Why is Soaring declining

Michel Talon wrote:

It is *one* obvious deterrent, but not the only one. How do you explain
otherwise that a lot of people with their exam and hundred of hours post
exam leave the sport? In fact most of the people who have taken the exam
leave after a couple of years since the number of members is not
steadily increasing in clubs, while they regularly graduate a constant
flux of newcomers. At least this is what i see here.

Retention is a whole nuther balla wax. In aviation as a whole,
another big factor is macroeconomics. About this time last year,
you coulda set up a nice infant nursery on my local airport
it was so quiet. Economy goes bust, flying goes down.

And with anything there is variance. Alan Greenspan was
once asked what the market would do, and he replied "it will fluctuate."
I've seen some pilots come back to soaring after hiatus
as well...pilots lives wax and wane like any other...
--

------------+
Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA

Bill Gribble wrote:

I disagree. I think the biggest deterrent is failing to understand how
accessible the whole thing actually is. It's the effort involved in
getting onto the airfield and getting involved in the first place that's
the problem.

This is also a factor. Imagine my surprise when I found out
I could go race on the dirt track nearby in a car for a few dollars too!
Same idea. (Good) Publicity is sometimes hard to come by...
Someone else posted how it takes a lot of courage to go into
an FBO and ask for lessons. I was struck by how true this is.


Golfers, swimmers, etc. can enjoy their sport to some extent even if
they do it at a very novice level. I can get someone sailing a dinghy
enough to not die in about a weekend. Not a chance of soloing a
sailplane in a weekend if you've never flown anything before.

But that's overlooking the fact that going "solo" is not the whole point
of gliding. Flying is, and you do that from the moment you start to
learn. So you have an instructor in the back for the first 50-100
launches? Doesn't matter. For the most part most of them are good
company :P

Yep, but $$$$s is $$$$s. Poor people find a lake and dog paddle for a
long long time. In flying I get some customers because my goal
is to teach them how to train themselves. Helps save money,
but even this has it's limits.


60 launches in my own logbook so far, since last October, and I'm not
solo yet. Sure, I'd like to get there, and more so now that the
possibility is actually in sight. But it isn't exactly a huge source of
frustration to me. I really am enjoying "the training required to ...
solo safely". I know it's a cliché, but it really is as much about the
journey as it is about the destination in this case.

Great. Well I hope the plain ol' soaring part won't
be too boring for you
--

------------+
Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA

Marcel Duenner wrote:

I'll tell them. Of our 130 members about 20 are instructors. The rest
shares the other jobs to be done: winch drivers, tow pilots,... all
for free. It's our hobby.

I hope the other members are very kind to the volunteers.
God bless 'em all...
--

------------+
Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA

In his post, MJBoyd uses the American vernacular. For those readers who are
not familiar with it, "nuther balla wax" means "another ball of wax", i.e. "a
different issue". Further down in the same paragraph, "coulda" means "could
have".

Cheers, Charles :-))

Martin Gregorie writes:

I knew this was going to happen...

- you should precede your sig with a line containing with two hyphens
and nothing else. Properly written news readers will spot these and
automatically remove the sig to save you the bother.

Wrong. So stupid reasons burried in history, a sig marker is `dash
dash SPACE' all on a line of its own. Yes, a trailing space. -- is in
fact quite common in the body of the postings on some newsgroups.

--
Paul Repacholi 1 Crescent Rd.,
+61 (08) 9257-1001 Kalamunda.
West Australia 6076
comp.os.vms,- The Older, Grumpier Slashdot
Raw, Cooked or Well-done, it's all half baked.
EPIC, The Architecture of the future, always has been, always will be.

(Mark James Boyd) wrote
I've got to say that our L-13 doesn't cost a whole lot more, but
provides a second seat. If it was only EASY to take apart
and trailer, it'd be hands down better than a 1-26 :P

I've flown an L-13 as well, and even by comparison with a 1-26, never
mind a Ka-8, the handling can best be described as truck-like. Also,
I'm not sure the second seat is a feature. It's good for new pilots
to get into a single-seater (once they solo the two-seater, of
course). Builds self-reliance and keeps instructors honest about
teaching one to fly gliders, not L-13's or 2-33's.

Michael

The L-13 is a great trainer, especially for spin training. Compared to a
1-26 it is certainly less nimble, but weighs about 2 X as much. The L-13
will take a student through any maneuver they need to learn about before you
let them solo.

"Michael" wrote in message
om...
(Mark James Boyd) wrote
I've got to say that our L-13 doesn't cost a whole lot more, but
provides a second seat. If it was only EASY to take apart
and trailer, it'd be hands down better than a 1-26 :P

I've flown an L-13 as well, and even by comparison with a 1-26, never
mind a Ka-8, the handling can best be described as truck-like. Also,
I'm not sure the second seat is a feature. It's good for new pilots
to get into a single-seater (once they solo the two-seater, of
course). Builds self-reliance and keeps instructors honest about
teaching one to fly gliders, not L-13's or 2-33's.

Michael

f.blair wrote:
The L-13 is a great trainer, especially for spin training. Compared to a
1-26 it is certainly less nimble, but weighs about 2 X as much. The L-13
will take a student through any maneuver they need to learn about before you
let them solo.

"Michael" wrote in message
om...

(Mark James Boyd) wrote

I've got to say that our L-13 doesn't cost a whole lot more, but
provides a second seat. If it was only EASY to take apart
and trailer, it'd be hands down better than a 1-26 :P

I've flown an L-13 as well, and even by comparison with a 1-26, never
mind a Ka-8, the handling can best be described as truck-like. Also,
I'm not sure the second seat is a feature. It's good for new pilots
to get into a single-seater (once they solo the two-seater, of
course). Builds self-reliance and keeps instructors honest about
teaching one to fly gliders, not L-13's or 2-33's.

I would not lump the L-13 and the 2-33 together in the "non-glider"
class! In my opinion, based on a lot of instructing in the L13 and
thousands of hours in high performance gliders, is that the L13 flies
and handles like a "real" glider. There is a difference in _degree_, of
course. It is heavier on the controls and slower to respond than a 15
meter glider, but not any slower than my 18 meter glider (which is also
noticeably heavier on the controls than a 15 meter glider).

The 2-33s I have flown did not remind me of the high performance gliders
I am accustomed to flying. Again, in my opinion, it seems to be in a
different class, rather than just different in degree, like the L13.

In our area, the L13 has plenty of performance to make cross-country
flights, but the thought of retrieving it from a field discourages most
people from trying.
--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

Eric Greenwell wrote:

The 2-33s I have flown did not remind me of the high performance gliders
I am accustomed to flying. Again, in my opinion, it seems to be in a
different class, rather than just different in degree, like the L13.

Granted, I only have one 2-33 flight, but I have to agree here. The
2-33 is a world of difference from a modern high-performance glider.

Jeremy
N304GT

Eric Greenwell wrote in message ...
f.blair wrote:
The L-13 is a great trainer, especially for spin training. Compared to a
1-26 it is certainly less nimble, but weighs about 2 X as much. The L-13
will take a student through any maneuver they need to learn about before you
let them solo.

In our area, the L13 has plenty of performance to make cross-country
flights, but the thought of retrieving it from a field discourages most
people from trying.


I think I remember a team that took it apart, or even put it together in 12 Minutes!

Dieter B