"Marcel Duenner" wrote in message
m...
wrote in message ...
Have to ask yourself if this really is the kind of people you want to
involve in soaring... Fair-goers awaiting some new source of
entertainment-

Admittedly, I want people interested in the sport that are willing to
work
toward a goal, not be given something that is easily
obtained and cheaply advertised.

It's a great sport, an amazing gift-
I don't want it taken for granted by those seeking entertainment, I want
it
enjoyed by those seeking joy-


Of course we don't really want that kind of people. But don't worry -
they won't stay. And don't forget that not all fair-goers are soaring
pilots but some might be if you give them the opportunity.
I think the idea was to get lots more people to know about our sport
and have a little taste of it. As John said: throw enough people into
the air, and some of them might stay up.
As a side effect we get positive publicity which is another thing the
sport needs desperately.

Not exactly the same audience but with a higher success rate:
At our club we offer an introduction to soaring for about 80US$ three
to five times a year, depending on demand. It includes an evening of
theory and a day of gliding. One aerotow and one or two winch launches
per person. Depends on weather and on how long the flights turn out to
be. We take 6 to 10 people a time and require a minimum age of 14 so
if they like it they can start next year. We get about 1 or 2 new
members each time.

Marcel

Why walk when you can soar?

We offer a three flight mini-course, $200US, which has been a reasonably
successful recruitment tool. I can't recall anyone taking a scenic flight
that's ever returned for instruction.

At one of my former UK civil clubs, we used the longest day of the year for
fund-raising by offering an Air Experience Flight (1500ft winch launch) for
14UKP. We did 130 between 7AM and about 8PM on a two drum winch run. It
was a lot of effort and generated no members, but that wasn't the goal
either.

Frank