What is F5J?
F5J is a man-on-man glider competition using up to 4-meter wingspan sailplanes. The planes are launched using an onboard electric motor and folding prop to a pilot-determined minimal height to achieve the 10 minute target flight time.
The competition consists of 4 or more qualifying rounds of 10 minutes, with optional fly-offs for the top 30% pilots featuring 15-minute rounds. Flight duration must be within the working time limit of 10 minutes. Launch height penalties are calculated based on maximum altitude reached by 10 seconds after the launch motor has stopped. Landing bonus points (maximum of 50) are awarded based on proximity to a marked spot, but are lost if overflying the working time limit.
Scoring includes flight duration points (1 point per second), landing bonus, and subtraction of points for the launch height penalty, with the top pilot's score normalized to 1000 within a flight group. Motor run time has no penalty, but a maximum limit of 30 seconds applies.