EAA Chapter 19 · Official rules
Spot landing contest
Land on or past the line. Closest wins. $50 per scored attempt, and every dollar goes to the EAA Chapter 19 scholarship.
Call it on 123.0. Land on or past the aiming-point markings on runway 18 or 36, whichever end is in use. Taxi to the north ramp and pay $50 on the ground. Your score is how many feet past the line your main wheels touched down and stayed down. Lowest score wins. Short of the line does not count.
Window and briefing
Scored landings run 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The contest director on 123.0 can pause the contest for wind, traffic, or anything unsafe. After 1:00, landings are just landings.
There is a five-minute pilot briefing on the north ramp at 9:45 AM for pilots already on the ground. Arriving later? You get these rules on a card when you pay.
EAA Chapter 19 will live stream the contest, so every attempt is on camera. Watch live on YouTube or Facebook.
Radio calls
- Before you enter the pattern: “Slaton traffic, [your N-number], spot landing inbound.”
- On short final: “Slaton traffic, [your N-number], spot landing short final.”
Fly standard left traffic for the runway in use. No low passes. If you do not make the short final call, that landing is an arrival, not a scored attempt.
Paying and attempts
- $50 per scored attempt, paid on the ground after you land, at the contest table on the north ramp.
- Your score goes on the board once the $50 is in the box.
- Unlimited attempts. Pay again, fly another pattern. Your best good attempt is your score.
- Your arrival landing counts if you made both calls and you pay before you walk off.
- A go-around for traffic is not an attempt.
What counts
- The line is the approach edge of the aiming-point markings on runway 18/36, about 1,000 feet from the threshold, on whichever end is in use.
- Your touchdown point is where your main wheels touch down and stay down, after the last bounce. The nose wheel and tail wheel do not count.
- A good attempt has the main wheels on or past the line, on the pavement, and they stay down.
- No score (the attempt is used up): touching down short of the line, going around for anything but traffic, leaving the pavement, or any landing the contest staff call unsafe. After an unsafe landing, staff decide whether you can fly another attempt.
- Power on and power off are both allowed.
How we score
Your score is the distance from the line to your touchdown point, measured to the nearest foot. On the line is a perfect 0. Lowest score wins. Short of the line has no score.
A tape runs along the edge of the runway starting at the line, marked every foot and numbered every 10 feet. The scorer calls your distance as you land. An iPhone on a tripod beside the line records every attempt in slow motion. If you question a score, we check the video against the tape, and the video decides.
Classes
| Class | Who flies in it |
|---|---|
| Tailwheel / STOL | Conventional gear, or a published Vso of 45 knots or less. Not ag. Cub, Champ, Husky, Kitfox, and the like. |
| Tricycle single | Single-engine nosewheel airplanes that are not STOL or ag. 172, Cherokee, Bonanza, Cirrus, and the like. |
| Twin | Any multi-engine airplane. Baron, Duchess, Apache, 310, and the like. |
| Ag | Agricultural airplanes. Air Tractor, Thrush, Pawnee, Ag-Cat, and the like. |
| Overall | The lowest score of the day, any class. |
One $50 attempt, one class. If your airplane fits two, ag beats tailwheel. The scorer writes your class on your pay card. A class with fewer than 2 entries is not awarded.
Awards
Simple plaques for first place in each class and overall. The same airplane can win its class and overall. Ties go to the next-best attempt, then a coin flip. Plaques are handed out around 1:30 PM. There are no cash prizes: the money is the scholarship.
Not entering the contest? The chapter also gives fun awards to airplanes on the field, like oldest airplane and farthest flown in. Free.
Who can fly
You must be legal and current to fly the airplane, and the airplane must be airworthy.
Where the money goes
Every $50 goes to the EAA Chapter 19 scholarship. Twenty attempts fund one $1,000 scholarship.