On Thursday, September 10, 2015 at 4:20:14 PM UTC-4, John Cochrane wrote:
As a one time (long ago) junior who had to give up for a while, I think we're missing the big picture here. Not big team training sessions, not nationals.

If you're a junior, and sort of by definition can't afford to own a glider, where do you get access to a relatively modern glider suitable for learning cross country and contest skills?

European clubs have glass single seat gliders, and encourage memebers to go cross country in them.

The vast majority of American clubs don't have glass gliders, and heaven forbid anyone should take one cross country, least of all the "new kid." The exceptions -- Harris Hill with both good gliders and a strong junior program, for example -- prove the rule.

John Cochrane

And Aero Club Albatross. Eternally grateful for the amount of latitude I had with the club equipment from Day One.

As for Erik, he is also working on spawning a junior into the mix. He is training his son and I'd imagine he'll be tearing up the sky in no time.

The discussion regarding equipment is somewhat moot. 1-26s, 1-34s, Glass ships, it really doesn't matter. The bigger issue is the difficulties in logistics and support. Many juniors can't even drive and getting access to a tow vehicle with a hitch is quite difficult. For a year, my "commute" to the airport was three hours one way, taking trains to get to Newark and two club members driving me the rest of the way. Those two club members, Steve and Intis made all the difference for me at that time. They also both crewed for me for my first several cross country flights, with Steve participating on the whimsical retrieve on my Silver Distance. A story for another time.

On the other hand, a good friend of mine at another club who got access to a high performance glider was unable to get this sort of support and did not get involved with cross country flying for quite a while. He just did two cross country flights and his first outlanding. His last flight was 170 miles on quite a challenging day and now is totally hooked.

Another junior pilot found his club to be very hesitant in crewing for him or landing away from his airfield. He does very little cross country flying out of his homebase, most of it in camps and in contests.

This is by far the most difficult hurdle to cross as a junior pilot. I had been very lucky with the resources I have had and the support I received. I hope that other juniors will experience these things and it would be an honor for me to have the opportunity to give back to future junior pilots in a similar capacity. It sure made a difference in my flying.

Best Regards,
Daniel