiller


-----Original Message-----
From: nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org
[mailto:nsrca-discussion-bounces at lists.nsrca.org]On Behalf Of J N Hiller
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2007 10:43 AM
To: NSRCA Mailing List
Subject: [NSRCA-discussion] Raw Scores (1987 NATS)

Here is the attachment.
Jim Hiller
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