The Loop Challenge: A Thrilling Success!

Last week, we hosted the Loop Challenge, an exciting and unique race format that tested not only speed but also energy management and strategic decision-making. The event was a huge success, with pilots loving the challenge and the opportunity to push their limits in a competitive yet fun environment.

What Was the Loop Challenge?

Unlike traditional gliding races, the Loop Challenge featured a multi-lap format, where pilots had to balance altitude, speed, and efficiency. Choosing when to take a thermal or push through without one was critical, making for an intense and dynamic race.

With strong participation and plenty of exciting moments, the challenge provided an exhilarating test of skill, attracting both experienced and new pilots to the competition.

Pilots Loved It!

The feedback from the community was overwhelmingly positive.

Herminio Herrera (HH1), who participated in his first FAI Virtual Gliding race, shared his thoughts:

"I am proud of my performance, even though I didn’t finish. My decisions were good, with safety as my top priority. Virtual Gliding should simulate reality, and young pilots should learn that in real-life gliding, safety always comes first. The Loop Challenge was a fantastic idea—please organize more of these events soon!"

Meanwhile, FinalGlide highlighted how the race format helped improve flying efficiency:

"I really like the format and the fact that you can see everyone on the course. This is just like racing cars around a track—it's okay for all participants to ‘know’ the course and see everyone's position. This is something other races do the opposite, where knowing things helps you, like knowing the speed of others or being able to see outside views.

This kind of race really teaches you to be very efficient in everything you do. I circled twice during the race and found out that was a big mistake."

This kind of feedback is exactly what we were hoping for: an event that not only provided thrilling competition but also helped pilots learn and improve their skills.

Top 3 Results

The competition was fierce, with pilots setting incredible times. Here are the top 3 finishers:

🥇 🇩🇪 Frank Schwerdtfeger (Germany) – LS8neo – 00:54:47 (169.57 km/h, 1,000 pts)
🥈 🇱🇹 Andrius Milinis (Lithuania) – Discus2a – 00:55:05 (168.64 km/h, 972.22 pts)
🥉 🇯🇵 2 mo (Japan) – LS8neo – 00:56:01 (165.81 km/h, 944.44 pts)

You can view the full results here.

What’s Next?

Given the success of the Loop Challenge, we’re definitely bringing it back! Next time, we’ll experiment with different rules to find the best possible format. Should we allow more pilots per server? Should we remove penalties entirely? Should we tweak the start rules for more dynamic racing?

We’ll be testing these ideas in an upcoming event, so stay tuned! 🚀

See you in the skies!