(Hijacked) Bang for the Buck

In my experience, owning a higher performance glider
just means that you land out further away! Admittedly
I fly in damp little Britain, so the further you go,
the more likely you are to encounter a poor airmass.

Derek C
--------------------------------
At 19:18 30 January 2006, Bob Whelan wrote:
In a discussion of (performance) bang for the buck,
was writ...
The difference in what you get today in comparison
of what you've got 20
years ago is not just 'a bit'.


I didn't know 'a bit' had a precise numerical definition!
(it was understatement). I think you were agreeing
with me in general.

Plus you get more for your money
Certainly you'll see it in your absolute
cross-country enjoyment.

At the risk of anality (and not to pick on a statement
probably
originally written somewhat from a contest perspective),
for any newbies
pondering 'cross country enjoyment,' understand there
ARE differing
views on what *constitutes* 'cross country enjoyment.'

Sure, on any given day longer distances are great for
bragging rights,
and also serve wonderfully as motivation, but...

My own view is that cross country ENJOYMENT (at least
in the continental
U.S. is NOT strongly related to either L/D, or its
close cousin,
'penetration.' I've had as much fun flying XC in a
21:1 1-26 as I have
in a ~35:1 1st-generation 15-meter glass ship. IMHO,
fun in XC relates
to one's comfort in *safely* doing it. Distance/speed
'merely' fall out
in the wash.

Since my first (inadvertent, safe) XC ca. 1973 in a
1-26 to my most
recent, I've seen many participants come and go, and
I've seen many
participants lust-after/purchase flat L/D in what seemed
to me to be a
hope of avoiding *any* landouts in their pursuit of
'fun XC.' I've also
seen some of these folks seriously bust their ships
when
conditions/their L/D didn't work out. There's a lot
to be said for
becoming comfortable in picking fields in less costly,
lower performance
ships than *hoping* to never have to make an OFL in
a high-dollar,
flat-gliding latest-n-greatest drool machine.

Worrying about distance before understanding how to
pick - and being
comfortable picking - safe, likely-to-be-damage-free
landing fields, is
to have one's priorities out of sequence, methinks.

Regards,
Bob - YMMV - W.