Andy - Yes I have many of the same thoughts & opinions. You talk of charging a fee: I think some people are overly-concerned about making soaring "cheap", but this is a false approach when there are so many less-expensive hobbies out there (including R/C plans and paragliding/hang-gliding). I think we should try to keep costs reasonable; but c'mon people, a Cessna with an instructor costs around $200/hr these days!

Even if costs rise some from their present levels, Soaring is way more money-efficient than that. Its just way less time-efficient, due to the manner in which many clubs/field-operations are run. I've got no problem with the idea of throwing up a (low) fiscal bar for entry, if it enables better operations or training. And requiring an upfront commitment (such as you're proposing) helps discourage the folks who aren't passionate and motivated. HOWEVER, if you offer such a program and get a commitment from students then you *must* be able to follow through with it. And you have to make sure that people feel they're getting their money's worth or you've done more harm than good. Providing that value takes organization and dedication, though - and securing those commitments from people in an existing embedded culture is tough...

On a separate note, I'm still working on earning my CFIG but I am surprised folks don't use varying tow-heights based on the phase of instruction the student is in. For example: I think instructors should consider 4,000 to 5,000 foot tows when they're working on things like rudder coordination, steep turns, stalls, slips, and slow-flight. Give the student a long-enough flight to practice maneuvers 2 or 3 times in a row (similar to many SEL airplane training flights, which are often 1 - 1.5 hours in length and involve practicing a maneuver a couple of times in succession). When training changes its focus and the landing pattern becomes a point of emphasis, there's certainly a strong case for pattern-height tows and/or winch-launches. In fact, there's even a case for setting aside some part of the day's operations to let a student and his/her instructor do these practice landings back-to-back (i.e. they land, pull up to the front of the line, and immediately take another pattern tow).

--Noel