Shirley wrote:
Some don't and never will; some men don't like to shop and never will either
... so what's your point? Some women share the interest and fascination and fly
gliders with as much or more enthusiasm and passion as you guys, whether at the
controls or as a passenger, whether at 5000 feet or 15000 feet, whether right
above their home airport or on a cross-country. It's just easier for people
like you to ignore the 3% of us (repeating your number, I have no idea if
that's accurate or not) who DO appreciate and love to fly so you can make the
sweeping generalizations and blanket statements that you just made.

Sorry your disclaimer wasn't effective ... it's just that you did exactly what
you said you didn't want to do -- offend, be sexist, stereotype.


Overall, this has been an amusing thread.
--Shirley (shopping for a dress ... imagine that, John, a woman glider pilot
who hasn't turned into a man!)

I've had some interesting encounters.

I couldn't talk my brother (motorcycle-riding actual cowboy who owns
cows type) into flying in our ASK 13, but his pregnant wife went up
without any coaxing at all - for an hour!

I've seen that sort of thing fairly often when we'd have "ride day" to
get people out to the airport.

A father bought his 15 year old daughter a glider ride for her birthday.
She seemed shy, so I gave her the standard gentle turn ride 98% of the
people get. After we landed, he asked her how she liked it. "It was fun
but not as exciting as I'd hoped". If I'd only known she was a carnival
ride freak _before_ the ride!

And I notice the skydiver group at our airport is 40% women (you won't
catch me jumping out of an airplane), so I doubt that it's lack
testosterone that's keeping them out of gliders.

No solutions, but I think there's an audience there, we're just not
singing the right song.

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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA