
Performance
Defined
And
Honor
Fly Competition Rules
The following is a
description of the types of most of the performances of the
Flying Oriental Roller.
ROLLING:
Rolling is backward
spinning or somersaults of at least 2 revolutions. It is a
smooth continuous motion without pause, hitching or other
interruption. Wings are moving but undetectable and the body
is perpendicular to the ground. Revolutions may be high
velocity or slow, short (less than 10’) or deep (more than
10’). Rolling may occur as a drop straight down or from
above the kit back into the kit or through the kit. Often a
pigeon will fly ahead and above the kit and roll diagonally
back into the kit.
PLATE
SPIN or FLAT SPIN: Wings are extended
flat out to the sides with the pigeon spiraling down without
wing movement. Variations on the Plate Spin are: Wings held in
a V while the pigeon is spiraling downward. One wing held up
and the other held out flat forming an L shape with the pigeon
spiraling downward.
TUMBLE:
Backward flipping
usually with wing movement detectable. Tumbles may be fast or
slow, short or deep but more often short. The pigeon’s body
is typically skewed right or left from perpendicular.
SPIRAL
DIVE or BARREL ROLL: The pigeon holds wings
back and rotates around its axis. These axial spins can be
performed as single or in multiple rotations usually during a
dive but may happen in level flight or even while climbing.
Spins can be fast or slow, single or multiple spirals.
LOOP:
Swooping up and
curving over the top and completing a full circle of a few
feet to as much as fifty feet in diameter and perpendicular to
the ground. Loops can be singe or multiple. Multiple loops are
generally smaller and appear similar to drawing a series of
loose circles across a piece of paper without lifting the
pencil.
FORWARD
ROLL: Opposite direction of
the Roll. These are not common but typically happen at the end
of a long ROLL or long TUMBLE. Occasionally, an odd pigeon
will execute this maneuver in level flight. It is usually a
single flip but may be 3 or 4 consecutive FORWARD ROLLS. This
maneuver almost seems accidental.
TAIL
SLIDE or TAIL RIDING: Wings held in a deep
V, tail is elevated while pigeon drops. This maneuver, while
sometime spectacular, is not scored on its own as nearly all
young Oriental Rollers tail ride while developing other aerial
performance.
SINGLE
FLIPS or SINGLE TUMBLES: Single flips or
tumbles are many times performed alone. These maneuvers can be
so fast the uninitiated might not notice them. They are most
often performed in level flight. Many times the bird will
not even break from the kit.
TWIZZLE:
spinning in a
horizontal motion as if the tip one wing is anchored in place
for one or more revolutions. Usually done in several
revolutions.
COMBINATION
MANEUVERS: Combinations of any
two or more of the above maneuvers. EXAMPLES: Tail Slide
with a single flip at the end; Single flip followed with a
single Plate Spin; Tumble - Tail Slide – Tumble. Roll –
twizzle - tail ride. In
these examples Maneuvers that would not normally score will score if done in combination with a
different maneuver.
Here is the revised rules for
the honor fly. We (the board) have come to a consensus on
them, at least for now. I had to re-evaluate them after the
mock fly to make them easier for the judges. I tried to
operate on the KISS theory. I had not taken into account the
frequency of the birds and trying to account for depth at the
same time. I am really glad I decided on the mock fly because
I believe it saved a lot of headaches.
The Oriental
Roller is a versatile high flyer with many types of
performance. To promote and preserve the breed as near to the
initial intent of the breed, all of its various types of
performance should be recognized and scored. Because the
Oriental is a high flyer this will be taken into consideration
by awarding one point for each minute the kit stays in the air
after time in is called up to thirty points. If the birds are
too high to discern the type of performance then one point
will be awarded for each performance at the judge’s
discretion. The judge should have a manual counter and an
assistant. Birds are to be inspected by the judge before
the fly. Any pigeon that does not have the minimum
number of 13 tail feathers or has an oil gland is
disqualified. Missing or broken feathers are not a DQ. The
handler may replace any disqualified pigeon. A contestant may
fly three, five, or seven birds. The total raw score will be
divided by the number of birds flying. All judge’s decisions
are final so be nice to the judge. The contestant is
responsible to see that the judge has a manual counter and two
stop watches.
