The onus is on the pilot to produce irrefutable evidence that the flight they are claiming took place, if challenged. The XC League is policed to ensure that no unfair play takes place, although in essence it is largely based on trust and relies on pilots entering data accurately and honestly. However, pilots should be careful to abide by the rules and provide all the necessary proof to validate their flights.
If flights have been checked against airspace they will be marked as Validated in the XC League and this can happen at any point up until the end of November. Any flights found to be infringing airspace or without the appropriate evidence to substantiate the flight may be removed at any time. Any flights of the top 10 scoring pilots at any one time and any flights scoring over 100km will be checked in a fair and timely manner. Other flights will be checked as and when resources allow.
Primary evidence is a continuously recorded IGC tracklog containing altitude data. Your tracklog must also contain your pilot name and must include a security signature (a G record, automatically added by conforming software) which will be checked later to ensure that the data has not been altered.
Your IGC tracklog must have been created by software that has been approved by the FAI, otherwise it will be rejected by the system. The list of FAI approved software covers GPS, flight instruments and mobile devices across a range of operating systems. The XC League will support all the software listed except for any Open Source programs that publish the security signature code, or programs that have been assigned the XXX identifier. It is the responsibility of the pilot to ensure that the software they are using meets the requirements described above.
A continuously recorded tracklog must have at least one position recorded every 60 seconds, although it is recommended that the recording interval be set between 5 and 15 seconds. Please note that our system cannot currently accept tracklogs that are recorded at sub-second intervals.
The tracklog must provide unequivocal evidence that no intermediate landing was made and must generally substantiate the flight. Your tracklog must include your claimed start point, any turnpoints, and finish point. It should also contain your takeoff and landing, to allow us to calibrate the tracklog altitude trace.
Interruptions in the tracklog will not invalidate the flight provided gaps do not bring into question airspace avoidance or the continuity of the flight. The system will reject tracklogs with breaks greater than 10 minutes, or more than two 60-second breaks. In this case the pilot must email their flight details to be checked and entered by an administrator.
If your flight requires altitude data your tracklog must include the takeoff or landing. If both of these are missing we will be unable to check your altitude and your flight will not be accepted. A tracklog that includes the landing is always preferable as a tracklog that ends at altitude as you are approaching airspace may not be accepted.
Witnesses can only be used to validate takeoff and landing for Open Distance flights (i.e. no turnpoints) provided that your flight does not require altitude data. Witness evidence will not be accepted for anything else.
Altitude data is required if your tracklog or direct-line track on any flight takes you:
Altitude data is provided by your IGC tracklog. If you fly with a GPS that does not record altitude, then you must provide a separate barograph trace.
For the purpose of the XC League active Parachute Drop Zones and Parachute Jump Exercises are treated as controlled airspace which must be avoided. It is every pilots responsibility to check NOTAMs and determine activity status before the flight.
