A aviation & planes forum. AviationBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » AviationBanter forum » rec.aviation newsgroups » Soaring
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Old Folks Poll



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old November 3rd 20, 01:41 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Roy B.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 304
Default Old Folks Poll

I thought it might be fun (and healthy) to start a poll or discussion for the guys and gals who have been in the sport for + 25 years or more. So, my question for those people is : "What is the biggest change you have seen in the sport over the years you have participated?"

For me, the biggest change was the widespread adoption of GPS - which changed everything about flight recording, contests, contest tasking and badge flying. Second place goes to the newer trailers which are so much better than what we struggled with in the old days. Third place might be OLC . . .
What do you think?

ROY
  #2  
Old November 3rd 20, 01:49 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Tango Whisky
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 402
Default Old Folks Poll

OLC.
  #3  
Old November 3rd 20, 02:05 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
AS
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 653
Default Old Folks Poll

On Tuesday, November 3, 2020 at 7:41:15 AM UTC-5, Roy B. wrote:
I thought it might be fun (and healthy) to start a poll or discussion for the guys and gals who have been in the sport for + 25 years or more. So, my question for those people is : "What is the biggest change you have seen in the sport over the years you have participated?"

For me, the biggest change was the widespread adoption of GPS - which changed everything about flight recording, contests, contest tasking and badge flying. Second place goes to the newer trailers which are so much better than what we struggled with in the old days. Third place might be OLC . . .
What do you think?

ROY


The change from an all 'Wood, Steel Tube, Aluminum & Fabric' fleet to an all Glass fleet.

Uli
'AS'
  #4  
Old November 3rd 20, 02:26 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 281
Default Old Folks Poll

On Tuesday, November 3, 2020 at 7:41:15 AM UTC-5, Roy B. wrote:
I thought it might be fun (and healthy) to start a poll or discussion for the guys and gals who have been in the sport for + 25 years or more. So, my question for those people is : "What is the biggest change you have seen in the sport over the years you have participated?"

For me, the biggest change was the widespread adoption of GPS - which changed everything about flight recording, contests, contest tasking and badge flying. Second place goes to the newer trailers which are so much better than what we struggled with in the old days. Third place might be OLC . . .
What do you think?

ROY


Cost, of new gliders and GPS
  #5  
Old November 3rd 20, 02:31 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 17
Default Old Folks Poll

On Tuesday, November 3, 2020 at 7:41:15 AM UTC-5, Roy B. wrote:
I thought it might be fun (and healthy) to start a poll or discussion for the guys and gals who have been in the sport for + 25 years or more. So, my question for those people is : "What is the biggest change you have seen in the sport over the years you have participated?"

For me, the biggest change was the widespread adoption of GPS - which changed everything about flight recording, contests, contest tasking and badge flying. Second place goes to the newer trailers which are so much better than what we struggled with in the old days. Third place might be OLC . . .
What do you think?

ROY


I think I would say loss of availability of flying sites at reasonable distance to population areas.
The ability to mow the grass on Saturday morning and go gliding in the afternoon has been significantly reduced.
Fewer sites- fewer contact nodes- reduced exposure- reduced training- reduced number of active pilots.
As for as contest flying I would say that tasking and contest organizations have evolved to adapt to crewless pilots being almost the norm.
FWIW
UH
  #6  
Old November 3rd 20, 03:23 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Waveguru
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 178
Default Old Folks Poll

My CG.....

Boggs
  #7  
Old November 3rd 20, 03:46 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Roy B.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 304
Default Old Folks Poll

On Tuesday, November 3, 2020 at 9:23:37 AM UTC-5, Waveguru wrote:
My CG.....

Boggs

  #8  
Old November 3rd 20, 03:47 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Roy B.
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 304
Default Old Folks Poll

On Tuesday, November 3, 2020 at 9:23:37 AM UTC-5, Waveguru wrote:
My CG.....

Boggs

Copy that, brother.
  #9  
Old November 3rd 20, 05:45 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Doug B[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3
Default Old Folks Poll

Too few young people (as the title of this poll suggests)
  #10  
Old November 3rd 20, 05:47 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Chip Bearden[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 93
Default Old Folks Poll

You didn't think my response would be a one-liner, did you?

Everything already cited:
* better trailers (which, with the fiberglass revolution starting in the mid 1960s, made possible near-universal rig-to-fly style vs. hangars, the norm when I was coming up)
* GPS (more flexible tasking but goodbye navigation skills as a way to enhance contest points)
* availability--at a cost--of competitive sailplanes to the average pilot. Less than a dozen top-ranked, well-heeled, lucky guys got one of Len Neimi's Sisus back in the '60s.
* universal availability of really good instrumentation (I used to spend a lot of time tuning my varios/TE with gust filters, restrictors, add/subtracting tubing lengths, capillaries, copper scrubbers in capacity bottles, etc. Now you just plug it all together and configure the software)
* greater consistency of manufacture for new gliders (no more hoping you got a good one from the factory)
* crewless contests (I recall when Erik Mozer showed up crewless for a Nationals around 1992, IIRC; I was truly shocked! Now I've only had a crew a couple of times since 2006. Hahaha).

But the two biggies for me a

1. Leveling of competitive skills that started with the Byars & Holbrook seminars and continued through Reichmann's book and other publications and programs. The top handful of pilots used to be far better than the rest of the pack. Now they're usually more tightly packed, although leeching (another trend that got much worse) and having comparable sailplanes have contributed to this.

2. Demands on time. There's just so much other stuff going on in our lives that conflicts with soaring: other activities, family, job, etc. Those were always there but when I was a 9-to-5 guy, it was easy to free up the time and I think the same was true for my father. Now many of us are pulled in so many directions.

I don't know whether cost, per se, should be on the list. Prices seem astronomical now compared with the old days but compared to income, I don't know.. George Moffat used to say, IIRC, that his limit was 1.5x annual salary.

One thing I might add but I'm not sure it's universally true is that good sailplanes seems to remain competitive for much longer; i.e., the evolution of "high performance" is much slower. The gliders I think of as enduring in the old days--Standard Austria, Ka-6, Sisu--were only at the top for a few years. Today, the ASW 20 (ca 1976) is still out there, though Sports and Club Class have made that possible in recent years. And many others with long histories: e.g., Discus 2, LS8, ASW 27. But I'm still competing in my ASW 24, designed in ~1986 and purchased in 1992. We always kept gliders a little longer than most anyway but we felt the competition pass us by while doing it. Now it doesn't happen as fast or to the same extent, which is a good thing, IMO.

And, finally, a much different set of requirements to manage the technology.. In the old days, it helped if you knew how to sand and fill metal wings to keep the gliders competitive. Now it helps to be tech savvy with interfaces, communications protocols, file formats, multiple tech platforms and OSs, etc. Then, as now, you can pay someone to do this and/or lean on your friends. But while the sailplanes themselves are evolving more slowly, keeping up with the technology from an IT perspective is more difficult.

Just my brief thoughts. Hahahs. You asked, Roy.

Chip Bearden
JB
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
The Red Arrows - That's It Folks Indrek[_5_] Aviation Photos 1 July 31st 12 09:25 AM
We're getting old, folks... Jay Honeck Piloting 163 January 12th 06 03:41 AM
Lucky folks David Lesher Owning 9 August 5th 05 02:11 PM
Hello folks........ S. Piloting 14 March 13th 05 12:18 AM
Thanks for your help, folks! Jay Honeck Piloting 2 July 16th 03 05:32 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:40 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright Š2004-2024 AviationBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.