Hey John,

Two thoughts:

1) 1-26 (or any other cheap, forgiving glider)
2) Condor

You can do XC in any sailplane. Sure, the high performance super-ships are good for racing *in a special class*. But to get involved in XC flying, you don't need to worry about that.

A forgiving, low to mid-performance single-seater that has a decent trailer is all you need to have a really good time and get people going cross country.

Regarding training, there are two major components. The first is building soaring skills. Getting the Bronze Badge and Silver Climb/Duration are usually good benchmarks for that. They can be done in the comfort and safety of one's home airport.

The cross country training aspect can be done in the simulator. The biggest thing really is dealing with off-field landings. You can use the simulator to demonstrate all sorts of different scenarios in all sorts of fields.

The actual "getting out of gliding distance" part is not all that important to demonstrate. You certainly could, in a Lark. It would be a great experience too. Just fly on a decent day and go toward a neighboring airport. If you get uncomfortable, land there and aerotow back. I just did a short XC over the past weekend in a 2-33... went 9 miles away and then flew with a young pilot. He had a blast!

Feel free to contact me if you want any further details on how my club gets people through the program.

Also, if any club would like to get a Condor XC-training program going, I'd be happy to facilitate. I can work one-on-one with people, or train the coaches/mentors how to use the tools effectively.

All the best,
Daniel