At 12:41 03 November 2020, Roy B. wrote:
I thought it might be fun (and healthy) to start a poll or discussion
for
t=
he guys and gals who have been in the sport for + 25 years or
more. So,
my=
question for those people is : "What is the biggest change you
have seen
i=
n the sport over the years you have participated?"

For me, the biggest change was the widespread adoption of GPS -
which
chan=
ged everything about flight recording, contests, contest tasking
and badge
=
flying. Second place goes to the newer trailers which are so much
better
th=
an what we struggled with in the old days. Third place might be
OLC . . .
What do you think?

ROY

In the 1960's-70's, it was the transition to glass birds for
competition.

In the 1980's, trainers started to also go to glass The turbulated
airfoil designs added a performance jump that was not foreseen.
Then came the Nav/Glide computers - first dead reckoning, and
then with GPS. It took away the whole navigation aspect to
competitive soaring. All of the old great navigator pilots were sort
of relegated to obsolescence, and now it became much more of
a computer tech-savvy game. Now, we have in flight uploads of
data like SkySight with the latest wave or thermal predictions to
show you exactly where the next climb will be. The technology
invasion into the cockpit has been incredible.

RO