The decline of gliding - a worldwide issue?

On Sun, 02 May 2021 10:39:45 -0700, Tony wrote:

It doesn't need to be this way. In the midst of a pandemic, Sandhill
Soaring Club (located in S.E. Michigan) has grown from 70 to about 90
members in the course of a couple of years. We largely attribute this
to upgrading the fleet, having a regular presence on social media and a
decent website that attracts customers and informs prospects and
members

It can work pretty well with the normal British pilot progression: while
working on the Bronze qualification, which is entirely local soaring and
must be passed, at my club anyway, before getting a cross country
endorsement (the latter covers field selection, landing out, i.e. landing
on a part of the airfield that is rarely used, and doinf field selection,
field landing exercises and navigation exercises with an instructor on a
touring motor glider[*]) its entirely practical do the Silver duration
and height gain legs as and when good weather comes up while working on
Bronze. Then, once you have the Bronze XC endorsement our instructors
pick a task on a decent day and brief newly Bronzed pilots to do there
Silver distance. Certainly worked that way for me.

Next step: the 100km diploma flown as a declared triangle. Did that with
a brief of "if you get round in good time, turn around and fly a second
lap on the opposite direction". Well it was a super day and I was in the
club's Pegase 90 so I did just that. Fun!
[*] Falke SF-25 with a trickle of power to approximate a 30:1 glide ratio
to practise field picking, followed by circuit and approach to the field.
Like in GA training the instructor puts the powe on whe its obvious
whether (or not) your field selection and approach was any good.



--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

On Sunday, May 2, 2021 at 4:28:17 PM UTC-4, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Sun, 02 May 2021 10:39:45 -0700, Tony wrote:

It doesn't need to be this way. In the midst of a pandemic, Sandhill
Soaring Club (located in S.E. Michigan) has grown from 70 to about 90
members in the course of a couple of years. We largely attribute this
to upgrading the fleet, having a regular presence on social media and a
decent website that attracts customers and informs prospects and
members
It can work pretty well with the normal British pilot progression: while
working on the Bronze qualification, which is entirely local soaring and
must be passed, at my club anyway, before getting a cross country
endorsement (the latter covers field selection, landing out, i.e. landing
on a part of the airfield that is rarely used, and doinf field selection,
field landing exercises and navigation exercises with an instructor on a
touring motor glider[*]) its entirely practical do the Silver duration
and height gain legs as and when good weather comes up while working on
Bronze. Then, once you have the Bronze XC endorsement our instructors
pick a task on a decent day and brief newly Bronzed pilots to do there
Silver distance. Certainly worked that way for me.

Next step: the 100km diploma flown as a declared triangle. Did that with
a brief of "if you get round in good time, turn around and fly a second
lap on the opposite direction". Well it was a super day and I was in the
club's Pegase 90 so I did just that. Fun!

[*] Falke SF-25 with a trickle of power to approximate a 30:1 glide ratio
to practise field picking, followed by circuit and approach to the field.
Like in GA training the instructor puts the powe on whe its obvious
whether (or not) your field selection and approach was any good.
--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org


[*] Falke SF-25 with a trickle of power to approximate a 30:1 glide ratio
to practise field picking, followed by circuit and approach to the field.
Like in GA training the instructor puts the powe on whe its obvious
whether (or not) your field selection and approach was any good.

That's exactly how we used our SF25s. The instructor would fly with a pre-XC student along the proposed 50km course and have him/her pick potential off field landing spots all the way to the final approach before 'rocketing' back to safety by cracking the whip on those 45 horses! :-) It was a great training tool and took a lot of the anxiety out of the first XC.

Uli
'AS'

On Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 11:45:30 AM UTC-6, wrote:
It doesn't need to be this way. In the midst of a pandemic, Sandhill Soaring Club (located in S.E. Michigan) has grown from 70 to about 90 members in the course of a couple of years. We largely attribute this to upgrading the fleet, having a regular presence on social media and a decent website that attracts customers and informs prospects and members of pertinent information (i.e. dues, rates, aircraft operating manuals, weight and balance and performance specs, club handbooks, club rules, currency sheets, safety resources, etc), and the contributions of about 20 active members (volunteers) who make it possible for new students to join the club and learn to fly gliders. Our fleet includes two (2) G-103, one (1) DG-505, and an Open Cirrus, as well as other basic trainers and a Scheibe SF-25C Motorglider. Presently, students can learn to winch and get a self-launch endorsement at Sandhill. Those getting their private pilots licenses are starting to receive advanced soaring instruction in our DG-505. In fact two CFIG flew cross-country for the first time at the Seniors with the club's Chief Flight Instructor and are presently learning how to use TopHat/XCSoar as a cross-country navigational aid and are actively working on getting their Silver and Gold badges. Student pilots (post solo) are now being encouraged to participate in the ABC Bronze Badge Program and get their 5 hr duration and 1,000m gain in preparation for conducting their first xc distance flights.

The key to retaining members is having good instructor feedback (this assumes you use a syllabus and your CFIGs have good rapport with the clubs student pilots), and being able to meet the needs of both new and existing members. I also recommend having regular social functions (potlucks, BBQs, etc), which IMHO clubs should do once the bulk of their membership have been vaccinated for Covid-19.

Clubs also need strong leadership... clubs suffer from political infighting. Clubs need a vision and a purpose, and then they need to do their best to fulfill that purpose. Don't get me wrong, Sandhill makes a lot of mistakes and has lost more than its fare share of stuBe the dent and existing members to indifference and to put it plainly not being able to meet the needs of its members, but all in all the club is enjoying healthy membership levels and will continue to grow at a sustainable pace. Hopefully yours does too.

Just my 2 cents.

- Chris Schrader "I fly CN mostly"
Vice President of Sandhill Soaring Club

Chris, it sounds like you guys have a recipe for success going in your neck of the woods. You have a large membership, with a large pool of resources to draw from, and a good fleet of nice gliders to fly. However, what I have observed is that there are many factors that come into play regarding the success or failure of a particular club. One critical piece seems to be "critical mass" of active members though. What would you do in a setting of a club of 5-10 partly active members, in a club that only has a 2-33 and a Lark, and is strapped for cash? BTW, few people like to fly the Lark.