Condor

Has anybody felt strange when taking a foto during a race of "classic" class of speedbattle?? I think normally or back in the old days if you're to make a right turn on a turnpoint, you would take a foto of the TP in a right bank=right turn and not left. But condor only lets you take a foto with a left turn. This feels very strange for me, but I am young, and don't know how it was back in the good days. Does any body know why this happens, or can anybody tell me how it was in the good days???

It was common (not sure if it was mandatory) to take a picture over the left wing.
I've seen many 'left wing tips' on old fotographs.

I suppose it is because there was generally only one camera, fixed on the left side, although I've read of pilots mounting two cameras.

This doesn't seem to make much sense for a simulator, though. Why should it matter which side you take the photo? Many turnpoints favour the right wing for the photo.

TimKuijpers wrote:It was common (not sure if it was mandatory) to take a picture over the left wing.
I've seen many 'left wing tips' on old fotographs.

Hi Tim its good to see you again!
I didn't know that fact

But

This doesn't seem to make much sense for a simulator, though. Why should it matter which side you take the photo? Many turnpoints favour the right wing for the photo.

I agree with this, or maybe its for safety.
Thinking ahead about the growing community of condor,
their might come a day when people have mid-air-crash,
due to too many people turning the opposite direction on turnpoints at the same time

There was indeed a good reason for taking a TP photo over the left wing.
Cameras were mounted on the left side of the cockpit, and were operated with the free left hand while keeping the right hand on the stick.

For optimal rounding of a TP, it took quite an aerobatic maneuver with over-speed and bank angles of ~90 degrees.
Don't forget you had to concentrate on locating the TP visually, position your glider for the turn, and at the same time keep an eye on the gaggle around you that was about to do the same risky maneuver!

The last thing you would like to do in the ~90 degree bank, is let go of the stick to take a picture...

That takes me back. One of the lost skills in gliding, along with smoking barographs (still got one and a load of foils somewhere).

For general cross country flying I always used to put the camera on the left side of the cockpit for anticlockwise tasks (triangles) and the right side for clockwise triangles. As I recall, back in the day, competition briefings would include "cameras left" or "cameras right" depending on the task direction.

If you think about, it a camera by your left shoulder needed your right hand to operate it so you flew your chandelle into the turnpoint using your left hand anyway when the camera was on the left.