Nyal Williams wrote:
Part of the reason for having a 5 hour requirement
is to experience changing weather conditions and prove
the ability to find enough thermals in such conditions
to be able to stay up that long. This means strong,
tight thermals early in the day, and weaker, wider,
lazy thermals in the afternoon -- usually. I think
it is a good requirement. I once got 4:56 and it
was another two years before I crossed the 5hr time
line -- with a flight of 6:49 in a TG-3A. I found
it to be an extremely rewarding challenge. Some of
the intervening flights also exceeded 4:00.

It is good practice for distance flights; there is
a psychological/physical barrier around 2:30 - 3:30,
and learning to get past that makes distance flights
easier. One might argue that doing the distance also
covers the time, but practicing the duration until
one can handle that is less troublesome because it
saves retrieve problems. I wouldn't want to eliminate
the task.

I think the five hour requirement is good too. Did anyone challenge it?


Shawn