Silver Badge Fun (?)

If you happen
to declare something inadvertently by a bad attack of button pushing,
then you have only yourself to blame.

and the converse (or is it contrapositive), if you happen to declare
something inadvertently by attaching power to the logger, you have only
the manufacturer to blame.

It would seem from the experience of the originator of this thread that
at least part of the failure was due to his peers not giving sufficient
instruction on the do's and Don'ts required to verify the flight. There
is a basic assumption that a pre-silver pilot (except Al) does not have
an in depth understanding of the requirements and it is up to whoever
briefs him/her on the flight to advise on who preparations to make.

I almost laughed when I read this. Got quite a smile. The pilots
here who've been doing this 30 years haven't the slightest idea
what any of this badge mumbo jumbo means. There are so many
landmines, including loggers that self-declare when power is applied, and
broken springs, and questions about whether a tow release
start-point is also a turnpoint, that eyes glaze over and
most pilots just drool and twitch when this subject comes up.

I may not have the in depth understanding of the requirements,
but I'm smart enough to be surprised by anyone who does...

I'm also smart enough that I'll run my prospective future
badge distance flights by thebadgelady BEFORE the flight.

My LX20 has 80hours of memory as do most of the decent loggers. Running
out of memory is a "pilot error" unless you are making 1000+km flights
with short intervals for recording.

Pity the cost - even second hand is $200

Mark James Boyd wrote:
Running out of memory is from the %^&** pilot not clearing the memory
before the flight. I set it for 9 second intervals and get 24 hours or
so I think.

So make sure the logger doesn't have any courses in it,
make sure you have enough battery power for the flight (or
seperate power source), and make sure you've cleared the
memory so there is some for the flight. Surprisingly
complex, not just a "turn it on and everything
will be fine" deal.

I can't wait for eTrex or Garmin to make
one with oooodles of memory, doesn't use much battery,
uses WAAS so no calibration, and has a good interface (that
doesn't auto-declare either). Oh and does .igc real well.
And costs $200.

Interesting.

I am waiting in anticipation having (unintentionally) challenged a few
of these issues.

Let's look at the sequence of events.
I am a recent convert to a XC capable aircraft, of which there are only
two at our club. Similarly I own the only data logger in the club.
Ergo there is very little available in the way of guidance.

My third flight in the Cirrus provided Silver height and duration. The
next logical step is to start going places. So a nice Autumn day offers
the opportunity to explore some XC, and in accordance with club rules I
notify the duty instructor and OO of my intention to practice my XC
skills, in preparation for my formal Silver distance flight.

Our club also has a "Silver goal" approach to this because until I put
my logger in, there was only the camera and baro option available. Hende
the standard Silver Distance task at our club is a 62 Km flight to
another airfield and land and retrieve. We know it works - so nobody has
tried anything different for years...

My intention was to fly in the other direction, a slightly shorter route
around a power/glider field to our west and return. Intention was to get
some more navigation experience, and improve my XC speed. The reason for
the choice of turn point was simple. I wanted the option to land and to
be able to launch from there if I was unable to get home. Our "standard
airfield" is a little further, and has no launch facilities. So the
shorter route with the option of aerial retrieve won. I made
arrangements with the operators at the turn point airfield for
accomodation for my glider in case I failed, and planned the flight.

As a first flight with my new (second hand LX20) logger I wanted to test
if the thing actually worked. I did not have a mount for it yet so it
was wired in and secured to the bulkhead. This means that I was
navigating by map and compass on the flight.

The flight was delayed by various airfield problems, and I was
distracted and not thinking as well as I should have been . By the time
I launched it was 13:30 local time, in autumn that means there is a
strong possibility of the day dying after only a couple of hours. I
failed to think about this and launched with my objective in mind.
Overconfident because of the 150 Km polygon I had achieved on my last
flight. This was not quite bumbling around aimlessly, but was undeclared
and I simply went where the conditions looked good and flew a
rectangluar course.

The actual flight was fine, starting at a remote point to the east of
the field I flew over the field and on to my TP. I was pleased with my
speed and followed the landmarks happily. Problem was I was not watching
the time and spent too long climbing at my last thermal before heading
for the TP. There was a lot of sink, and by the time I had returned to
the thermal I was below it. Realisation starts to occur that the day may
be dying, and I am now 45Km from home and 3000" AGL - a Standard Cirrus
flown expertly can't do that - and I am no expert...

After much scratching the day really did die and, eventually, I was
forced to concede and made a decent circuit and landing at the remote
airfield.

This resulted in the expected lecture from the CFI - including the part
about it being a better decision to land safely, no matter how
inconveniently than to make a bad outlanding. General consensus was that
it was probably not neccessary, as conditions were probably good enough
to get home. General consensus was also that it was a good decision as I
was unconfident of my ability to get home.

The retrieve was much delayed so I ended up using the offered hangar and
collecting the Cirrus later. We ended the day very pleasantly under the
stars with our hosts - and that was it. Until we looked at the logger
trace.

Now the LX20 showed 53Km flown between the furthest points, and that I
was higher at the destination point than at launch. I did not know
anything about the rules other than that a 50Km flight needed to be
flown so I asked our badge person, who is new to the job and was not
sure. So I submitted the claim. The local view is that the log shows
50km flown to a goal with greater altitude at the destination than at
release. However the landing was 50Km from the takeoff and the landing
airfield is 1% lower than the release altitude. Whether this will be
accepted is doubtful, but since we sent in the application already we
can only see what happens.

