Thanks for all the very positive comments both on forum and off-line ... well there is always one !
After obtaining the C certificate four years ago, I concentrated on developing skills to become a competent cross-county pilot. I can say this has been a lot of hard work and has involved attendance at numerous coaching camps and regattas to the point that I have now entered my first comp ... NSW Club Class where I hope not to make too much of a fool of myself. I had put the Silver C on the back-burner because I did not think this in itself achieved anything (and was not aware that it was a pre-qualification for competition). Given good conditions (ie a 10,000 ft day), the distance and height requirements are not too difficult to achieve. But the duration element seems a bit incongruous as a requirement for a "basic" cross-county qualification. G. Dale maintains the best way to develop cross country skills is through short (< 2 hour duration) racing tasks. One issue which concerns me with gliding, is the emphasis on duration and distance (through the system of awards and badges); particularly given the average age of participants. With road safety (more or less concentration required than gliding ?), the rule is have a break every two hours (fatigue kills etc ....). This I do pretty religiously on the road and I think is a good rule of thumb. I found in gliding, fatigue does set in after a reasonable amount of time in the air. With good hydration and nutrition, and being focussed on a task at hand, it is possible to extend the threshold, but fatigue is still a factor. The danger is that the time you need all your wits about you is joining the circuit at the end of a flight when there can be a significant number of gliders doing the same. To be impaired in any way at this time could result in disaster ... and has. Contrary to the belief of one of the correspondents, I believe I am a very safe pilot having had an incident-free career flying with the RAAF and subsequently in 5 years gliding. I don't think it is logical to assume that because I don't have a Silver C, that I am a danger to other pilots. I can assure you I have flown safely in many stacked thermals and on task with many other gliders, and recovered to very busy airfields without incident. Against this, it is possible to achieve badges without ever having to fly in the company of other gliders. I have quite a bit of flying to do before the comp with the Cross Country Week at Warkworth next month, and Speedweek at West Wyalong in November. Maybe, as Stuart suggests, the 5 hours will just happen ! John (VH GYF ...so watch out !)
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