On Oct 6, 4:30*pm, Scott Alexander
wrote:
I have been looking at a ridge on google earth that I've heard many
glider pilots in east tennessee use. *It starts in Jasper, TN and goes
northeast for about 100 kilometers.

If I run this ridge out and back twice will that count for the 300K
diamond "declared" distance?

What if I do 3 out and backs? *Will that count for the 500K diamond
distance?

What about 5 out and backs....1000K....does that count?

Scott

Hi Scott,

You're getting some correct information and some misleading/partial
answers as well.

Let's break it down into chunks. All references below are from the
current (October 2009) FAI Sporting Code. Note that the FAI is not
the SSA; these are international achievements.

The diamond badge consists of three components:

2.1.3 Diamonds
There are three Diamonds, each of which may be worn on the Silver or
Gold badge, and
the badges for flights of 750 kilometres or more. NACs should maintain
a register of these
badges and, on notification by a NAC, the FAI will enter the names of
pilots attaining the
three Diamond award in an international register.
a. DIAMOND DISTANCE a distance flight of at least 500 kilometres.
b. DIAMOND GOAL a goal flight of at least 300 kilometres over an out-
and-return
course (1.4.6a) or triangular course (1.4.6b).
c. DIAMOND HEIGHT a gain of height of at least 5000 metres.

Since we're not concerned with the height achievement in your case,
you can achieve your Diamond Distance and Diamond Goal in several
combinations:

1. The All-in-One: Fly a 500K triangle or out-and-return and knock
off both the Diamond Distance AND Diamond Goal (hey, while you're at
it, climb to 5,000 meters in wave and be done with the whole badge :-)

2. The Two-Step: Fly a 300K out and return or triangle. Since
that was so easy, come back the next day and do a 3 turnpoint 500K.
Or, just one-up the 300K and do a 500K triangle or out-and-return.
Your choice.

Since you specified that you want to do out-and-return flights or a
back-and-forth flight on the ridge, the other posters correctly
handled the isssues with the number of turnpoints (3 waypoints plus
the start/finish) and the distance between waypoints (10K).

The above answers the specific questions you asked.

Now, if you're gonna fly a triangle (which is way cooler and more
impressive - chicks dig guys who fly triangles), be sure you
understand the rules regarding the allowable shape (defined by the
length of the shortest/longest legs). This crops up he

1.4.6b. TRIANGLE FLIGHT A CLOSED COURSE having three LEGS. The
geometry may be either:
(i) A triangle having two TURN POINTS, or
(ii) A triangle having three TURN POINTS independent of the position
of the START/FINISH POINT. The distance is given by the sum of
the LEGS of the triangle formed by the TURN POINTS. The minimum
OFFICIAL DISTANCE (1.3.9) is 300 kilometres.
For triangle record COURSES of 750 km or more, the length of each LEG
shall be 25% to
45% of the OFFICIAL DISTANCE. For record COURSES shorter than 750 km,
no LEG may
have a length of less than 28% of the OFFICIAL DISTANCE.

Whoo boy. This one sounds complicated, but it is easier if you break
it down.

The geometry prevents you from having a very "flat" triangle where you
basically fly along the ridge and bounce out a few miles to make a
triangle with one very LOOONG leg and two other legs that are only
half as long. SeeYou or other preflight planning software actually
show you how to lay out a triangle that meets these criteria.

Now, you can have either two or three waypoints (plus the start finish
point). If you use three, you are effectively starting/finishing on a
leg. An example would be to call the sheep shed at New Castle the
Start/Finish and declare one point up by Ingalls, another somewhere
way the heck out in West Virginia, and the third somewhere down by Big
Walker (I haven't actually laid it out, just giving you a fer
instance). The triangle distance would only be measured by the
distance around the three declared turnpoints, even though you still
would have to correctly cross the start/finish line or start/finish
sector. Thus, the claimable distance would be a little shorter than
what you actually flew.

All of this is much easier to understand if you have a chart in front
of you as you lay out the course.

Hope this clarifies.

Erik Mann
LS8-18 P3
SSA Badge and Record Committee