Many thanks to Patrick McMahon, Chris Gough, and all others involved for building the "Proving Grounds" platform to encourage cross country soaring. My club, Southern Eagles Soaring, has signed on to Proving Grounds and we are eager to get underway. We have accumulated a bunch of pilots with the requisite skills and desire to begin cross country flying, but we have lacked an organized way to get them to leave the nest. The ABC badge system is the way to prepare pilots for cross country, but it does not do much to encourage the desire to fly cross country. We are hoping Proving Grounds will be the additional incentive to get our pilots out there on task.

WB