On May 20, 9:40*am, "Morgans" wrote:
As a student pilot, thinking more about gliders lately, I started reading
this group. *I can't help but notice that talk of contests seems to dominate
the subjects here.

I think I would enjoy gliders just for the fun of flying, and seeing what
you could do individually, and for the beauty of silent flight. *Is it so
necessary to fly in contests to have fun?

How many people here just fly gliders without flying contests?

I have entered contests, in a (much despited in this group) PW5,
flying against other PW5s and old gliders such as the Ka6. Mostly I
fly locally or short cross-countries in the PW5, or take friends
flying in a higher performance two seater such as a Janus or DG1000. I
also like to take students who are getting close to solo standard, or
post solo but not allowed to cross country yet, on longer soaring
flights that they don't usually get with an instructor (I'm not an
instructor).

The nice thing about contests is that they are a time and place where
people are expected to stretch themselves a little, try to go places
that you might not think are possible on the day and wouldn't normally
try. There are plenty of people around ready and willing to come and
get you from a paddock if you don't succeed and you won't be
criticized for landing out.