We can see the problems. We know that there are problems, but
getting people connected with the HOLC (http://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-2.0/para/)
to admit that yes there are indeed problems is like pulling teeth.



If you have tried to upload a flight to the granddaddy and the most popular
on-line contest you will perhaps have noticed that your flight wasn't validated.
Perhaps you never got that nice green ball that you used to get when the HOLC
and the DHV were working together. Before a week or so ago you got yellow balls
and now you get red ones. Your flight is invalid as far as the HOLC is
concerned.



Now it is clear to me at least that my flights (and a lot of others) are not
invalid. Oz Report readers will remember that I have written a series on five
on-line contests starting here:
http://ozreport.com/11.047.
I send all my flights to all five contests, so I get a pretty good idea of what
is valid and what isn't. Some contests don't check for validity.



My flights that are marked invalid or questionable on the HOLC are valid
on the DHV international XC Contest (http://www.xccomp.org/module.php?id=22&l=en&contest=INT&date=20070221&gliderclass=fai1)
and XContest (http://www.xcontest.org/world/en/ranking-hg-open/).
These two contests check for validity.



Now it is not only my flights that have been failing the validity tests at the
HOLC. Other US pilots have written to me to complain about the problems that
they have had with the HOLC, including validation.



Today I got a note from Martin Petz at the HOLC and sure enough they know that
there are problems with their validity engine. In fact, he asked me to send him
the DOS validation program for the Compeo and the Flytec 5030. Jeez, why didn't
he ask two months ago?



But that's not the only problem with the HOLC. Just try to find yourself on it.
It ain't easy, especially if none of your flights are valid. The database
displays are definitely incorrect. You can perhaps find yourself under your
club, in your country, but then you'll see your country champion has less points
than pilots in your club/country with a lot more points.



These and other problems have been detailed to various folks at the HOLC. We'll
see if they can fix them. I sure hope so. I have volunteered to help them at the
HOLC and am happy to help any one with an on-line contest.