In article ,
tango4 wrote:
Oh, silly me! I read .....

three turnpoints which are all 10km away from each other.

Ooops...I should have wrote "at LEAST 10km away from each other..."
Sorry...


Which implies 3 turnpoints in a tight little isoscelese triangle, he didn't
say 2 turnpoints 10km apart from each other and another 100km away from
either of those two points!

Glad I drew a picture...saves on typing


The format would work as a 3 TP declared free distance but would not
constitute an FAI triangle.

Agreed...


If you made an isoscelese with each tp 100km apart, one being the start
finish and the triangle centred on the home airfield you could do a 300km
FAI triangle and only get 66km from home. You'd have to fly 432km to acheive
the task though. Home, start at one apex, fly the triangle and then home.

Or, after reaching the home airport at the end, continue flying straight
on for another 68+ km and then land for the 500km. After all, who
wants to do a 500k without any landout at all?

I suppose since it would be the end of the day, I'd want to make my
last leg of any of these downwind...


Pull the same trick with the 3 tp's a mere 116 km apart , do the start
finish at the home airfield and you've got your 500 km diamond without
getting more than 76.5 km from home and you only fly the 500 km. What's more
you might be able to claim both diamonds off this task.

Yep. I think the triangles are MUCH harder than an O&R, however.
All the different types of updrafts seem to be best along
(mostly) linear ground features most of the time. Sure, sure, there
are exceptions, but a nice long ridge is responsible for
a lot of world records...and I'm not aware of any world triangle records
that exceed their O&R counterparts (although for US records that
Knauff guy and some of his cronies in PA destroy this otherwise tidy
generalization).


But why not try doing it the real way?
300km - Straight out
500 km - O/R or at least a full FAI triangle with home as one apex.
Thermic diamond height - can be done in Namibia

As I point out in my up and coming book "The Budget Soarer" (NOT!)
I'm trying to minimize the retrieve and cost. It's also really
fun to get to know thoroughly all of the area right near my home
gliderport...travelling to Namibia doesn't really fit into my
goals personally...


:-)
:-)

Ian
Mark