On Monday, December 14, 2020 at 8:20:42 AM UTC-8, Dan Marotta wrote:
How far you will need to self-retrieve depends upon the flight, not the glider. A Mini-Lak was the glider involved in the case I cited, and the pilot was attempting a 750k record flight. And the oft-quoted self-retrieve distance is way too optimistic - I would cut it in half, and that might be too generous (having to clear a mountain range, for example).

Tom

Why would you need to clear a mountain range on a self retrieve? Motor
to the nearest airport and land. It's stupid to kill yourself trying to
get home when a safe landing can be made elsewhere, but then who ever
said that glider pilots are "smart", especially those of us with motors
or engines?

--
Dan
5J

Because the nearest airport IS on the other side of a mountain range! That is exactly what happened at Ely last summer.

Tom