The Michigan Soaring League (MSL) was started in 1984 as a way to encourage contest attendance for various Michigan soaring clubs. The format has changed little except with the change in clubs holding MSL contests and classes considered as MSL events. The MSL does not have formal officers as it is run by flyers themselves and not by a club. Input from the flyers is considered and voted on by flyers as to any changes. Clubs having MSL contests pay no fees to MSL. The flyers pay entry fees to MSL and the MSL buys trophies to be given out at the last MSL event of the year. The MSL does not dictate to clubs as to which approved classes they are to have at their MSL contest but the same task is needed for each to count.
The MSL gives trophies to all that qualify. The top five get special trophies and all others get a plaque to use to show their progress over the years. A perpetual trophy (called the Bird) rotates for first place. The first place flyer gets his name engraved on the trophy.
The MSL has a newsletter to keep flyers up to date on MSL event dates and scores in the league. Most are emailed now but you may get a mailed copy for $5.00 per year.
The Perpetual Trophy is a memorial award dedicated to Richard Beers. Rich was a key figure in Michigan soaring. Rich tirelessly trained new pilots and promoted competition throught Michigan. His sudden and untimely death was a great loss to Michigan soaring.
To fly in the MSL a flyer simply shows up at a MSL event and declares which entries in approved MSL classes he wants to count. The cost is $2.00 for first event and $1 per event after that. The highest score the flyer gets regardless of class is used as his score. The more contests entered, of course, the better chance of a high score. The designated MSL representative takes all the scores at the end and submits them to the MSL secretary for tabulation. The highest score of the contest is the divisor, whether the flyer is a MSL entrant or not. To qualify for year-end awards a pilot must score in a minimum of 50% of the contests rounded up. The more MSL events you go to the better the change of higher scores. If the contest is a two-day event then each day will be scored separately and the highest normalized score will be your score for the MSL event. A flier may enter both or either day to produce a MSL score.
At this time two skill classes are recognized. Expert, for experienced pilots and Sportsman, for those who have never won a trophy at an AMA event in a previous years or are LSF I or II at the beginning of the season. Sportsmen need only three contest to qualify. There is one trophy for top Sportsman.
Approved MSL classes are: Two Meter, Standard, Unlimited, RES and Nostalgia.
Approved clubs at this time are: LIFT in Traverse City, WMSS in Grand Rapids, GLASS in Lansing, GDSHS in Detroit, TWS in Toledo. More clubs can be added if a club requests a league contest and it is approved by a majority of flyers. A club may be deleted in the same way.
