Expanded World Class

wrote:
you guys are funny!

For decent performance I think 35/1 would be good enough. Lower
performance is just frustrating when trying XC.

i have no experience flying cross country in anything 35:1 or higher,
but it seems to me like it may be kind of boring, i mean you are way
up in the air all the time, never get close to the ground until youve
made the goal, wheres the excitement??

Some people just enjoy the heck out flying the glider and looking at the
scenery; others are excited very easily. Ocasionally, I'm in the former
case.

snip

they did not seem to be having much fun, because they
landed out all the damn time.

now im afraid to move up to high performance soaring, if landing out
isnt fun, of course as long as nothing gets broken, then what is fun?

Landing means the flight is over. If it happens when there is still a
bunch of soaring left, it's a big disappointment.

ive had nearly as much fun on some of my retrieves as some of my
flights.

Ditto, but after many years of doing it, a lot of the thrill is gone. I
get a lot more soaring now that I don't have to land out, and my wife
thinks our latest glider is worth every penny it cost every time it
avoids a land out!

when the
entire field is running the same glider in the same weather over the
same course the only way you win is by being the best pilot and isnt
that what we are trying to figure out anyway?

THere are many personal reasons for flying a contest, not just that one.
I think one reason the World Class did not become popular is a lot
pilots really don't care if the other pilot is flying a different
glider, as long as the performance (actual or handicapped) is "close
enough". The Club Class and Sports Class popularity appears to support
this view.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org