Imagine if the Women's Worlds would've been in Europe instead of Australia. We wouldn't have gotten to listen to the amazing presentation and experience such pride in Little Rock. Instead it would be a distant 18 month memory by the time we had our next gathering.

How lucky for Mike Koerner (2019 Barringer), David McMaster (2019 Kolstad), and so many others that they earned their well deserved awards in a convention year. Unlike Jim Lee and Jacob Fairbairn, both of whom deservedly were awarded last year via US Mail I guess, or maybe a local club meeting.

In May 2016, Daniel Shazam set a still standing WORLD RECORD 1000km flight in a 1-26. But there was no convention until Feb 2018. Sorry you didn't get your standing ovation in Reno Daniel. You earned it.

Imagine how different this convention would've been if Perlan had flown to 76,000 feet in 2019 instead of 2018...

While instrument makers and glider manufacturers may not have new products to release every year, there are still pilots out there achieving, clubs evolving, new sites being explored, and plenty of information to be shared. An annual gathering is the only way in my opinion.