On Thursday, September 5, 2013 4:04:34 PM UTC-7, son_of_flubber wrote:
I fly in New England and staying up in the air is challenging on the majority of "flyable days". Every so often, we get a booming day (like today) and I commonly end up saying (and I hear other pilots saying), "It was so easy to stay up, I got bored."

BORED' is when you achieve the rating of 'ballast'
Get high. Try stuff, it may save your ass someday. Speaking of seat belts.....try to make sure the anchor points are NOT above our shoulders. I love my Speed Astir, but there is NO way to tighten the belts enough to prevent cranial /canopy violent interference at maneuvering speed ona bumpy day I have ersonnall made the Speeed Astir into a convertible in-flight. BTW, it flys jut fine without the (expensive) rear canopy!!!!

So what happens when a pilot who is used to scrapping for lift goes to the land of big, strong, and reliable thermals? Does the pilot get bored? Or does the pilot find other challenges to keep things interesting (like flying 300 km tasks and landing out on top of mountains).