Performances to
be scored are:
Rolling award 1
point
Tumbles or loose roll award 1
point
Plate roll or side spin award 1 point
Barrel rolls award 1 point
Combination of any of the above 1 point.
Dives greater than 15 feet 1 point.
10 points will
be given for putting up a kit whether it is DQ’ed or not
10 points will
be awarded for a kit that flies the at least twenty minutes
1 point for
each minute the kit is in the air after 20 minutes up a max of
30 points. Scoring
continues as long as the kit is in the air.
Flying time is
a minimum fifteen minutes. Kit handler has up to 2 minutes to
call time-in to start scoring otherwise the judge will start
judging after 2 minutes.
The contestant
can call up to two 5 minute time outs for hawk attacks or when
kits are out of view or other unforeseen disturbance.
If any bird
lands before the minimum fifteen minutes the scoring is
terminated. The kit is disqualified if a pigeon is purposely
encouraged to fly by anyone after time in is called.
Out-birds will
not be scored until they get back to the kit. AN
OUT-BIRD IS A PIGEON THAT IS OBVIOUSLY NOT FLYING AS PART OF
THE KIT. Pigeons that roll deep and continue to perform away
from the kit but are working back to the kit are not out-birds
and all performances are scored. When the kit breaks apart and
pigeons are performing separately but are working toward
reforming a kit, all performances are scored. This is
important to know especially when judging small kits. An
active 3-bird kit might not appear to be performing as a team
during the majority of the flying time! At the same time they
can’t be flying in different parts of the sky all the time
and still be called a kit.
All judges’
decisions are final.
So that deeper
performing birds are not penalized there will be a quality
multiplier applied to
the raw score.
It is as follows. The judge and his second shall concur as to
the quality multiplier.
Quality Multiplier
10 feet or less
1.0 multiplier
15-20 feet
1.2 multiplier
25-30 feet
1.3 multiplier
35-40 feet
1.5 multiplier
45-50
feet 1.6 multiplier
55-60
feet 1.8 multiplier
65-75
feet 1.9 multiplier
75 plus
2.0 multiplier
This will
always be subjective and the judges second should look for
depth on a stop watch. One second per ten feet seems to be an
accepted depth calculation now days. Some will be deeper and
some will be shallower but it will eliminate subjectivity
where one mans ten is another mans twenty. The judge and
second should collectively decide the quality multiplier.
Notice I did not include 11-14, 21-24, etc. That is because no
man can tell a foot or two difference. The birds should
perform for a greater majority of time at the quality depth
agreed on by the judges.
The final score
will be:
The raw score X
the multiplier
+ 10 points for
entering
+ 10 points for
exceeding twenty minutes
+ (X) points up
to thirty for time over twenty minutes
TOTAL
The contestant
can fly either three, five, or seven birds, and the number of
birds called in will divide into the raw score. If one
drops early, the scoring will be terminated and the score
totaled up. The birds have to kit to score, there is no
disqualification for roll downs, or landing after the minimum
fifteen minutes. The birds are to be judged by someone
other than the owner, preferably a knowledgeable roller judge,
but for this contest if one cannot be found, we will take
whomsoever you can get to do it! Along with the score sheet,
the judge needs to submit a description of the fly (in his own
words), with the approximate weather conditions and a phone
number where and when he/she can be reached. The only
requirement to participate in the Honor fly is to be a paid up
member in good standing in the Flying Oriental Roller Society
and a ten dollar entry fee.
There will be
four flies yearly and the first competition will be from Jan
1st. until April 1st, the second from April 2nd until July
1st. And the third will be from July 2nd until
September 1st. The last contest for the year will be from
September 2nd until December 31st there will be a winner for
the best kit in each of the competitions and a winner for the
most total points scored for the calendar year.

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