"Greg Arnold" wrote in message ...
On 10/19/2010 9:22 AM, Wayne Paul wrote:


I also don't understand the reason for the 15km rule, but suspect that
it may be a poor attempt to solve a real problem. I do know that where
I fly there is never any lift within 15km of the airport. We have to
tow to the hills/mountains, which is about 20km. If the airport was
instead located at the base of the hills/mountains, the 15km rule would
be no problem. So my inability to compete in the OLC is a function of
the decision made decades ago about where to locate the airport. I
don't understand why airport location is relevant to the OLC.


I've been thinking about the 48 hr rule and locations that it may affect. The first place/location that came to mind as being impacted is the annual Willamette Valley Soaring Club's (http://www.wvsc.org) trip to the Alvord Desert. The nearest village is Fields, OR population 86. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fields,_Oregon) To get to Fields from the soaring site one must drive about 35 to 40 miles on an unpaved road.

I find both the posting time and tow-distance rules prejudicial /exclusionary in nature. I wonder if there is/or could be a process for granting waivers for isolated locations and airfield located distances in excess of 15km away from lift.

Wayne
http://www.soaridaho.com


As a follow-up, it might be useful to explain why there is no lift
around many of the gliderports in California. It is because the Pacific
Ocean is very cold along the coast (basically, the ocean currents bring
down cold water from up north), and this cools the air and creates an
almost permanent inversion in many valleys, even those far from the
ocean. For example, the ocean air has to follow a path of approximately
200 km before it reaches the soaring site at Williams (in the Sacramento
Valley), yet that is enough to make the airport area unsoarable. Pilots
at Williams must tow to hills/mountains that are more than 30 kilometers
away.

I would think that there must be similar problems in Europe?

It has been a long time since I was in the Williams area; however, I do seem to remember that rice is one of the major agricultural crops. Rice production results in large flooded fields which are not conducive to thermal generation.