Words terms & public perception

[fredsez]

Over here on this side of the pond, how should I advertise or tell my
friends (yet to meet) that I fly something like an aircraft without an
engine running?
If I say Glider, I often hear "Oh, you fly hang gliders?"
If I say I fly sailplanes, I hear "What is that?"
If I say I am going soaring, I hear "what is that?"
If I say I'm going gliding, I hear "You mean hang gliding?"

Back before many of you were aware of anything other than mother, I
saw and flew in a thing called a glider. (An LK10A) of wwII fame. A
couple of well publicised fatal accidents shut down all gliding around
St. Louis. On to airplanes, but with a memory of a beautiful thing
called "Yankee Doodle Do".
Red White and Blue. Gull wings. Randy Chapman was the pilot.

On to the west coast...I tried to find where gliders were flown. No
one seemed to know. After about a year, I found out that I lived less
than two miles from "THE SOARING SOCIETY OF AMERICA" in Santa Monica,
California.

Maybe you can understand words and have a suggestion. Fred

[Tom Gardner]

On Feb 23, 5:47 am, fredsez > wrote:
> Over here on this side of the pond, how should I advertise or tell my
> friends (yet to meet) that I fly something like an aircraft without an
> engine running?
> If I say Glider, I often hear "Oh, you fly hang gliders?"
> If I say I fly sailplanes, I hear "What is that?"
> If I say I am going soaring, I hear "what is that?"
> If I say I'm going gliding, I hear "You mean hang gliding?"

That's not a problem, that's an opportunity!

When they utter the words "hang gliding", it gives the perfect
intro to a sales pitch along the lines of
- no, real gliding...
- up to 150mph,
- 10,000 ft and 500km aren't unusual,
- mandatory aerobatic training before you are allowed to go solo
- full aerobatics, loops, spins, wing overs, etc
and then show them a sexy aerial photo of your plane
that you have produced a picture of the glider from your
wallet.

[Eric Greenwell]

Tom Gardner wrote:
> On Feb 23, 5:47 am, fredsez > wrote:
>> Over here on this side of the pond, how should I advertise or tell my
>> friends (yet to meet) that I fly something like an aircraft without an
>> engine running?
>> If I say Glider, I often hear "Oh, you fly hang gliders?"
>> If I say I fly sailplanes, I hear "What is that?"
>> If I say I am going soaring, I hear "what is that?"
>> If I say I'm going gliding, I hear "You mean hang gliding?"
>
> That's not a problem, that's an opportunity!

It certainly is!
>
> When they utter the words "hang gliding", it gives the perfect
> intro to a sales pitch along the lines of

I also mention the things below:

> - no, real gliding...
> - up to 150mph,
> - 10,000 ft and 500km aren't unusual,

I leave the following out in the beginning, because it will distract
from the main message with training details that most people don't want
or will misinterpret, requiring more details that further distract ...

> - mandatory aerobatic training before you are allowed to go solo
> - full aerobatics, loops, spins, wing overs, etc

If the person is already a pilot or seems particularly keen on physical
excitement, and expresses an interest in the details, then it's worth
going into it; otherwise, I'm careful to avoid it.

> and then show them a sexy aerial photo of your plane
> that you have produced a picture of the glider from your
> wallet.

The picture is *crucial*, because words just won't bring the right image
to their minds; after all, that's how the conversation got started!

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

* Updated! "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* New Jan '08 - sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more

* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

[Tom Gardner]

On Feb 23, 4:58 pm, Eric Greenwell > wrote:
> Tom Gardner wrote:
> I leave the following out in the beginning, because it will distract
> from the main message with training details that most people don't want
> or will misinterpret, requiring more details that further distract ...
>
> > - mandatory aerobatic training before you are allowed to go solo
> > - full aerobatics, loops, spins, wing overs, etc
>
> If the person is already a pilot or seems particularly keen on physical
> excitement, and expresses an interest in the details, then it's worth
> going into it; otherwise, I'm careful to avoid it.

Understood and accepted. I'd usually lead into it by --
if they appear vaguely interested in a trial flight -- asking
them whether they would like it to be exhilarating
or relaxing or exciting or restful. And then say it can be
any or all of those, sometimes in the same flight.

If exhilaration catches their imagination then I'll mention
- 0 to 60 mph in 4s (vs cars in ~12s)
- climbing with your feet higher than your head
- and "casually" mention the aerobatics

Safety is a more "interesting" topic. I won't bring it up unless
they do, but then I'll mutter:
- similar to scuba diving or rugby (I must check about horse riding)
- I don't like the idea of using my legs as undercarriage
- I'm happy for my 15yo daughter to do it, because I hope it'll
help her avoid any thrill-seeking in cars when she becomes
old enough to drive
- qualified instructors being repeatedly re-tested by
other qualified instructors

[Andy[_1_]]

On Feb 22, 10:47*pm, fredsez > wrote:
> Maybe you can understand words and have a suggestion. Fred

I usually get past the hang glider bit by explaining that I fly a 50ft
wingspan aircraft that has no engine. The hard one is "soaring".
Even people that think they know what I do ask me if I'm going
sailing.

I was in the shuttle bus on the way back from a business trip last
week. I got talking to a woman about hiking in the area and she asked
about wildlife. Told her about red tailed hawks. She seem
interested so I told her how great it was to fly with them. The rest
of the bus ride was spent explaining cross country soaring.

Andy

[Mike the Strike]

On Feb 25, 12:18 pm, Andy > wrote:
> On Feb 22, 10:47 pm, fredsez > wrote:
>
> > Maybe you can understand words and have a suggestion. Fred
>
> I usually get past the hang glider bit by explaining that I fly a 50ft
> wingspan aircraft that has no engine. The hard one is "soaring".
> Even people that think they know what I do ask me if I'm going
> sailing.
>

......and then they ask how fast you fall down when the wind stops
blowing!

Mike