Well I agree partly. The bit about cutting the apron strings is well put.

This was the point I was trying to make in my post. 50k is far enough
away that it takes some psyching up for. Most pilots who stick with
the sport fly x/c. Why not encourage participation and give these
pilots a goal they can achieve? Leaving on a cross country flight is
so much easier after we make the first one or two. Are we also
supposed to handicap the altitude gain by wing loading? I'll agree
that a pilot making a flight in a lower performance glider most likely
worked a bit more and quite possibly had a richer learning experiance
but does this reduce the achievement of letting go and heading out? No
way.




However I cannot accept a one thermal Discus trip as being equivalent to
my
Silver in an wooden Ka8.
I never said it was. I believe the flight is more about leaving then
covering 50k.


I tend to agree that the 50km Silver Distance task is out of date. Those
who did it under poor soaring conditions in low performance gliders deserve
the bragging rights.

There are pilots who earned Silver distrance when the 1-26 or 1-23 was
the hot ship equivilant to the Discus. Did these types of bragging
rights take place then? How many of us were flying the latest hot ship
when we finished the leg? Is our accomplishment any less valid then
the pilot who made the flight in 15 year older equipment?


Silver Distance isn't just about soaring the distance, it's also about
navigation. High performance gliders combined with strong thermals can get
a pilot lost a lot faster than an old wood floater.

I seem to remember a story about a pilot who, after getting thoroughly lost,
landed 300km away after failing to identify his 50km goal.

Cool. Did he claim a Gold flight?

Bill Daniels