What I do know is a lot more about my personal capabilites, and a little
more about weather reading. I am also a little more grateful for the
LX20 in it's mount on the panel because now navigation is a lot easier,
and I can use more attention for other things. Like thermalling a little
better so I don't end landing out...

Personally I find the badge system useful and fun. It is a structured
set of goals with some kind of impartial affirmation. It is one way of
getting some objective feel for your relative development, and what
would your funny hat look like with nothing to adorn it?

As with many things the progress of technology makes rules and
procedures obsolete or at least nonsensical. This is true of the soaring
badge system, but it does not meant that the system is invalid. Only
that it is perhaps a little less convenient than we may like. In the
probable event that the trace is not accepted (having now studied the
rules), I will hopefully have done a couple of longer flights that do
meet the rules. Since I enjoy the soaring anyway, it is fun doing it
again. I learned a lot, found a whole area I did not know much about,
and am now challenged to get it right.

As a development tool the badge system works, even if it is in need of
some modernisation.

Fly safe.
Bruce

I'm looking for a wave camp this autumn or winter in Europe, where I
could fly my first 3000 or 5000m.
Any advice!

/Janos

Sisteron and Vinon keep flying during the winter. With the Mistral blowing,
Sisteron is a no-brainer to do 3000m, and fairly simple to do 5000m. The
latter means that you have to descent below release altitude to somewhat
around 200m AGL, but doing that at a north facing slope nearby is not that
tough...

"Janos Bauer" a écrit dans le
message de . ..

I'm looking for a wave camp this autumn or winter in Europe, where I
could fly my first 3000 or 5000m.
Any advice!

/Janos

On 9 Jul 2003 22:06:26 -0800, (Mark James Boyd)
wrote:

As far as O/O vs. crew goes, as far as I know, not all crew are
qualified O/O. So if I've got 1 crew, and he's not a qualified
O/O, then I may have a problem (the form says two landing witnesses,
and I ASSUME I can't be the second witness myself).

You're right, of course. Last time I retrieved a club mate after a
Silver distance it was on a week day and from an airfield that is only
active at weekends. The CFI sent two of us to do the pickup, which
solved the witness problem. It strikes me as a right neighbourly thing
to do if the club makes an effort to send two retrievers in similar
circumstances.

There are
many crew who are not SSA members, pilots, or in any way
associated with an airport. Another land mine.

I don't think that matters.

If the person(s) know where they are, can recognise a glider, read its
registration and sign their name they'll do as witnesses.


--
martin@ : Martin Gregorie
gregorie : Harlow, UK
demon :
co : Zappa fan & glider pilot
uk :

Martin Gregorie s comments read:


There are
many crew who are not SSA members, pilots, or in any way
associated with an airport. Another land mine.

I don't think that matters.

If the person(s) know where they are, can recognise a glider, read its
registration and sign their name they'll do as witnesses.

I take it you didn't do your Silver distance in a NNE direction from
Gransden then ;-)
--
Tim - ASW20CL "20"

In message , Mark James Boyd
writes
My first Silver badge attempt

flew to an airport 55km away. Circled for an
hour waiting for the tow/retrieve pilot to
show up and witness the landing. Sent in the
paperwork, sent the baro for calibration. Baro spring
broke during calibration. Couldn't calibrate.

Two things. I thought that two independent witnesses who weren't
registered observers would do. Also, unless you want to claim the
sliver height I though that calibration wasn't necessary for distance as
the plot is just proving that you haven't landed on the way.

But well done on getting there

Robin

--
Robin Birch

In message , Kirk Stant
writes
Mark,

Congratulations on getting your Silver - It only gets better!

Sounds like you managed to find all the ways to not get it first!

Actually, now with GPS loggers, it's really easy. But you definitely
have to understand the rules, jump through the hoops (in the right
direction), and finish the paperwork. That's why it's a badge, after
all. Otherwise, just go out and fly 50 km and be happy! (What's
wrong, Al, scared you might make a mistake?).

While on the subject of badges, I wonder why we don't have any speed
badges to go with the distance ones - since speed is what is now one
of the main objectives of XC soaring. Something like 50 kph (30 mph)
over 50 km for Silver Speed, 100 kph (60mph) over 150 km for Gold
Speed, and 150 kph (90 mph) over 300 km for Diamond Speed.

Just a thought...

Kirk
66
We have two stages to the 100km ticket. The first is untimed, the
second is to do it in better than 60 km/h. A suitable drive towards
getting round 300 in time

Robin

--
Robin Birch

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 14:33:15 +0100, Tim
wrote:

Martin Gregorie s comments read:


There are
many crew who are not SSA members, pilots, or in any way
associated with an airport. Another land mine.

I don't think that matters.

If the person(s) know where they are, can recognise a glider, read its
registration and sign their name they'll do as witnesses.

I take it you didn't do your Silver distance in a NNE direction from
Gransden then ;-)

Indeed. Is Hus.Bos ever empty? I went to Rattlesden on an August Bank
Holiday, so there were plenty of observers on the field when I
arrived. I did it in a Junior in blue condtions and took 3 1/2 hours
over it. I used to be *very* slow in blue conditions and am not a lot
faster now.

The Silver distance I mentioned also went to Rattlesden, but arrived
to find a deserted airfield.

--
martin@ : Martin Gregorie
gregorie : Harlow, UK
demon :
co : Zappa fan & glider pilot
uk :