Doug Easton wrote:
Looking for some help from the group... I'm putting together a presentation
(might be overhead viewgraphs and/or a series of posters) for the general
public on soaring and I want to catch their interest and imagination.

Still the most amazing thing in the world to me is
that I can fly, in a glider, for hours on end, WITH NO ENGINE!
Last weekend I finally had to land after 3 and a half hours because
I had to pee (I naively didn't bring any nifty relief devices).
And this in a less than $10,000 Blanik L-13! Where else in aviation
can you fly a two-seat aerobatic aircraft that spins 70 deg nose
down, has lots of space, good vis, is quiet, and costs under
$10,000 to buy and $7 a flight to rent (sure sure, plus tows :P)?

$10 an hour for flying (then split between 2 people so really
$5 an hour) is really cheap, challenging fun. And what
a challenge of skill! If you do it right, you get hours
of quiet flying long distances. If you do it wrong, you land
safely, but earlier than you wanted.

And how about selling it to parents of teenagers? With all the
teenage vices, isn't it nice to offer an alternative which
a teenager can enjoy and really learn from? I can't tell
you how many kids get really inspired by their "first flight."
Grades go up, they start liking math and science, and
the imagination soars...
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Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA