EcoSpeed — Redefining Performance

In Rally Flight, speed alone does not define performance.

EcoSpeed is the balance between velocity, fuel efficiency, and time — the operating point where a pilot extracts the most ground per litre, per minute, per stage. The goal isn't to be the fastest pilot of the day. The goal is to be the most efficient pilot over the entire course.

This is captured in the championship's official Economy metric: the Flight Efficiency Index (IEV) — the integrated formula at the heart of every stage.

What EcoSpeed Means

EcoSpeed is the discipline behind every decision in the air:

• Optimising cruise speed instead of holding maximum throttle
• Managing fuel consumption intelligently across a 200 km stage
• Using wind, weather, and terrain to your advantage
• Minimising unnecessary altitude changes that cost fuel without buying time
• Maintaining consistency over long distances and changing conditions

Every decision has a cost. EcoSpeed is about minimising that cost — flight after flight, day after day, all the way to the Andes.

Why Raw Speed Is Not Enough

Flying at maximum throttle costs you on every front:

• It increases fuel consumption disproportionately
• It reduces stage endurance and your safety margin
• It amplifies small mistakes — every detour is paid in litres
• It leaves less room for shifting wind, weather, and decisions

EcoSpeed rewards pilots who think ahead and fly with intention. The fastest tankful is rarely the most efficient tankful.

How EcoSpeed Is Measured — The IEV

The Economy task of each stage is scored using the Flight Efficiency Index (IEV) — a single, integrated rate metric that combines the three classical dimensions of cross-country paramotor flight: distance flown, time airborne, and fuel mass consumed.

IEV = (d / Cc) × (d / t)

where:

• d — the actual distance flown (km), from the GPS track recorded by the Official Tracking System
• t — the actual airborne time (hours), from validated takeoff to validated landing
• Cc — the fuel mass consumed (kg), measured at the Weight Station as the difference between W_pre (before takeoff at the DA) and W_post (after landing at the AA)

The two factors together — fuel economy (km per kg) multiplied by effective speed (km per hour) — define a unique optimal flight regime for every pilot, every machine, every stage. Neither pure speed nor pure economy wins. The pilot must find the operating point that maximises v² / ḟ(v) — fast enough to capture the speed term, slow enough to keep the fuel-flow rate manageable.

That's the strategic decision of every flight.

Each stage produces one ECO score from 0 to 1000:

S_IEV_i = (IEV_i / IEV_best) × 1000

The most efficient pilot of the day scores 1000. Every other pilot scores proportional to their efficiency ratio — not their absolute distance. A pilot who flies a longer path with detours can match the IEV of a pilot who flew straighter, provided their efficiency rate is equal. Efficiency is a property of how you fly, not of how short your route was.

What You Must Do — Mandatory Stage Gating

For the IEV to be scored on a stage, four conditions must be met:

1. Validly cross the Start Point (SP) at or near the Departure Aerodrome
2. Validly cross every Mandatory Turning Point (MTP) in the prescribed order
3. Validly cross the Finish Point (FP) at or near the Arrival Aerodrome
4. Land at the designated AA for post-stage weighing (or at the designated emergency point if Article 35.4 has been invoked)

Miss any one of these and your ECO score for the stage is zero — regardless of how efficiently you flew. The NAV task is scored separately on its own merits.

Fuel Integrity — Why The Weighing Protocol Matters

The IEV depends on a single, marshal-supervised number: how much fuel mass left the tank during the stage.

That number is protected end-to-end by the Fuel and Weighing Protocol (Annex III):

• Standardised fuel and dose preparation under marshal supervision the evening before
• Paramotor Quarantine overnight — your fuelled, sealed machine is secured in a marshal-controlled area between fueling and the morning Weight Station
• W_pre measured at the DA Weight Station before takeoff
• W_post measured at the AA Weight Station immediately after landing
• Cc = W_pre − W_post — the fuel mass consumed during the stage

Breaking the fuel cap seal outside marshal supervision, refuelling outside the procedure, or landing anywhere other than the designated AA all yield zero IEV points for the stage. The protocol exists for one reason: so that the Economy score reflects the pilot's flight, not their fuel logistics.

More Than a Metric — A Mindset

EcoSpeed reflects the spirit of Rally Flight:

• Respect for the machine — fly it at its sweet spot, not its limit
• Respect for the conditions — read the wind, work the air, save fuel for when it counts
• Respect for the sky — the most efficient pilot is also the safest pilot

EcoSpeed is the strategic engine of the discipline. Half of every Championship Total comes from ECO scores — seven IEV1 through IEV7 results, each scored 0–1000, each as important as the NAV task it shares a stage with.

Flying smarter is flying further.

‍