what is it about women?

Earlier, Jim Culp wrote:

Questions regarding females and gliding:...

I propose we re-start this thread under the title "What is it about _Soaring_?"

Bob K.

Hey Steve - sounds like an RHJ-9 incentive program.


In article ,
(Steve) wrote:
Judy Ruprecht wrote:
Here, IMHO, is the reason there aren't more US women
in soaring: their parents/significant others/spouses/children/
friends are not apt to say...

'Oh yes, $75 - 100 per flight is a reasonable amount
to pay for the 20 to 30 flights you'll need to solo...
(and later on, 'Gee, a gently used ASW 20 with a Cobra
trailer really is a steal at under $30,000.')

'I'd love to crew for you.'

'I understand tomorrow's soaring forecast looks great,
so I'll (pick one: take the day off/hire a babysitter)
to take care of the kids for you.'

'I'd love to crew for you.'

'Hi, Toots. My name is Prince Charming, I have my own
hair and teeth, neither of which needs to be stashed
on a bedside table over night. I own an air conditioned
motorhome with a 1 7/8 ball and I know my way around
the root end of the wing during assembly of the aforementioned
ASW-20. I will never tell you to quit flying gliders
and I will thrill to the dulcet tone of your voice
every time you say, 'There I was at 500 feet...' '

'I'd love to crew for you.'

Any more questions?

Judy

Hey Judy! How about this.

"I'd Love to crew for you. My name is not Prince Charming, but I do
have all my own hair (what is left of it, that is ;-) ) and teeth
(plural). The A/C in the coversion van works and I can put whatever
size ball is needed on the receiver hitch. I can assemble my 604 by
myself (Or the Zuni for closer performance matched playing) and you
would have your choice of turning the crank on the one-man rigger for
your ASW-20 or handling the now oh-so-light root end. What?!?! Quit
flying? Never! Just get a two place for when we get to old to safely
fly by ourselves. And I never get tired of hearing flying stories."

Heart going pitter patter yet? And to prove that I really am willing
to crew, I gave up a really good soaring day this last summer to chase
a friend on his silver distance flight. The day after I bumped the
state 200 KM speed record up by about 8 MPH. And the same day someone
else bumped my brand new record up another 8 MPH.

So, where do you want to fly this year?

Steve Leonard
Wichita, KS

Questions regarding females and gliding:



Please find below,

several questions considering constitution, psychology,

and motivations of women,

for your sincere proffers and posits

hereunto:



1. Why do more females not fly gliders?

(Therein may be answer to why are there so few women

glider pilots.)

a) are they afraid?



--Absolutely not. Bring it on.



b) do they feel no sense of gain by accomplishing

flight?



--It is an accomplishment, but not a particularly difficult one to acheive
these days. Just expensive.



c) is their (female) fear mechanism and psychology

different from that of males? how?



--Not mine, but I can't speak for all females. I've encountered many who seem
afraid to fly alone.



d) is their (female) thrill and joy psychology intrinsically

different from that of males? how?



--More thrills, PLEASE! Can we do more wingovers in early training? That's what
got me hooked. Oh and please burn every 2-33 in existance. Nothing is more
disheartening than flying a box 25 times and paying out the nose for it until
you can cough up even more to transition to something halfway decent!



2. Why do more females not seek out gliding aviation

and sport much as they may for male company and sport

among hang glider pilots and for among male parachute

jumpers and sport?



--Check out the age distribution among glider pilots vs hang glider pilots.



3. If male glider pilots came to the airfield in Limousines,

wore tatoos and had ear and tongue piercings, used

and gave away currently popular illegal drugs, and

flashed Gold debtcards, would more females be attracted

to gliding than now?



--Probably. At least they'd be entertaining to watch, and maybe they'd even pay
for a hotel for their crew instead of selling their souls for a $40,000 racing
ship and then being tightwads. Champagne anyone? They'd probably have a pack of
rockets in that limo somewhere which would be grand fun after a few bottles of
bubbly.



4. Is this subject forbidden in America or in worldwide

discussion of gliding?



--I hope not.



Your posits and proffers from males and females, giving

serious thought and expository composition, shall be

interesting. goferit.



Dancing on clouds,



Keep it up!



