MB -

Does Willamette Valley assign an instructor to a student in some fashion, or are you on a purely-rotation basis for instructors? Also, I understand that Tow Pilots may get compensated for towing... Are instructors compensated somehow as well? You seem to be doing well compared to some other clubs in your region (like my local club near Seattle); and we'd love to hear more about your operations.

In my experience one of the issues leading to a lack of XC pilots is that basic training (especially in club environments) tends to be a very drawn-out affair. First, weekends and good weather limit the number of days people are interested in flying (or, in some clubs, interest in running field operations despite student interest). Second, there are often major inconsistencies between instructors; who are often volunteers that mean well, but have little incentive to work on unified instructional standards or close cooperation with fellow CFIGs or their students. Many clubs (including my local one) use rotating instructors, so students must constantly re-adapt to different instructing styles and methods. Plus, in that system, each instructor has to spend a flight evaluating where the student is at before new instruction can actually take place.

Also, many clubs operate on a "first-come, first-served" basis for training.. I've seen that lead to instructors doing 8-10 flights in a day, but each student only getting 1 flight. This is horrible for everyone: it wears out the instructors _and_ it doesn't give the students much of a learning opportunity. Furthermore, students feel like they've wasted their entire day for only a small return on their investment of time... And time is a big deal these days for most folks - regardless of your age or income-level.

Bottom-line: Soaring is already at a handicap when compared to other activities, because it requires you to build several layers of skills before having lasting fun experiences (i.e. staying loft for long periods, going XC, flying badges, and generally feeling independent & confident). We don't need to insert extra barriers that slow down the opportunities for learning and involvement.

--Noel