I don't usually look closely at the OLC scores for flights but on a recent flight I was given a very short triangle that didn't make sense. When looking closely, I noticed that some legs were scored shorter than they should have been by several km. The triangle was scored at about 15 km rather than at least 100 km or more that it should have.

Is this common?

Tim
I looked at your flight and you are correct, that has a big error in scoring.
Maybe send them a email with the IGC file attached and have them look at it.
Nice flight by the way!
Nick
T

Over the years, I have had occasionally thought that the OLC had not scored my flights correctly. Upon extensive analysis using tools like SeeYou, I have never been able to pick points on the flight trace that have increased my score. As far as the triangle distance being much less than what I expected, in every case I had failed to "close" my triangle by recrossing my flight path or coming within the 1 km that is required. Therefore, my "supposed" triangle was not counted and the largest FAI triangle that was actually achieved was counted instead. I have analyzed other pilots' flights where the score is questionable with the same results. The only tool that I have used to change my score was entering a different Start or Finish time, and the resulting difference wasn't enough to squawk about. Maybe others have had different experiences, but in my case, the OLC has been pretty reliable at giving me the best score for a particular flight.

On Sunday, May 9, 2021 at 7:08:26 AM UTC-7, Tim Taylor wrote:
> I don't usually look closely at the OLC scores for flights but on a recent flight I was given a very short triangle that didn't make sense. When looking closely, I noticed that some legs were scored shorter than they should have been by several km. The triangle was scored at about 15 km rather than at least 100 km or more that it should have.
>
> Is this common?
I had a similar issue on Tuesday. I contacted OLC and they referenced 1.16 in the OLC rules. Your start and finish point have to be within 1000 meters (horizontally and vertically). I shut down my engine in a thermal and started out on course well above my inbound track. I think the only way I could have closed out the big triangle would have been to fly under my initial thermal.
Perhaps the 1000 meter requirement got you too?
Craig

The most common reasons for wrong or different score from what you expect:
1- triangle was not closed according to rules.
2- start altitude is very high, cutting down your finish point
3-OLC picked wrong start. You are now required to confirm your start is correct. In many occasions it will be incorrect and requires correction.

Ramy

On Sunday, May 9, 2021 at 8:19:49 AM UTC-7, Craig Reinholt wrote:
> On Sunday, May 9, 2021 at 7:08:26 AM UTC-7, Tim Taylor wrote:
> > I don't usually look closely at the OLC scores for flights but on a recent flight I was given a very short triangle that didn't make sense. When looking closely, I noticed that some legs were scored shorter than they should have been by several km. The triangle was scored at about 15 km rather than at least 100 km or more that it should have.
> >
> > Is this common?
> I had a similar issue on Tuesday. I contacted OLC and they referenced 1.16 in the OLC rules. Your start and finish point have to be within 1000 meters (horizontally and vertically). I shut down my engine in a thermal and started out on course well above my inbound track. I think the only way I could have closed out the big triangle would have been to fly under my initial thermal.
> Perhaps the 1000 meter requirement got you too?
> Craig

Thanks for the responses.

I think Craig had the reason in rule 1.16. I over flew my flight trace from earlier to close the flight, but where I crossed the flight it is 1100 meters difference in height. The shorter first leg could be start location, but it is still about 2km shorter than it could be from a location that was about 20 minutes after release.

On Sunday, May 9, 2021 at 9:42:25 AM UTC-6, Ramy wrote:
> The most common reasons for wrong or different score from what you expect:
> 1- triangle was not closed according to rules.
> 2- start altitude is very high, cutting down your finish point
> 3-OLC picked wrong start. You are now required to confirm your start is correct. In many occasions it will be incorrect and requires correction.
>
> Ramy
> On Sunday, May 9, 2021 at 8:19:49 AM UTC-7, Craig Reinholt wrote:
> > On Sunday, May 9, 2021 at 7:08:26 AM UTC-7, Tim Taylor wrote:
> > > I don't usually look closely at the OLC scores for flights but on a recent flight I was given a very short triangle that didn't make sense. When looking closely, I noticed that some legs were scored shorter than they should have been by several km. The triangle was scored at about 15 km rather than at least 100 km or more that it should have.
> > >
> > > Is this common?
> > I had a similar issue on Tuesday. I contacted OLC and they referenced 1..16 in the OLC rules. Your start and finish point have to be within 1000 meters (horizontally and vertically). I shut down my engine in a thermal and started out on course well above my inbound track. I think the only way I could have closed out the big triangle would have been to fly under my initial thermal.
> > Perhaps the 1000 meter requirement got you too?
> > Craig