On Aug 15, 5:48 am, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Are memberships really rising in Germany? Do you have numbers? If they
are, that would be different from the trend worldwide.

I do have numbers, thanks to John Roake, and membership in Germany is
actually collapsing faster than anywhere in the world - (32,229
members in 2006 vs 37,624 in 1996, continuous decline). I have no idea
why (does anyone else know?).

Low-cost winching obviously makes gliding much more affordable. I'm
still not aero-tow solo as there simply isn't any point. I get to 75%
the height of an standard aerotow on the winch and never fail to "get
away" - so why pay five times as much to be slowly dragged into the
sky by an expensive and noisy power plane (which I'm sure the airfield
neighbours love)? But if you don't have a winch, it's not just a case
of getting one and using it - very thorough flight training is needed
to use it safely, and I'm not sure how a club that lacks that
expertise could just go and get it.

Eric also mentions a lack of instructors. That's a critical problem in
many clubs, as active instructor numbers seems to be dropping faster
than membership overall. One of the many points a club may need to put
in order before it considers a marketing blitz - what are _you_ doing
to train and retain new instructors?

Quickly RE DG1000 vs Duo - a club near me has also bought a second
DG1000 rather than a Duo too. Why? Because the DG1000 is a far better
ship. Unlike the Duo it is suitable for pre-solo training to
comfortably out-running Duos on XC. It's a stronger glider with a far
better design (people may laugh at the enormous landing gear but wait
until a pupil gives you a heavy landing, or the glider lands out in
crop. Then you'll know why DG designed it). I wouldn't bother
replacing a G103 though. If it's tatty get it done up for a tiny
fraction of the cost of a new aircraft. It's still a 1:33 glider and
tough as nails.

I personally believe modern GRP trainers may well be worth it.
Membership costs seem to be surprisingly inelastic, and I suspect many
potential members would rather payer somewhat higher fees in return
for *far* better gliders. Cheap isn't always best. That said I think
the K13 is the perfect trainer and if I ran a club with a fleet of
those, I'd just repaint them and keep them, then add a K21 or G103 for
XC training (consider that a mid-performance glider may be preferable
for early XC training, as it's unlikely that your new early XC pilots
will have access to gliders with any better performance!).


Dan