Papa3 wrote:

The current IGC is made up of pilots who have accepted the
badge system and earned their badges. It's more likely
they'll continue to advocate this sytem than if the IGC
was made up of pilots who think the badge system is frustrating
and therefore didn't get their badges. Of course this second group
can't be IGC members. Sort of circular, isn't it?

Built in hysterisis. Not entirely all bad, since some stability
is good, but we should be aware of it and help change along
a bit for the sake of the underrespresented pilots new
to the sport...


Mark,

Truly one of the most temperate and articulate posts on this subject in a
long time. Power to the people!

I also agree with Mark's remarks. This situation, where the people
pleased with the current system are willing to work for the system,
tends to perpetuate the system. When I was an SSA director in the 80's,
I wanted the contest rules to "foster and promote" soaring, which meant
serving a larger purpose than just making the current contest pilots
happy. It was a hard sell philosophically, because many people truly
believe what is good for contests is good for the sport. It was also a
problem practically, for how do you get people that _might_ be
interested in contests to serve on the rules committee?

So, along Mark's line, maybe the SSA contest committee (and the similar
committee for the IGC), should have a "promotion/novice/etc" oriented
person to get the "entry level" pilot represented.
--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA