declining membership

At 11:30 28 January 2005, Don Johnstone wrote:
In the UK we are suffering the same problem. Distance
to a club is seldom a factor for us, our country is
much smaller. Getting to fly is not a problem as no
licence is required to fly a glider in the UK and even
the instructors do not have to hold power type categories.
I would have to say that these are not the cause of
the decline, not in the UK anyway.

I think it has more to do with the perceptions of the
new generations. They are able to access 'fun' on tap.
Go somewhere where their fun is provided, have it,
and then go on to something else.

Not only that, but the youth culture today is one of
physical indolence. 'You mean you have to put it together
and take it apart every time you want to fly?' We
move around less, play computer games instead of physical
ones, put on weight, and become physically lazy. Exertion
is for the very lowly; we don't even have ditch diggers
anymore; struggle is an intellectual concept only.

Maybe none of this is correct. Perhaps we have conquered
the air and there is no longer any romance in it.
Airline pilots are just bus drivers, a private airplane
is just another vehicle. Even mountain climbing has
been reduced to climbing fake rocks in a shopping center
boutique. Who can say where any of this is going?
Maybe we will wind up as nothing but brains stored
in little cubicles and our jobs will be 'make-work'
thinking just to keep up occupied. Thereis a novel
in there somewhere; who wrote it?

Obscurity and inaccessibility.

I think mostly obscurity. The soaring mindset IMHO (USA) is to only
market the sport to those already in aviation, an already small subset
of our society. That momentum keeps this sport a secret.

Even though I was an air force brat, I had no exposure to general
aviation or soaring. I went to school (texas tech) only a couple
hundred miles from Hobbs, home of the USA SSA. Littlefield, site of
some great contests, was only about 50 or so miles away. I didn't know
a thing.

I was absolutely fascinated with aviation as a kid. Had I been
introduced to soaring as a youngster I would have made the effort. I
only found out about it by chance similar to another story in this
thread. I would like to think I am fairly knowledgeable fellow- I had
no idea people did this, and if you go to a high school or college
right now, I would bet you a significant majority has no idea what a
sailplane is and more certainly what they are capable of doing. I would
speculate that there are not too many sports veiled in that kind of
secrecy. If you don't tell anyone about it, it is't going to grow. I am
absolutely befuddled that we complain about the growth but don't change
anything to sell it.

It is never going to enjoy mass appeal

No sport is meant for everyone. Where we differ form other sports is
that everyone knows about white water rafting, mountain climbing,
sailing, at least to the point of knowing what it is. The "average man
on the street" doesn't even know what soaring is and will likely never
know with our current mindset. It has nothing to do with whether it
will hit the switch or not- he will never see the switch to start with.

Joe in Atlanta GA USA




I think gliding will always be a minority sport. It is never going to

enjoy mass appeal. It either terrifies the average man in the street
or
it simply fails to throw the necessary switch. The idea of flight is
not
to him what it is to you and me, it's a means to an end, whereas here
it
is the end in itself.

But beyond that, our principle problem is obscurity and
inaccessibility.
Nobody knows we're here, and if they do, they've no idea how to
access
us. That's certainly true here in the UK, and I'd guess no different
over in the States judging by some of the other posts in this thread.

Well Bill I guess you shot from the hip and thought about it later :-)

I'm also from the UK and agree with just about everything both you and
Don had to say.

I would add to it in one small part.

Firstly - This is now an advertising based country, although we haven't
quite sunk to the depths of the States (sorry guys!) When did you last
see anything in a paper or on the TV about gliding.

When our club has spent a bit of cash in the local rag we often get a
good number of "punters" through the door for their 3 flights. The numbers
that stay on are probably 3%, even so the value to us in useful.

I am beginning to wonder why we don't get together and push for a short film
or a big advert. It might cost a bit but surely would bring in a new set of
people.
With the best part of 100 clubs in the UK it should make for an interesting
bit
of money.

Secondly - We have to attend to the time gliding takes. Every club I've
been to
has taken a couple of hours minimum to get you in the air. And we know how
long a circuit bash takes don't we. When we get a ridge day in North Wales
the effect of visitors is interesting. They think its wonderful to stay up
for 45 mins!

My 2 pence worth...

Malcolm...


"Bill Gribble" wrote in
message .. .
With respect, that's ********

Put on the spot I would argue that //my// generation are as eager and as
capable as yours ever were or will be of "going somewhere all day to help
other to have fun" for nothing more than the rewards of equal
participation. To say otherwise is nothing but ageist, bigoted conceit
talking, perhaps a little influenced by the charm of looking back over
your glorious golden age of days gone by through rose-tinted spectacles.

No offence intended.

But you do touch on part of the issue when you mention the competition we
suffer these days in terms of the availability of other adventurous
sports. White water rafting, riding around dune buggies, sky-diving,
aerobatics in an old biplane, the list is endless, adrenaline pumped,
accessible and for the most part very visually and energetically
advertised.

I think gliding will always be a minority sport. It is never going to
enjoy mass appeal. It either terrifies the average man in the street or it
simply fails to throw the necessary switch. The idea of flight is not to
him what it is to you and me, it's a means to an end, whereas here it is
the end in itself.

But beyond that, our principle problem is obscurity and inaccessibility.
Nobody knows we're here, and if they do, they've no idea how to access us.
That's certainly true here in the UK, and I'd guess no different over in
the States judging by some of the other posts in this thread.


-Bill

Don Johnstone writes
I think it has more to do with the perceptions of the new generations.
They are able to access 'fun' on tap. Go somewhere where their fun is
provided, have it, and then go on to something else. The concept of going
somewhere all day to help others have fun is alien to them, why would the
need to do that. My generation needed to do it, the current generation
don't and I think it is as simple as that, coupled with the choice of
adventurous sports now available giving much more opportunity. The 'access
fun provided by someone else' as opposed to 'make your own fun' ethos is
here. Gliding is one of the sports that needs people other than those
actually flying to take place at all.

--
Bill Gribble
| http://www.ingenuitytest.co.uk
| http://www.cotswoldgliding.co.uk
| http://www.scapegoatsanon.demon.co.uk

Nyal,

This may not be so. Look at the bios of the solo group in the new Soaring.
Today's active young citizens looking for a shot of adrenaline are bungee
jumping, snowboarding at Vail, skydiving, ultra lighting, climbing Everest,
scuba diving, whatever. You name it, they seem to have the resources and
desire to do it. After all, compared to these things, how exiting can a
computer game or spending an hour or two of preparation to float around a
glider circuit be? Even the CAP cadets located across the field in full view
of our glider club operations have never been curious enough to drop in.

Bob Johnson


"Nyal Williams" wrote in message
...
At 11:30 28 January 2005, Don Johnstone wrote:
In the UK we are suffering the same problem. Distance
to a club is seldom a factor for us, our country is
much smaller. Getting to fly is not a problem as no
licence is required to fly a glider in the UK and even
the instructors do not have to hold power type categories.
I would have to say that these are not the cause of
the decline, not in the UK anyway.

I think it has more to do with the perceptions of the
new generations. They are able to access 'fun' on tap.
Go somewhere where their fun is provided, have it,
and then go on to something else.

Not only that, but the youth culture today is one of
physical indolence. 'You mean you have to put it together
and take it apart every time you want to fly?' We
move around less, play computer games instead of physical
ones, put on weight, and become physically lazy. Exertion
is for the very lowly; we don't even have ditch diggers
anymore; struggle is an intellectual concept only.

Maybe none of this is correct. Perhaps we have conquered
the air and there is no longer any romance in it.
Airline pilots are just bus drivers, a private airplane
is just another vehicle. Even mountain climbing has
been reduced to climbing fake rocks in a shopping center
boutique. Who can say where any of this is going?
Maybe we will wind up as nothing but brains stored
in little cubicles and our jobs will be 'make-work'
thinking just to keep up occupied. Thereis a novel
in there somewhere; who wrote it?

Bob Johnson wrote:
Nyal,

This may not be so. Look at the bios of the solo group in the new Soaring.
Today's active young citizens looking for a shot of adrenaline are bungee
jumping, snowboarding at Vail, skydiving, ultra lighting, climbing Everest,
scuba diving, whatever. You name it, they seem to have the resources and
desire to do it. After all, compared to these things, how exiting can a
computer game or spending an hour or two of preparation to float around a
glider circuit be? Even the CAP cadets located across the field in full view
of our glider club operations have never been curious enough to drop in.

Bob Johnson


"Nyal Williams" wrote in message
...

At 11:30 28 January 2005, Don Johnstone wrote:

In the UK we are suffering the same problem. Distance
to a club is seldom a factor for us, our country is
much smaller. Getting to fly is not a problem as no
licence is required to fly a glider in the UK and even
the instructors do not have to hold power type categories.
I would have to say that these are not the cause of
the decline, not in the UK anyway.

I think it has more to do with the perceptions of the
new generations. They are able to access 'fun' on tap.
Go somewhere where their fun is provided, have it,
and then go on to something else.

Not only that, but the youth culture today is one of
physical indolence. 'You mean you have to put it together
and take it apart every time you want to fly?' We
move around less, play computer games instead of physical
ones, put on weight, and become physically lazy. Exertion
is for the very lowly; we don't even have ditch diggers
anymore; struggle is an intellectual concept only.

Maybe none of this is correct. Perhaps we have conquered
the air and there is no longer any romance in it.
Airline pilots are just bus drivers, a private airplane
is just another vehicle. Even mountain climbing has
been reduced to climbing fake rocks in a shopping center
boutique. Who can say where any of this is going?
Maybe we will wind up as nothing but brains stored
in little cubicles and our jobs will be 'make-work'
thinking just to keep up occupied. Thereis a novel
in there somewhere; who wrote it?






