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Old November 15th 04, 09:07 AM
Robert Ehrlich
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Dans l'article . net,
"COLIN LAMB" a écrit :


...
The secret is not to make the sport cheaper, but make it more exciting (I am
a rabble rouser at heart). And, get rid of the tow pilot. What about a
steam catapult, to rocket the passenger up at rocket ship speed, then let
him glide back to earth in a ship with a L/D of 6. The less lift, the
faster they come down and the more often you can rent the ship out to make
money. I would plunk down $200 for a 10 minute ride, then spend 20 minutes
to get it ready for another launch. If they are small, they can have a
ballistic parachute attached when something bad happens. With enough money
coming in, business people will buy then and set up their own parks. We can
promote it by saying that we are getting people ready for space travel.

Or for a more exciting ride, how about a hydrazine rocket - well guess
Germany already tried that.
...


I am doing the best I can to promote our sport, this includes spending money
to get my instructor rating and instructing for free as this is the most
frequent case here in France. However this is in some way completely egoist.
I know that I will be able to continue to fly gliders only if a sufficient
number of pilots continue to do it, so I have to help if I want that our
sport don't vanish. However the kind of flight you are describing in your
post has very few to do with soaring as I like it. It may bring some money
to some commercial operator but I think it has no interest for me nor for
the gliding community as it is presently. It would rather be an
inconvenience for traditional gliding, as it would take some space and some
money which could otherwise be used in our sport.