On Aug 23, 8:08*pm, RAS56 wrote:
Folks,

Thanks for all the thoughts and replies, this is exactly the type of
discussion I was hoping I would generate.

Let me be more explicit wrt my quals...I'm a newly minted Bronze
badge-holder with a strong desire to cut the apron strings. I have a
large amount of power experience, but have only flown gliders for the
last two years and have less than 100 glider hours.

Contests sound like a great venue to improve my skills, but my
understanding is most if not all want pilots showing up with their
Silver badge done or an equivalent level of experience. I'm not there
yet. (and Tony, if you're the Tony who's wing I ran at Region 10, Great
Job in that Cherokee! Hope you enjoyed the contest and flying at Llano!)

Soaring at Minden sounds like a great option, heck I'm already seriously
considering towing my steed (ASW-19b) up there to do the Air Sailing
camp, but the distance is daunting. Dalhart sounds interesting if some
leader/follower flights can be done. I've done one of those this year
here in Central Texas, had a blast and learned a bunch...but the
coordination with todays work situations to get it scheduled to say
nothing of asking a much better pilot "dumbing down" his flying for me
to keep up...is a lot to ask.

The structure/syllabus presented at Air Sailing appeals to me...a set of
objectives and learning goals, pre-stated....it matches what I
experience in my flying day jobs training department. I like that
approach better than a "strap in and go fly" approach that one can learn
from...but doesn't do as an effective job in my opinion. If something
like they present is out there somewhere (the Dalhart suggestion maybe?)
or perhaps another club famous for minting xc pilots, I'd appreciate the
point out.

Thanks again and for all the suggestions...and a note to John Cochrane,
I have really enjoyed reading the soaring section of your website. Lots
of good gouge on there and I'm having a hard time finding room on the
cranial hard drive for it all!

Rob

--
RAS56


I don't know what the typical pace is, but I looked back at my log
book and found that I had completed my Silver C at about 40 hours so
if you are approaching 100 hours and are stuck at bronze, with an
ASW-19b at your disposal, then your instincts to accelerate your
learning curve are probably on the mark.

My suggestion is that you leave your glider at home and jump the next
airline flight to Reno, rent a car and drive the 40 minutes down to
Minden to fly dual cross-country with one of the SoaringNV pilots in
one of their Duos. Frankly, there is no substitute for flying dual XC
with an experienced pilot. Follow the leader is okay, but having
someone who knows what they are doing observe your flying from the
cockpit (and vice versa) is many times more useful in accelerating
your learning and confidence. I know this from being on the giving and
receiving side of both experiences.

Devin may be back from the Junior WGC in time to take you up, but if
not they have several very fine and experienced XC pilots who will
build your skills and confidence.

There may be other sites that offer similar experiences, but I really
think dual flying at a site with reliable XC weather with an
experienced XC pilot in a modern high-performance 2-seat (not Grob
103) glider is the best path from where you are right now.

9B