We find that the offer of a couple of chandelles and a loop in a Blanik appeals. ..

TV- I concur. In the USA, you can watch everything imaginable on
our sports networks, from Poker to Golf distance driving. Where is
soaring? What could be more exhilarating than seeing a low pass at
140kts by an open class sailplane dumping water? Current technology
would allow all sorts of monitoring of GPS traces, cameras in planes,
etc. If people can actually remain awake through a broadcast of a golf
match, surely we could get a sailplane race on TV. Wouldn't have to be
live, right?

Most all of our sports are driven by Television and Advertising. It is
time for Soaring to get a piece of that pie. But with it comes the
attention. You ready for grandstands at a sailplane race? Interviews
after a flight. My cynical side says we aren't- we like our private
little sport. And that mindset will keep it where it is at.
Joe in Atlanta

Bearsoars wrote:

Most all of our sports are driven by Television and Advertising. It is
time for Soaring to get a piece of that pie. ...

http://www.126association.org/graphics/CamelAd.jpg

Looking at this ad above(from the 1-26 Association site), you would
guess there was a time in the US when soaring was as common a pastime
as smoking ... but, that was actually never true even in the post WWII
period when aviation was the only 3-D reality sport. As others have
noted, competition is tough ... ad sponsors are going to look at
soaring and say the potential consumer base is not worth the expense
(by a large margin) .. and we won't grow (if we want to) unless we get
a lot more exposure in prime time media outlets. If a Nats was covered
by a major network, that could be a start ... but if the viewer numbers
were low, and they probably would be, a Nats would never be covered
again. Maybe we could use gliders in one of the extreme challanges ...
stuff contestants in the front of a couple/four 2-place ships
(instructors in back of course) ... and they have to fly silver
distance ... cameras in the cockpit could cover the anguish and joy we
all experience going XC ... and of course you have the drama of the
off-field.


KK - Ken Kochansk

I do take your point about bottom line and consumer base- ReMax Realty
sponsors Golf Distance driving contests, and you can catch anything
from curling to skate boarding to mountain biking on outllets such as
ESPN if you happen to have the misfortune of watching TV on a saturday
instead of flying. They all get sponsored, albiet they do have a
broader appeal. I think there is an assumption that the consumer base
is only among participants in the sport or perhaps aviaton. We can make
this sport tv friendly, and what we do is interesting, isn't it? Is
soaring competion really so boring that no one would sponsor it? A
camera shot of 20 gliders in a gaggle would certainly make someone stop
while channel surfing, no? I think there is enough excitement with
landouts, weather changes, etc, to make it interesting. Of course, I
am already hooked on the sport and of course biased. Perhaps there is
a hook with Americans getting into international competitions. Just
food for thought I guess... Thanks for listening..

Joe

Soaring declining membership? Not in Argentina!

=20

Last five years I heard a lot about soaring declining symptoms=85 I just
arrived home from 52=B0 Argentinean National Soaring Championship =
organized
and sponsored by of Asociacion Aeronautica Azul (CP Azul), a small city
305km south of BsAs with impressed numbers:

=20

* A record number of 73 gliders and 5 motorgliders attended the 52=B0
National Championship & FAI 100=B0 years Cup
* 46 Standard (Jantar Std 2 and 3, LS-4 etc) and 32 Free (open) Class
gliders (ASW-22BLE, ASW-20C, Nimbus 4dM, Nimbus 2C, Ventus 2cM, Jantar =
2B,
LAK-12, DG-800, DG-400, Genesis etc) & 12 tug planes;
* 8 AAT task was set to Open and 7 to Standard class between 200 and
420km (details on their website)
* Operations were great, CP Azul airfield has two grass runway: The
main one (35/17) with 1500x150mts and a secondary (09/27) 900x150mts; =
The
flatland topography is safe for out landings in any direction; Several =
was
done without any damage.
* No airspace restrictions; An Air Force base near Tandil was set as
waypoint on some task without any conflicts.

=20

I learned that soaring is growing in Argentina, not just on Andes but =
also
on flatlands called =93Pampas=94; This happens due a =93old style=94 =
European
soaring system based on community glider clubs, instead a fleet of =
private
gliders; Young pilots without a car or bike can fly a expensive Us$ 30k
plastic gliders paying only Us$ 10.00 fee;

=20

Also the clubs infrastructure includes social areas as swimming pools,
tennis & soccer court, R & V camping and barbecue facilities; My group =
of 7
Brazilians gliders, pilots and helpers drove 2750 km during 3 days to =
spent
10 wonderful days with the best soaring community of South America.

=20

Come to fly with us on 53=B0 Argentinean National Soaring Championship =
on
January 2006 in Adolfo Gonzales Chaves, you will change your mind!

=20

Sds. VoLo.

=20

Armando R. Pucci

Ventus 2cM (AR)

=20


=20
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.8.2 - Release Date: 28/1/2005
=20

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