Shawn wrote:

In addition, I think the badge altitude requirements are
unrelated to XC ability, especially given the sophistication of modern
varios. A pilot who can stay aloft for more than an hour is familiar
with cloud base. Altitude gain becomes entirely dependent on weather
conditions. A XC pilot who can fly 500K, never getting 1200m off the
ground (or 100m off the ridge) shouldn't have to travel to where the
weather enables a 3000m climb to earn his or her Gold. The point of the
badges (as I understand it) is to encourage cross country flight, not
vacation planning ;-)

My understanding is the badges were set up not just to encourage
cross-country soaring, but to encourage pilots to extend themselves. The
altitude requirement does that, though some pilots might have to travel
to do it, just as some might have to travel to do a 500K.

When the 3000m and 5000m requirements were first set, it was never
intended that they be done exclusively in thermals, but also in cloud
climbs and (later on, I think - not sure) in wave. While US pilots can't
easily do cloud climbs, wave is a good option. I believe that most US
pilots are no more than a day's drive from a gliderport near wave, and
the remainder are no more than two days drive. A couple days drive to a
new soaring location for a week of flying doesn't seem to onerous to me!

I do think the badges could be adjusted to encourage more pilots extend
themselves in their flying, but I don't haven't thought about it much,
except to wonder if it should/could be integrated with the OLC. Reducing
the paperwork would encourage more participation.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org