Kirk Stant wrote:

I use at least silver distance, specific destination(s), and out of
gliding range of the home field to decide what I log as XC.

I personally think that differences among gliders are so great that
any specific distance measurement is inequitable. So I'm going
to stick with my previous definition.

But more to the point of this discussion: The real equipment
requirement for XC is a good trailer! If you are not willing to land

In my experience, a trailer and crew were actually more "costly" than
an aero-retrieve. The trailer had no legal lights, no license
plate, no brakes, and I had the wrong size hitch. I towed it
around the airfield once (on the too small hitch), and convinced
myself I'd loaded it right (C.G.) and could do this if I had to.
Because I flew on weekdays, when there was less/no competition for the
schedule of the glider, crew meant one guy (the towpilot).

I always packed the trailer for a retrieve (C.G.) before my flights,
but I dreaded ever making someone use it (and getting a traffic ticket!)

Instead I flew all my X-C within gliding range of some airport.
I even stopped progress on one dying day at 5000 ft AGL with
tons of landouts to instead go to an airport with an easy, cheap
aero-tow out.

I'm a sucker for convenience...and with aerotow rates being so cheap,
I had to look at it and since only 1/4 of my X-C has been landouts
(at an airport), aerotow each time has been less "costly."

I started real XC in a 1-34, and quickly got tired of watching the
glassholes fly off into the distance - so I joined them. Sure the
1-34 is a fine XC ship, especially if all your friends are flying
similar performance ships, but so is glass. 2-33s, G-103s, ASK-21s
are not good XC ships because no-one really uses them for that so they
are not usually equipped for it (Instruments, radio, trailer, etc).
(there are exceptions, of course...).

Kirk

I think ease of assembly/disassembly is a big one for me too. I
wasn't about to try to disassemble and trailer a 2-33 with two people.
Much less the Blanik. Yeah, we have the trailers for that, but
all those goshdanged bits and pieces and those heavy wings
and MAN could you really screw up an L-13!

There are those who say "just get more people!" Yeah, like "poof"
I got some kinda majic wand that gives me more money, more time,
more manpower to help. I prefer to think that I have done
an excellent job making choices that have maximized my enjoyment
of this sport with the resources I had available. I should
write a book, "the Budget Soarer." ;P

Having assembled the PW-5 three dozen times in a year, and
helped with a few heavier assemblies, a Russia or Silent or
Sparrowhawk is lookin' pretty good to me about now!