On Saturday, December 14, 2019 at 1:51:07 PM UTC-7, Eric Greenwell wrote:
wrote on 12/14/2019 10:27 AM:
Yes Nick its a sad state of affairs and with the preponderance of self launch
sailplanes, its gonna get worse. As for. club participation/formation, its
completely dependant upon the mentality/atmosphere engendered . Some clubs are
flourishing, many of which are not located in premier soaring locations.. But
they have a friendly, all inclusive atmosphere which helps them not only
maintain but grow.

I think self-launching sailplanes are a symptom of the problem, not the cause.
Lots of motorglider pilots remain active in the SSA and in clubs as officials,
workers, tow pilots, and instructors. They get a motorglider for various reasons,
but a big one is they can't get tows when they want them. It sucks to tow everyone
up, then be sitting on the ground because there isn't another towpilot to launch
you, or sitting on the ground during the week when you could fly because you
aren't busy doing tows or instruction, but - no tow pilots.

As you pointed out, there used to be 3X as many glider pilots at Minden. What
happened to them? Obviously, 2X of them didn't get motorgliders, or there would
still be 3X as many glider pilots at Minden. They drifted away, the replacements
dwindled, and here we are.

I think motorgliders could help increase, or at least stop the loss of pilots, if
more of them were owned by partnerships. Gliders like the Silent Electro and
miniLAK FES offer good performance, easy operation, and relatively low cost if you
had 2 or 3 person partnerships. The motor gives the owners the ability to fly when
and where it's convenient for them, and more days are available because the motor
makes poor or unpredictable days usable.

Even you might enjoy being a partner in an FES! And when a tow and suitable
weather are available, hop into the 1-26 and dash off into the distance.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1

I partnered once with two other guys in a sailboat. It was not a perfect solution. I was often sitting on land when I wanted/could have been out sailing. I eventually bought them out. Yes, it was a good introduction, but it comes with a whole lot of considerations, including the personalities and cordiality of the other members in the group.

As we all know, the population of glider pilots is slowly "aging out". Why? Well, things ain't as affordable as they once were, for one. With the prices of these new high-performance machines about the same as a small house, there's no wonder why. What normal average working person coming out of college with a mountain of educational debt, or someone who just started a family can afford that? How many families now have to have two earners just to make ends meet? How many young people are getting into soaring now? At these prices, you could only do it if you come from a family with "money". Gone are the days when you could go to the airport and wash planes to pay for flying lessons. That economy is long gone.

Go ahead--keep thinking that your operation is "worth it". It may well be. But this is the very thing that is contributing to dwindling numbers in our sport. The lower the numbers of participants, the harder it is to find volunteers, and the more of a burden it puts on those that do step up to offer their services for free. I'll do my own ground handling, by myself if needed, to save $25.

We need to grow the sport from the bottom. We need to get kids back in the air. We need to show them that this is something that CAN be done on next to nothing. Be cause it can be done, if we decide to set it up that way. But it will take a significant commitment from those with the ability, to build the momentum to critical mass. One way to cut costs is to use ground launches--auto tows, reverse auto tows, winch launches (if you can set out the capital for a decent winch). That will SIGNIFICANTLY cut the cost of soaring. And if you have a lot of folks in in the club, there's bound to be more people hanging out around the club that can help with the ground handling. I'm sorry, but this topic is dear to my heart. My personal situation is that I've come from "nothing", and while I do have some limited means now, I still cringe at the prices charged by some operations, to the point I will take my business elsewhere. If we want to keep the sport alive and prevent it from dying, we need to start doing things differently.