New Nationwide Squawk Code

"Greg Arnold" wrote in message ...

"Maximum speed in level flight with maximum continuous power (Vh)—138
mph (120 knots) CAS"

A glider can't maintain 120 knots in level flight, so does this restrict
a glider VNE to 120 knots?

What you say is true. It is obvious that FAA didn't know how to establish an appropriate speed limitation for gliders. It seemed to them that the obvious solution was to simply use the same number for both airplanes and gliders. There also seemed to be an underlying assumption that gliders are fragile; therefore the speed number should be assigned at Vne instead of Vh. It is all spelled out on page 44801 (and elsewhere) of the following document.
http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/regulatory/sport_rule.pdf

For us living here in the Western US, limiting altitude to Light Sports Pilots to 10,000 MSL instead of some height about the ground show an additional lack of understanding glider safety. I often fly out of an airport located in a valley that is 6,000 MLS. The mountain range next to the valley varies from 10,000 MSL to 12,600 MLS. Under the current regulations I would not be able to fly out of the valley.

Wayne
http://www.soaridaho.com/