The Respectful Flying Score is a safety-tracking metric used in Category 1 and Category 2 hot air balloon events (and other events if requested and enabled). It measures a pilot’s recent record regarding serious safety-related infractions—primarily balloon collisions and dangerous flying—over the past two years.
Purpose
RFS encourages safe conduct by recording penalties from previous competitions and limiting participation for pilots with repeated serious incidents.
How It Works
- Starting value: 100% (clean record).
- Calculation: RFS = (1 − (Total RFS-flagged penalty points in last 24 months ÷ 1500)) × 100%
- Penalty window: Only penalties from the past 24 months count.
- Floor: RFS cannot go below 0%.
Status Bands
- Green (50–100%) – No restrictions.
- Yellow (1–49.9%) – Allowed to compete, but flagged.
- Red (0%) – Not permitted to compete in CAT 1 or CAT 2 events.
- If a pilot reaches Red during an event, they are grounded for the remainder.
- If a protest is pending, flights may continue provisionally but will be marked No Flight if the protest fails.
System Integration
- WatchMeFly automatically calculates and displays each pilot’s RFS status (not the score) to organisers in the competition pilot management screen.
- Pilots see their own RFS in their personal dashboard.
- RFS scores are not public to other pilots or the public.
Event Setup Tip
When enabling RFS in your event settings:
- Ensure RFS-relevant penalties are additionally added to the pilot’s RFS scores.
- WatchMeFly does not automatically track all RFS-relevant penalties in the normal scores.