On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 12:40:02 GMT, Pat Russell
wrote:

Allow me to summarize what I have learned from this thread.
Soaring has declined for these reasons:

1. Money
2. Accessibility
3. Competition from other activities
4. Elitism

Valiant efforts have been made to lessen the impact of the first
three, but isn't it embarrassing how feebly we have tackled the
fourth, the easiest one to address?


Sadly, these days (in the UK anyway) it seems that accusations of
elitism often get applied to anything that can't be mastered instantly
and doesn't involve chasing a ball. Gliding is obviously elitist just
because becoming a soaring pilot takes time and involves learning a
number of new skills.

And, please lets not argue about the (perceived) cost: the amount that
ordinary folks are prepared to spend on, e.g., gokarting for their
kids or golf can easily exceed the cost of soaring. Again, that
assumes UK club fees and glider prices, so that comparison may not
work elsewhere. I know a guy whose son was close to top rank in
karting - they spent £20K a year running that kart and competing - and
another family who lashed out £1200 on a used kart for their kid. In
the UK you could get solo for less than the cost of that used kart.
Buying my ASW-20 and flying it for a year will cost less than £20K.
Amortising that cost over 10 years will reduce the yearly outlay to
the equivalent of flying a club glider, so over time gliding is vastly
cheaper than top-level karting and I bet that still holds if I'd
bought new kit such as an ASW-28.

--
martin@ : Martin Gregorie
gregorie : Harlow, UK
demon :
co : Zappa fan & glider pilot
uk :