Jim Culp USA

GatorCity Florida



'Have glider

Will travel'





--If you want more women showing up on the airfield, first try recruiting young
people in general. Soaring is EXPENSIVE!! Hence it becomes a sport for the
sailplane obsessed or the old. You'll have a much easier time recruiting young
women than older ones who are usually saddled with family and financial
responsibilities.



--Loosen up! Take the proverbial stick out of your collective arses. "Girls
just wanna have fun." Look around your home airfield. How could you make it a
little more welcoming? I'm not taking about Martha Stewart style or anything,
although a toilet by the flight line wouldn't hurt....

Just to clear things up, that last post was from Lauren Reitz, not me. It was
simply written on my computer. Lauren is a post-solo 20 yr old female who is a
senior in aeronautical engineering at Penn State and recently completed
checkout in the Grob 103.
-Mitch

I don't buy it. Our club has three gliders and forty or so
members, all of whom are men (I think). Club membership is
pretty painless - $425 a year plus tows.

On the other hand, I don't have any great ideas as to why
there are so few women, other than soaring enthusiasts in general
are some of the most surly and socially inept misfits
I've known.

David

Judy Ruprecht wrote in message ...
At 03:30 10 January 2004, Jim Culp wrote:
Questions regarding females and gliding:

1. Why do more females not fly gliders?
(Therein may be answer to why are there so few women
glider pilots.)

(And there followed a bunch of balderdash!)

Here, IMHO, is the reason there aren't more US women
in soaring: their parents/significant others/spouses/children/
friends are not apt to say...

'Oh yes, $75 - 100 per flight is a reasonable amount
to pay for the 20 to 30 flights you'll need to solo...
(and later on, 'Gee, a gently used ASW 20 with a Cobra
trailer really is a steal at under $30,000.')

'I'd love to crew for you.'

'I understand tomorrow's soaring forecast looks great,
so I'll (pick one: take the day off/hire a babysitter)
to take care of the kids for you.'

'I'd love to crew for you.'

'Hi, Toots. My name is Prince Charming, I have my own
hair and teeth, neither of which needs to be stashed
on a bedside table over night. I own an air conditioned
motorhome with a 1 7/8 ball and I know my way around
the root end of the wing during assembly of the aforementioned
ASW-20. I will never tell you to quit flying gliders
and I will thrill to the dulcet tone of your voice
every time you say, 'There I was at 500 feet...' '

'I'd love to crew for you.'

Any more questions?

Judy

Sorry for your bad experience with glider pilots that you have met. My best
friends are glider pilots and I would certainly would be glad to have them
around me at any event.

Fred

On the other hand, I don't have any great ideas as to why
there are so few women, other than soaring enthusiasts in general
are some of the most surly and socially inept misfits
I've known.

(dennis) wrote in message ink.net...
Hey Steve - sounds like an RHJ-9 incentive program.


In article ,
(Steve) wrote:
Judy Ruprecht wrote:
Here, IMHO, is the reason there aren't more US women
in soaring: their parents/significant others/spouses/children/
friends are not apt to say...

'Oh yes, $75 - 100 per flight is a reasonable amount
to pay for the 20 to 30 flights you'll need to solo...
(and later on, 'Gee, a gently used ASW 20 with a Cobra
trailer really is a steal at under $30,000.')

'I'd love to crew for you.'

'I understand tomorrow's soaring forecast looks great,
so I'll (pick one: take the day off/hire a babysitter)
to take care of the kids for you.'

'I'd love to crew for you.'

'Hi, Toots. My name is Prince Charming, I have my own
hair and teeth, neither of which needs to be stashed
on a bedside table over night. I own an air conditioned
motorhome with a 1 7/8 ball and I know my way around
the root end of the wing during assembly of the aforementioned
ASW-20. I will never tell you to quit flying gliders
and I will thrill to the dulcet tone of your voice
every time you say, 'There I was at 500 feet...' '

'I'd love to crew for you.'

Any more questions?

Judy

Hey Judy! How about this.

"I'd Love to crew for you. My name is not Prince Charming, but I do
have all my own hair (what is left of it, that is ;-) ) and teeth
(plural). The A/C in the coversion van works and I can put whatever
size ball is needed on the receiver hitch. I can assemble my 604 by
myself (Or the Zuni for closer performance matched playing) and you
would have your choice of turning the crank on the one-man rigger for
your ASW-20 or handling the now oh-so-light root end. What?!?! Quit
flying? Never! Just get a two place for when we get to old to safely
fly by ourselves. And I never get tired of hearing flying stories."

