Alan wrote:

Its not that XC types are getting a certain number of landings... Its
that XC types tend to fly regularly and tend to stick with the sport,
accumulating more time and experience and skill.

The "local fliers" who come out for a sled ride now and then DO NOT
typically go 6 - 10 times; especially not in a single day! In my
experience, a lot of the "local only" or "sled ride" folks come out
once every few weeks or months, take 1 - 3 tows, and then disappear
for another stretch of time. It is the infrequency of their
experience and the lack of regular practice that is the problem - not
the type of flying that they enjoy.


Actually, this is pretty close to my point. These discussions seem
to always include the theme that the XC flyers are the "better" flyers
with some credit to their doing XC. There is no reason a local flyer
cannot be the better flyer, if they get enough practice at it.

I suppose it means what you mean by "better flyer". My observation is
these "local only" pilots tend to have limited ability to handle a
different landing place (like a landout, or even a different airport)
than the home airport, or weather that varies much beyond good (any
thing besides light crosswinds and modest downdrafts in the pattern,
say), or a "panic" situation (inadvertently blown downwind, for
example). It's not surprising that is so, since "local flying" requires
less flying skill, and much less decision making, attention, and
priority setting.

Because their local flying tends to limit the difficulty of the
situations they encounter, they may not be any less safe, but typically,
they are still less capable pilots. It's not a problem, as long as they
enjoy it and limit their exposure to the more difficult conditions they
are not prepared for.

"Enough practice" seems unlikely in such a "local" situation. They might
have a lot of practice, but it's the same thing repeated a hundred
times, not coping with new situations. I certainly experience far
greater requirements on my piloting skill during cross-country flying
than I ever do within gliding distance of my home airport.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (netto to net to email me)

- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Feb/2010" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm http://tinyurl.com/yb3xywl

- "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation Mar/2004" Much of what you need to know tinyurl.com/yfs7tnz