"f.blair" wrote
I can't believe that the documentation for the Silver flight made you leave
Soaring.
It didn't. But see, had I gone to the contest and gotten hooked, I
might still be soaring regularly.
What made me leave? There was a higher fun/challenge to hassle ratio
in other forrms of aviation. The documentation was just one of the
hassles - there were many others. I know many, many glider-rated
pilots who are still flying regularly - just not in gliders. Those
are ALL people with the time, money, and desire to fly who gave
soaring a shot - and were not retained.
The flight back with it's challenges is what keeps people in Soaring
You're right. Some people are dedicated enought that they stay in
despite the hassles.
In my personal opinion, cross
country experience should be required of any CFIG so that you can prepare
the students for all phases of Soaring, just my 2 cents worth.
And I agree with you. In fact, it IS required most places. In the
UK, the Silver is required before you can instruct at any level. When
I found that out, I put my CFIG training on hold until I met the
requirement. I guess I was of the opinion that what counted was
making the flight, not the documentation. I'm not so sure anymore.
Next time you are droning across the sky in the rented power plane, keep
looking at the clouds and wondering if I was in a glider could I get from
here to there.
There is much, much more to power flying than what you describe. It
has its own challenges. Sure, droning along in a rental Cherokee on a
blue sky day isn't much of a challenge. In fact, if that were my only
other option, I would still be soaring, in spite of the hassles. In
power as in soaring, doing the fun stuff generally requires that you
become an owner. Go cross the Gulf of Mexico sometime (in a twin, of
course) in and out of cloud, dodging T-storms by a combination of
visual and electronic references, and top it off with a landing on a
2700x20 strip in the Florida Keys with a built-in 20kt crosswind -
then tell me about challenge.
Michael
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