Glider Cross-country signoff & FARs

Tony Verhulst wrote:
Michael wrote:
..... if you (as a CFIG)
were not willing to endorse the student for XC flight, clearly you
must not have given him adequate instruction in XC flying, which is
required.

Assuming the U.S. and glider ratings, there is no XC requirement in the
Practical Test Standard.

Tony V.

Area VIII: Navigation
A. Task: Flight Preparation and Planning
4. Constructs a flight profile to determine minimum flight
altitude at go-ahead points.

This is probably the clearest requirement for ORAL testing of
X-C planning proficiency. Can't tell go-ahead points without
wind effects, need to read a TAF for that, etc...

As far as an examiner requiring an XC endorsement for a practical test,
DPE's can make up their own rules and do whatever they want.
Some DPE's won't fly certain planes (a Tomahawk) or refuse
to fly in actual IFR even for an IFR checkride, or require that
the CFI applicant have spin training from the instructor that
signs them off. DPE's that make their additional requirements
known BEFORE the flight test I would think were wholly within their
discretion. On the other hand, taking someone's $250 and then
telling them they need a XC signoff and another $250 at a later
date is dirty pool and would get a response from me if I were the
recommender.

And different FSDO's get some leeway in "interpretation."
In Alaska, the examiner's include "defrosting the freakin'
engine" as part of the tested preflight. In Hawaii, overwater
operations and using their flight tracking system is tested.
So yes, there seems to be a lot of discretion given...

But is an XC 61.93 endorsement required for all glider practical
tests? No way. Neither is a "B" airspace endorsement, or
a "night" endorsement, or an endorsement to land at every airport
that pilot may select in the future. Can someone legally fly a glider
at night into B airspace to a completely new airport after getting
the glider PPL? Yes (if they have enough money for all the
electric things). But requiring sign-offs for this generally
of all applicants across the country would be absurd.

I read somewhere that only 20% of glider PPL's ever do a
cross-country. This matches my personal observations.
I'm also keenly aware that in the US, one gets a "glider"
license, not a "soaring" license. If all you have is a winch,
a 2-33, and stable air when the student has time to fly, how
are you gonna fly a dual cross-country? Is there really
any reason to make getting a glider license harder?