Bill Gribble wrote:

I disagree. I think the biggest deterrent is failing to understand how
accessible the whole thing actually is. It's the effort involved in
getting onto the airfield and getting involved in the first place that's
the problem.

This is also a factor. Imagine my surprise when I found out
I could go race on the dirt track nearby in a car for a few dollars too!
Same idea. (Good) Publicity is sometimes hard to come by...
Someone else posted how it takes a lot of courage to go into
an FBO and ask for lessons. I was struck by how true this is.


Golfers, swimmers, etc. can enjoy their sport to some extent even if
they do it at a very novice level. I can get someone sailing a dinghy
enough to not die in about a weekend. Not a chance of soloing a
sailplane in a weekend if you've never flown anything before.

But that's overlooking the fact that going "solo" is not the whole point
of gliding. Flying is, and you do that from the moment you start to
learn. So you have an instructor in the back for the first 50-100
launches? Doesn't matter. For the most part most of them are good
company :P

Yep, but $$$$s is $$$$s. Poor people find a lake and dog paddle for a
long long time. In flying I get some customers because my goal
is to teach them how to train themselves. Helps save money,
but even this has it's limits.


60 launches in my own logbook so far, since last October, and I'm not
solo yet. Sure, I'd like to get there, and more so now that the
possibility is actually in sight. But it isn't exactly a huge source of
frustration to me. I really am enjoying "the training required to ...
solo safely". I know it's a cliché, but it really is as much about the
journey as it is about the destination in this case.

Great. Well I hope the plain ol' soaring part won't
be too boring for you
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Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA