Desciplines
Precision
This discipline tests technical skills of the competitor; it consists of compulsory figures and a technical routine.
The set of figures (normally 5) for a competition are picked from the official figures list within the rule book and published in advance of the competition (at least 30 days prior) to allow the competitors time to practice them. On the day of the competition, a sub-set of 3 figures from the original 5 are picked to be flown.
The technical routine is a full, flowing routine that allows the competitor to demonstrate their full repertoire of technical skills to the judges in the hope to impress them and gain a high score.
Ballet
The ballet discipline tests a flyer’s interpretation of music. Each competitor flies a routine that they have choreographed to a piece of music. Here precision and technical merit is less critical with the majority of marks awarded for interpretation of the music and a routine with a high level of variety in content.
Scoring
Similar to that of ice-skating, scoring is done by several judges who stand behind the pilots to gain the best possible view of the performance.
Each discipline for a competitor is individually scored with the points across all disciplines being combined and averaged to calculate their overall score for their class.
The majority of judges were once competitors themselves, however, it is not necessary to be an expert flyer to be a good judge.
Compulsory Figures
Compulsory figures are part of Precision discipline and great way to test technical skills of pilots. On the diagrams below presented current list of figures in version for 3 man team. Version for teams of 4 and 5 man are in the Compulsory Book
Competitors should see the current version of the IRB Rule book for details.