Heart going pitter patter yet? And to prove that I really am willing
to crew, I gave up a really good soaring day this last summer to chase
a friend on his silver distance flight. The day after I bumped the
state 200 KM speed record up by about 8 MPH. And the same day someone
else bumped my brand new record up another 8 MPH.

So, where do you want to fly this year?

Steve Leonard
Wichita, KS





What an OFFER!

NOW...All those old geezers have all those nice planes?? But I
understand there are Lots and lots of rich old ladies around?
Possibly more than men?

Why don't THEY get into the act? Actually, Judy, you should get a
club like that going, Then THAT group could help teenagers get off
the ground? I understand that there is so much wealth among older
ladies, that they possibly could sponser them for free?

Some how it is not easy to get teenagers going on the sport, because
of this peer thing. In Germany it seems more likely because of
befriended Families, more of them, often, all live on the gliderport
on weekends.

The interesting thing is, that their trainig progresses very slowly
within the club. It takes a 16 year old at least 2 years to get the
license. Endless Winch launches with very little Soaring practice in
the first summer. Theory often comes only after one and a half year,
60 hrs.classroom. Tests, again later! I feel they loose quite a few
there? I think they changed the rules a little recently!

Nyal Williams wrote in message ...
At 04:24 10 January 2004, Ted Wagner wrote:
One of my few complaints about the sport of skydiving
was that men
outnumbered the women by 3:1 or something like that.
(How's that for a
depressing Ladame ratio?) I was expecting soaring
would be a little
better, but alas, I've been disappointed in that department,
even more
this time.

Who cares why!? Let's do something about it!!! So,
my New Year's
resolution is to do just that. I will recruit only
women, and I'm going
to start with the bulletin boards in all the sorority
houses at the
local U. Free rides for any lady who asks, and for

many who don't.


It's time to take a page from Hugh Grant's book in
About a Boy. To arms,
brothers, to arms!!! Two legs, two eyes, two ...

-tw

If you believe the old saw that males are interested
in things whereas females are interested in relationships,
then we should go back to the Pratt-Read and develop
more side-by-side two-seaters.


No need for that! I taught 14 teenagers in a side by side Stemme last
September
It was a first for me, teaching side by side! One really can have
more insight of what the student is perceiving and so on. Guess that
goes for a Lady companion too..... Stemme might bring out a pure
sailplane in that configuration!

Me too.

"Libelle Driver" wrote in message ...
Sorry for your bad experience with glider pilots that you have met. My best
friends are glider pilots and I would certainly would be glad to have them
around me at any event.

Fred

On the other hand, I don't have any great ideas as to why
there are so few women, other than soaring enthusiasts in general
are some of the most surly and socially inept misfits
I've known.

You both have points.
Surly, socially inept, misfits I would say was kind.
My best friends are pilots too.

you put us alongside "normal" people (i.e. football fans) and we are weird.

Hanggliding isn't really any better for women participants, One of the best
women hangglider pilots in the world is more of a man than I'll ever be
(deeper voice, bigger arms)

Paragliding is better than both HG and Sailplanes, (from a female
participation point) but then they are younger, as a group than us, the
training takes 2 days and they drop words like "extreme" "Rad" "Big air"
when from a distance (i.e. to us) the most extreme thing about them is their
clothing.

Flying just like joining the military isn't a thing "normal" women do.
(note that I have already pointed out that the men don't fall into the
"normal" category either)

Women don't have testosterone hurtling round their systems making them
"prove" themselves better than their peers.
They tend to be just as satisfied with pursuits that don't result in
adrenaline highs.

Face it. men and women are different.
They don't pee standing up.
we don't give birth to sprogs.

We are better at (generally) strength / adrenaline type thingies.
Running around doing things under pressure we enjoy.

we are absolutely hopeless when it comes to "social" type things which women
excel at.
take conversation, women will talk and talk and talk, this is a good way for
them to
cement relationships with others around them.
We (unless beer and a bar and "there I was" come into it) tend to be more
direct and talk to pass information.

Roy