FAI General Aviation Commission (GAC)
Rally Flying
about rally flying
Imagine trekking through the skies on a thrilling treasure hunt. Your team-mate, your wits, your map, and your compass are all you can rely on, to track down your targets...
Beyond simple leisure flying, this is Rally Flying: an exhilarating air sport that combines precision navigation and accuracy landing with the spirit of adventure and purpose. This sport is about raw flying skill, astute observation, and seamless teamwork.
Rally Flying competitions are for two-person crews: a pilot and a navigator must work together to complete the competition tasks during their flight. Because the crew's cockpit is stripped of tech and gadgets, they must use their fundamental flying skills alongside very basic equipment. The tasks they are set are designed to demonstrate the team's ability to perform accurately and safely.
To succeed in their tasks, the crew require skills such as:
- Navigation and flying using VMC (Visual Meteorological Conditions)
- Accurate landing
- Judgement, vigilance and quick thinking
- Strategic flying
- Team coordination and leadership
- Sustaining motivation and focus throughout the competition
To win, the pilot and navigator must:
- Perform consistently across a variety of flight tasks
- Accumulate the highest total score
- Avoid penalties that reduce their score
How a competition works
- The pilot and navigator take a seat in their aircraft, fully focused and ready to get started on the flight task ahead.
- They are handed an envelope. Inside: the clues that will help them quickly but meticulously plot a route:
- Three competition maps.
- A task sheet.
- A time sheet.
- A set of turn point (TP) photographs.
- A set of en route photographs.
- A competition answer sheet.
- Taxi, departure and arrival instructions.
- Safety envelope containing a back-up map with TPs plotted - Using the clues – photographs of landmarks on the ground – the pair will analyse their map to locate a starting point, add turning points, and pinpoint the landing spot, at which they will touch down as close as possible to the marker, and predict a speed and finish time.
- A sealed GPS tracker on board helps the judges score, but there are no tech tools available to the pair. Mobile phones can be carried for safety but switched off, and in a sealed container. They are equipped with only basic manual equipment: a compass and a stopwatch.
- The clock starts ticking as soon as the pair take off. Following their plotted route, they will keep as closely to their planned route as possible – the only “race” is against their own predicted speed and therefore landing time.
How do the crews gain points?
There are four flights in each Rally Flying competition. Each flight has a length between 80-120 nautical miles (NM), measured from take-off to landing, with a minimum of 10 legs and a maximum of 16 legs. Each leg must be between 5 NM and 15 NM.
Each flight consists of four tasks:
- Flight preparation (plotting)
- A time test
- An observation test (photographs, canvas ground targets)
- A landing test
The teams must mark the task targets on their maps: they add the coordinates of their turn points, and the location of the landmarks shown in the photos.
However, to spice things up, there are some fake photos added to the mix! Teams must also identify which are the trick pictures... The crews must also avoid penalties which will reduce their overall score. These could include passing the take-off time gate, or passing the turning point time gate, making incorrect observations or missing them altogether, landing outside of the marked zone, or flying below the minimum altitude.
In the landing test, the team's accuracy can make or break their score, gaining them vital points if they touch down within two metres of the marked landing. Video recordings help the judges check the accuracy of each aircraft.
Back at the airfield, the teams hand over their GPS recorder, map and answer sheets to the judges, who analyse the data and the accuracy of the marked points, adding the scores from the accuracy landings to give an overall total, from which the penalties will be deducted.
Find out more about the official FAI rules of Rally Flying competitions: go to General Aircraft Commission Documents > Sporting Code and Competition Rules - Section 2: Aeroplanes > Competitions Rules
What kind of aircraft are used?
Aircraft eligible for Rally Flying competitions are:
- Piston engine aircraft
- Propeller turbine engine aircraft
- Motor gliders with an integrally mounted non-retractable engine and conventional 3-wheel landing gear ("touring motor gliders")
The history of rally flying
The concept of Rally Flying (and Precision Navigation) started in the Scandinavian countries between the two world wars, the object being to encourage development of skills in hunting, flying and cross-country skiing! Originally, the sport involved flying to a remote location, landing accurately in a mountainous spot, skiing to a predetermined destination, shooting at a target and then returning to the aircraft to find the next spot and repeat the exercise.
Post WWII, other countries became interested in the concept and over a period of years the sport and its rules developed to create a single flying discipline. Later, this split into two separate sports: Precision Flying (with a solo pilot) and Rally Flying (with a crew of two).
FAI World Championships are held every two years, and crews enter from all over the globe, having succeeded in their national competitions.
How do I begin competing in Rally Flying?
If you are ready to improve your flying and enjoy putting your navigational skills to the test, team up into a pair and try Rally Flying.
You can get started by joining a local club and do not need any special equipment. The community involved in Rally Flying are welcoming and happy to encourage new pilots to try out tasks and head out on treasure hunt rally flying adventures!
