On May 27, 2:40*pm, Brad wrote:
On May 27, 1:27*pm, ContestID67 wrote:

On May 27, 2:26*pm, Brad wrote:

I haven't flown in any contests yet, but I'm
wondering................to be safe and competent, how many hours or
flights would be prudent to have under my belt before I went out and
flew my first contest of the season?

Thanks,
Brad

The general rule of thumb is having your Silver Badge.

ok, silver badge................hypothetical: I got my silver badge 3
years ago, going to fly a contest in a few weeks, but havn't flown
more than 5 hours so far this year. Am I "safe"?

Brad

Carl Herold used to say 5 XC flights before a contest if you are
experienced, 10 flights if you are less experienced. So say you have
more than 100 XC flights under your belt, then 5 flights would be
about 20 hours- lots of opportunities to thermal, judge glides, and
make plenty of decisions. I've followed this ever since he told me
this.

Chad
4Z