JJ Sinclair wrote:

McCready speed-to-fly computation will ask for speeds that far exceed
"reasonable and safe".

I find the same thing, Bill, and as a consequence, almost never set MacCready
any higher than 3. For a long time now, I have had serious questions about the
theory that MacCready is based on. I'm sure it's fine in Uvalde, but it SUX in
Minden.


There is nothing wrong with the theory. It says you set MC to the strength of
the next thermal you *can* reach. If there is a mountain between you and the
thermal that you can't pass with this setting, you can't reach it. So the
optimal strategy in this case, as someone mentionned before, is to fly to
the mountain as in a final glide, i.e. climb in the last thermal before
it (if possible) up to the height allowing to pass it (with any suitable
margin) at MC setting equal to the strength of this last thermal.