You could do like me and take off with a case of the flu (back in the
'80s), sit miserably in the cockpit for 5 1/2 hours, and land to find
that you'd not screwed the nut tightly enough on the barograph drum and
it did not rotate.

Or you could save that 5 hour duration flight for your first of many
Gold Distance/Diamond Goal attempts.Â* It'll likely take you 5 hours or
more in early attempts, anyway.Â* Good luck!

On 3/24/2020 3:29 PM, son_of_flubber wrote:
Maybe I'm the only pilot put off the entire badge system by the 5 hour duration flight. I'd surely get dull and bored after ~3.5 hours and flying dull increases risk. The benefit that I'd subjectively assign to a longer flight does not offset the risk that I subjectively perceive.

Even though I'm already an old guy, my endurance in the air has slowly increased over a decade of flying to about 3 hours. For a younger pilot, 5 hour duration flight might be more a matter of skillfully finding lift, and less a matter of raw endurance.

--
Dan, 5J