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#41
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#42
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Allow me to summarize what I have learned from this thread.
Soaring has declined for these reasons: 1. Money 2. Accessibility 3. Competition from other activities 4. Elitism Valiant efforts have been made to lessen the impact of the first three, but isn't it embarrassing how feebly we have tackled the fourth, the easiest one to address? -Pat |
#43
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#44
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ISoar wrote:
.... that may mean putting the financial survival of the firm on the line. Maybe it will happen when a company has to choose between inovatation of bankruptcy. Yes. Very much like Boeing when it "bet the farm" to develop the 747. Tony V. |
#45
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"Tony Verhulst" wrote in message ... ISoar wrote: .... that may mean putting the financial survival of the firm on the line. Maybe it will happen when a company has to choose between inovatation of bankruptcy. Yes. Very much like Boeing when it "bet the farm" to develop the 747. Tony V. IIRC, Boeing bet the farm on the B-17 (for which they received the German swept wing research post-WWII which was immediately applied to the B-47), the 707 (for which they eventually sacrificed winning military contracts for decades), and the 727 (which really brought new innovations to aircraft computer design and construction methods, not to mention lower service and turnaround costs and a 40-year service life). The 747 was the first new innovative airframe that Boeing didn't bet the farm on. What was really incredible were the cottage industries that popped up as fourth level subcontractors in the back of plumbing, electrical, and machine shops around the area. When I was young, we raised funds for our church group by selling 'snack' trays which were the window punch outs from the 707 lines. They already had the interior vinyl attached and were fairly attractive, plus the process created a raised lip. For many years, Boeing had one of the most fantastic surplus yards going. It's still pretty good, but not like it was. Frank Whiteley |
#46
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Pat Russell wrote in message . ..
Allow me to summarize what I have learned from this thread. Soaring has declined for these reasons: 1. Money 2. Accessibility 3. Competition from other activities 4. Elitism Valiant efforts have been made to lessen the impact of the first three, but isn't it embarrassing how feebly we have tackled the fourth, the easiest one to address? -Pat I think the elitism problem is largely an urban myth. It's all too easy for unsuccesful pilots to blame elitism rather than take a hard look at their own lack of skill, ability or perserverence. Perhaps we should start voluntarily limiting our flights to 1 hour and within 15 miles of the airport so the Lennies of the world needn't feel so bad about their lack of achievement. |
#47
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Pat Russell wrote in message . ..
Allow me to summarize what I have learned from this thread. Soaring has declined for these reasons: 1. Money 2. Accessibility 3. Competition from other activities 4. Elitism Valiant efforts have been made to lessen the impact of the first three, but isn't it embarrassing how feebly we have tackled the fourth, the easiest one to address? No, It's not the easiest to address. Those that practice it, probably live the rest of their lives the same way, and don't really care if they're doing any damage or not. They don't see it, never will because it would have them take a good look at themselves, and find that they're far from perfect. The first is probably insurmountable, common sense says food for the family is more important than time in a glider. The second, depends on how far one is willing to travel, and in my case, I'm not. Third, something has to offer more than the others, and depending on the interests of the individual, for most of the population, soaring is pretty far from the top of the list, if it ever made it to the list. No different than any other hobby. Soaring gets to scramble for the interest and the bucks just like any other activity. If it makes the cut, you got one, if not, better look for another one. |
#48
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Lennie, you're starting to scare me. A couple of good posts in a row. Tony V. Oh, yeah.... :-) :-) |
#49
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#50
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somewhere
with a 4th hand Woodstock towed behind an old Jetta and step out on the field dressed in Levi's and a T-shirt there will be a few pilots quietly snickering in the background about my poor performing hardware. Too right! A large percentage of members at my club proclaim anything other than glass as a Piece of Sh** and gladly tell new students this. Never mind having to "dumb down" to fly a 1-26. Sadly, the new students who haven't a clue take on the same attitude. Jim Vincent CFIG N483SZ illspam |
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