>Therefore, my thinking is that 40-80 hours per year of flight time would be >ballpark, for me. I perceive that to be low given the stories I've heard about >not being able to fly certain types without 500+ hours logged (which would >take me 6-12 years to attain). Perhaps I'm misunderstanding the experience >needed and the opportunities, particularly in Club Class.
You have to get away from the inner suburban clubs like Camden to get any hours and experience. They seem to be only aimed at 30 minute flights. The first weekend I flew outside a near-city centre, I got 5 1/2 hours. Probably for NSW the best ideas are Keepit, Bathurst and possibly Temora. A handful of "long" weekends a year will give you enough hours to be safe. Most of the regional clubs have good outlanding opportunities and you can get into a single seater with less hours. Possibly under 30 for a lovely glider like the Junior which is easily capable of 300 (and in the right hands (not mine) 500k). You don't need to get too focussed on competition IMHO, but you definitely need to set yourself goals. Without a goal, flying can be come aimless and boring. Again, setting interesting goals is not easy with suburban sites. You have to go bush. I fly 120+ hours a year and don't fly proper comps. I have flow all the badge flights but never submitted them. I flew 520 kms last year on one flight but didn't submit it anywhere (in any case, my goal was to fly a 300 km task). The OLC is great fun if only for the fact that you can bore your family and work colleages, replaying your results. There's an under 200 hours section too. The OLC can provide enough motivation and goals to keep you interested. There are also other less formal comps such as regattas where you can do pair flying or team up in a two-seater to get XC experience. These can be great fun because you are stretching yourself, flying in air you would not normally fly in, and if you don't do too well, it's the hero you are flying with who gets penalised. It can be difficult getting the time away from home with a young family. My strategy, which is a slightly risky one, is to continually pester my wife for sex. Normally she forces me to go away gliding. Either way it's not misery. D. On 29/08/2010, Andrew Hallam <[email protected]> wrote: > On 28/08/2010, at 6:23 PM, Andrew Hallam wrote: >> Therefore, my thinking is that 40-80 hours per year of flight time would >> be ballpark, for me. > > Mmmm... On reflection, perhaps 30-50 hours per year might be more realistic, > for me, based on getting 10 reasonable flying days per year. > > /A > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > [email protected] > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
