Why is Soaring declining

JJ,
You've got a really good point there.
Part of the problem I'm personally struggling with is cost effectiveness.
I've got a glider that's in the low 20's range and it's got long legs, and
it's a joy to fly. BUT, I'm lucky to be able to have 6 months useable
weather and that only on the week ends because there is no convenient
commercial operation. This year the week ends were out of phase with the
weather so flying was seriously curtailed.
The only avenue for competition is the sports class and those opportunities
seem few and far between these days.

A friend of mine is loaning me a Champ to fly.
I could buy one like it for less money than I have in the glider. I can use
it year round and I can take my wife, who is also a pilot. in it. She could
have the use of it too. It would cost me about the same to fly it , hanger
it , insure it and maintain it as the glider. I wouldn't have to belong to
club or have a membership in a national organization to get a reasonable
rate on my insurance and I could totally avoid the "Yacht Club Politics"
that seem to surface so readily in soaring activties both on the club and
national level. That and the less than welcoming attitude I have experienced
at the few recnt contests and conventions I have attended as a spectator.

Why do I still have a glider?
It has always been my first love and though I learned to fly in gliders, and
owned several different ships, it was out of reach for a period of time. I
still love flying gliders but the Champ and others like it are beginning to
have more luster.

Cheers!
"John Sinclair" wrote in message
...
In the 70's I got started with Duster kit that sold
for $2000 including trailer...........I paid $2000
for my first Cambridge GPS!

We would spend New Years at Calistoga and you could
hardly find a place to park.........................a
good 30 ships would be there, all common Joe's.

Out regionals at Minden would fill up (65) we can't
get 12 entrants now days from this region. Where did
they all go? I think they slowly dwindled away................cost
too much to stay competitive................flying
other than contests wasn't all that exciting or rewarding.........
............Jobs, kids, 2 incomes required to keep
one's head above water..................you name it,
but I believe most of it in economic.

We are left with us die-hard old farts, flying expensive
toys and wondering where did everybody go?
:) JJ

So, while making the sport less $ expensive is a valid
and reasonable
argument ... I don't know if it will generate the desired
increase in
community

If you're ever at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim, check out
"Soarin' Over California". It's more like "hang gliding over California" but
still very fun. It's beyond IMAX format... your seat is lifted into the
center of the dome and swings back and forth a bit... you feel the wind in
your face and smell the orange groves and pine forest.

Coming soon to Orlando and Hong Kong.

"smjmitchell" wrote in message
u...
not part of the main stream in America. We have had a number of big and
small screen series using scuba diving, skiing, motorcycling, sky
diving, etc. backdrops ... and some of these also get frequent sport
coverage ... it's rare to see soaring included as even a minor theme in
any media.

What we need is an IMAX feature on gliding on the big screen in 3D. They
do
all sorts of other adventure stuff ... why not gliding. Someone should
give
them a call and tell them that we have a deal for them .....

Bruce Hoult wrote:

People might have a problem moving from a 2-33 to a DG-1000 because of
bad habits and misunderstandings that the 2-33 hasn't corrected, but I
really don't think there's anything especially hard about "fast glass"
if that's what you learn on.

There's nothing hard about fast glass, it's just that
slow, draggy fabric and metal is so much EASIER :PP

I'm gonna bet you guys don't solo someone who has
never flown a glider after four flights. And then
tell them "sure, you can handle it." What,
$120,000 worth of glider? After four flights?
Man, I gotta get into this club...
--

------------+
Mark J. Boyd

Pilots in general don't make good business people... we are much more
suited for the cockpit and not the office place.

If you're ever at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim, check out
"Soarin' Over California". It's more like "hang gliding over California"
but
still very fun.

Dont you believe that hang gliders can soar?

Oh, of course they do - I've shared thermals with them. But I think the
question was about getting film exposure for gliders. The Soarin' attraction
never shows what you're flying IN, but it does show one hang glider ahead of
you. So it's helpful in getting people excited about silent flight, but not
specifically into gliders.


"Pete" wrote in message
...


If you're ever at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim, check out
"Soarin' Over California". It's more like "hang gliding over California"
but
still very fun.

Dont you believe that hang gliders can soar?

I have read through these posts with great interest because I recently took up gliding and I am now obsessing about it in the most frightful way. My wife is worried for my mental health. This thread interests me because it sheds some light on some of the issues I will have to deal with given my new addiction. Having come from a hang gliding/paragliding background I think I have a unique perspective on the whole thing. I started HGing in the early 80’s, a kind of golden era of the sport. I remember when the first primitive paragliders came along in the mid 80’s. No one ever thought they’d really catch one. And now? HGing is virtually dead and PGing rules. Why? Easy to learn, cheap, and a very direct experience. Plus, and this is not to be belittled: good show off potential. PGing has sucked the life blood out of HGing and indirectly out of soaring. Why? Because aging HGing pilots are a good source for sailplane pilots and because there are fewer of them that means fewer potential recruits for sailplanes. Soaring needs to appeal to the saner side of PGing pilots – why risk canopy collapses, broken backs and snapped ankles when you can fly safely and comfortably in a sailplane?