Zero to Hero in one flight

[Tony[_5_]]

Back in the good old days the Diamond Goal did not have to be a closed
course. Did anyone ever go from no badges whatsoever and do a +5 hr
declared 500+km straight distance flight along with a 5000 meter
altitude gain to claim Silver, Gold, and all 3 diamonds on the same
flight?

[Andy[_1_]]

On Jun 18, 9:39*am, Tony > wrote:
> Back in the good old days the Diamond Goal did not have to be a closed
> course. *Did anyone ever go from no badges whatsoever and do a +5 hr
> declared 500+km straight distance flight along with a 5000 meter
> altitude gain to claim Silver, Gold, and all 3 diamonds on the same
> flight?

Don't know about that one but several 1-26 pilots have attempted to
get all 3 diamonds in one flight and at least one came very close.
Perhaps it has been done now.

Andy

[Greg Arnold[_3_]]

On 6/18/2010 9:39 AM, Tony wrote:
> Back in the good old days the Diamond Goal did not have to be a closed
> course. Did anyone ever go from no badges whatsoever and do a +5 hr
> declared 500+km straight distance flight along with a 5000 meter
> altitude gain to claim Silver, Gold, and all 3 diamonds on the same
> flight?


I believe you could still get all the badges on one flight if you do a
500 km declared O&R with diamond elevation gain. If you start off in a
wave window, it might not be hard. In thermals, it would be harder
while remaining under 18,000'. I remember a SOARING article a few years
ago about a pilot who did a three diamond thermal flight, with the low
point being in Death Valley in California.

[Tony[_5_]]

On Jun 18, 1:45*pm, Greg Arnold > wrote:
> On 6/18/2010 9:39 AM, Tony wrote:
>
> > Back in the good old days the Diamond Goal did not have to be a closed
> > course. *Did anyone ever go from no badges whatsoever and do a +5 hr
> > declared 500+km straight distance flight along with a 5000 meter
> > altitude gain to claim Silver, Gold, and all 3 diamonds on the same
> > flight?
>
> I believe you could still get all the badges on one flight if you do a
> 500 km declared O&R with diamond elevation gain. *If you start off in a
> wave window, it might not be hard. *In thermals, it would be harder
> while remaining under 18,000'. *I remember a SOARING article a few years
> ago about a pilot who did a three diamond thermal flight, with the low
> point being in Death Valley in California.

true, i always forget that you can do the 500 km task closed course if
you wish. so i guess there still is potential to go from zero to hero
in one flight.

[Ramy]

On Jun 18, 11:45*am, Greg Arnold > wrote:
> On 6/18/2010 9:39 AM, Tony wrote:
>
> > Back in the good old days the Diamond Goal did not have to be a closed
> > course. *Did anyone ever go from no badges whatsoever and do a +5 hr
> > declared 500+km straight distance flight along with a 5000 meter
> > altitude gain to claim Silver, Gold, and all 3 diamonds on the same
> > flight?
>
> I believe you could still get all the badges on one flight if you do a
> 500 km declared O&R with diamond elevation gain. *If you start off in a
> wave window, it might not be hard. *In thermals, it would be harder
> while remaining under 18,000'. *I remember a SOARING article a few years
> ago about a pilot who did a three diamond thermal flight, with the low
> point being in Death Valley in California.

That was Sergio! To achieve this he needed to open his spoilers to get
down to something like 1000 ft AGL over the Death Valley in 120
degrees heat...

Ramy

[kirk.stant]

On Jun 18, 2:16*pm, Ramy > wrote:
> On Jun 18, 11:45*am, Greg Arnold > wrote:
>
> > On 6/18/2010 9:39 AM, Tony wrote:
>
> > > Back in the good old days the Diamond Goal did not have to be a closed
> > > course. *Did anyone ever go from no badges whatsoever and do a +5 hr
> > > declared 500+km straight distance flight along with a 5000 meter
> > > altitude gain to claim Silver, Gold, and all 3 diamonds on the same
> > > flight?
>
> > I believe you could still get all the badges on one flight if you do a
> > 500 km declared O&R with diamond elevation gain. *If you start off in a
> > wave window, it might not be hard. *In thermals, it would be harder
> > while remaining under 18,000'. *I remember a SOARING article a few years
> > ago about a pilot who did a three diamond thermal flight, with the low
> > point being in Death Valley in California.
>
> That was Sergio! To achieve this he needed to open his spoilers to get
> down to something like 1000 ft AGL over the Death Valley in 120
> degrees heat...
>
> Ramy

A pilot in Arizona also did a three-diamond thermal flight (that also
happened to be an "all badges at one whack" flight) back in 2001,
using the Grand Canyon South Rim lookout as one of his turnpoints.
Low point was under 1000' agl just off tow, near Turf. Cloud base
over the Canyon was up around 23,000' that day....

Cuts down on the paperwork nicely.

Kirk
66