Stefan wrote:
Am 17.01.10 01:16, schrieb Jim Logajan:
Wrong how? Note that they first write "Speed-to-fly refers to the
optimum airspeed for proceeding from one source of lift to another."

Yes, and that's wrong. Speed to fly is not the optimum speed to reach
the next thermal but rather to reach the target altitude in in that
next thermal. Otherwise, there would be absolutely no reason why you
should care about the strength of the next thermal.

I'm afraid I still don't see anything in the sentence I quoted and what you
write above that are mutually exclusive in such a way as to indicate the
quoted sentence is "wrong." The brief discussion in its entirety in the FAA
handbook seems sufficient to answer the OP's question. However, a Google
search for the term by the OP, if he had bothered to even try it, would
have yielded plenty of useful hits giving more than adequate definitional
details - enough so that there would be no need to even post a query here.

You might argue that this is included in the word "proceeding", but I
doubt it, and even if it were, then that's certainly not clear enough
for somebody who has to ask.

The FAA handbook's brief discussion seems adequate (IMVHO) for definitional
purposes.

As to authoritativeness, Bob Wander's books are well known on this side of
the Atlantic and often recommended for new glider pilots like myself.
Besides the rough definition I quoted from his "The Art of Thermaling"
book, he goes into more detail in his book "Glider Polars and Speed-to-
Fly."

(All his titles technically end with "... Made Easy!" You can go to his web
site, www.bobwander.com, and complain to him there about his verbiage. I
think he may also follow the soaring newsgroup too.)

Others use the term similarly, e.g.:

You can cite as many authors as you like, if they copy their errors
from each other.

What would you recommend as authoritative that defines the term to your
satisfaction?