On Tue, 13 Oct 2015 08:56:11 -0700, unclhank wrote:

On Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 10:03:01 AM UTC-4, Tony wrote:
On Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 7:26:06 AM UTC-5,
wrote:
Silver distance rules

In the recent past, a pilot could declare a remote start point some
distance from the launch / release point. Then soar to the declared
start point and cross a start line to begin the task.

One example of this task would allow a glider pilot to release near
the home gliderport, fly some distance (25 km) to the start line,
then retrace the route back to the gliderport - overfly the
gliderport and continue to a finish line 25 kilometers away before
returning to the gliderport.


When I did mine (2001, SZD Junior, off the winch) the usual briefing was
to fly to another glider field and land there. The reasoning is that
landing on an airfield you've never seen before is useful XC training and
I can't argue with that. Depending on wind direction our usual targets
are Rattlesden (68km east) or Husbands Bosworth, (70 km west).
Derigging and trailering the Junior home is also good experience for both
pilot and crew, since very few of us have much rigging experience before
we fly the Silver distance: bear in mind that this is almost always done
in a club glider and that these are kept fully rigged in our hangar.

The only difference these days is that people tend to use something with
a bit more performance (Pegase, Discus, ASW24) for their Silver distance
and to do it as an out and return to much the same remote fields. Some
also do their C distance as one leg of a larger triangle if they're
flying one of these gliders. I can't remember anybody using a remote
start to stay within 25-30 km of home.


We have sort of a local rule.
Do a 50 k in a 1-26 any way you want. Most go straight out to Blairstown
45 miles away.
If you have a glass ship, we expect more. Many have done it with a 140k
triangle using the first turn as a remote start and the last turn as
remote finish. When you do this on a 4000 foot day, common to us, it is
a real cross country.

Good one! That sounds like a proper C distance, and a most suitable
glider to do it in.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |