I guess the result of asking the question and reading aeajr's excellent primer is that I am know "familiar" enough with gliders that I can have a reasonable conversation with glider pilots. You won't find many gliders flown at my club but I've found that most guys that you meet at the field (if not all) have at least one glider back at the house. Things that I learned today:
[*]I now know that dynamic glider pilots need to be put in straight jackets![*]I now know that Mt. Zion is just down the road from my club's field and NOT in Zion National Park, UT.[*]I understand why foam-n-glass makes very good sense for a slope glider - don't take a balsa / film covered plane to Mt. Zion.[*]I'm not sure that I'm fit enough to fly combat 'cause I'd go for plenty of walks to pick up my plane. Em, maybe that IS a fitness plan.[*]For soaring, wind direction DOES count.[*]Hi-starts don't work at our field 'cause we have these big-n-ugly weeds that will snag the cord every time (or the prairie dog mounds).[/list]A plan seems to be emerging - an EP glider for the field, a glider capable of slopes, and maybe a "wing" for those times when ya just have to knock something out of the sky (probably myself). Under NO circumstances a dynamic flight glider. 