How do we inspire pilots to truly take up cross country soaring ?

Change the PTS! How successful would light airplanes be if pilots were never required to train x/c in them? A newly minted private pilot has four choices at my club. Fly Schwizers locally, spend 20k+ on a glass ship you don't know how to fly, quit, teach others how to do take offs and landings in a 2-33. That last option is the real root of the problem. The core of our nation's clubs and greatest influence on those new to soaring never learned to actually soar! Until x/c is a requirement only people with time, money, and the ability to self teach will be able to it. (Old retired guys)...

Change the PTS! How successful would light airplanes be if pilots were
never required to train x/c in them? A newly minted private pilot has four
choices at my club. Fly Schweizers locally, spend 20k+ on a glass ship you
don't know how to fly, quit, teach others how to do take offs and landings
in a 2-33. That last option is the real root of the problem. The core of
our nation's clubs and greatest influence on those new to soaring never
learned to actually soar! Until x/c is a requirement only people with time,
money, and the ability to self teach will be able to it. (Old retired
guys)...

And the argument has previously been made that increasing the barriers to
obtaining a license (cost, time, etc.) has its own discouraging effects.
Consider your own paradox: "Until x/c is a requirement only people with time,
money, and the ability to self teach will be able to it."

I doubt the perpetual chicken-or-egg conundrum as it applies to soaring will
(or can) ever be satisfactorily laid to rest. That said, learning to soar and
learning how to fly XC are different - if complementary - skills. Knowing how
to soar is a prerequisite to flying XC; not true the other way around...

Somehow, despite doing all my primary training and obtaining my private pilot
(glider-only) license in a club having only a 2-33 and a 1-26 and but one
instructor (not mine) with any XC experience, the "XC seed" was planted and
took root in my mind even before I'd taken my first lesson. How? My officemate
was an XC glider pilot, and from breeze-shooting with him as well as
accompanying him to do glass repairs on the gear doors/belly of the Libelle of
the one instructor with XC experience - land-out-induced damage (really!) - as
well (perhaps) as my innately realizing flagpole sitting as an idea seemed
boring merely as an idea, "it was obvious" to me that my PP(Glider)
certificate was but a license to learn without always having an instructor in
the back. Point being that it was the *idea* of XC that was the crucial part
of the picture for me. And the idea cost me nothing but some enjoyable
breeeze-shooting and hanging out time.

I actually obtained my license before ever soaring (i.e. climbing) on my own,
and only once experienced my instructor climbing in a thermal, so I suppose my
second point is that *neither* soaring nor XC need be crucial elements of
obtaining one's license...while the *ideas* of both, most certainly *are*
crucial elements to going XC in a glider...and opening one door to a lifetime
of (good!) life-altering experiences. How a person thinks, matters!

Bob W.

I recall the joy of simply staying up! Seeing how high I could get -
even getting higher than my instructor who was up with another student.
But that soon became old hat. Already having an ATP license, I took the
commercial glider check ride and was, for a while, happy with giving
rides, but that, too, got old.

Then I moved to a club which had a lot of private owners and XC pilots.
I recall sitting on the porch with them at the end of the day sipping a
cold one and listening to their stories. The spark was ignited! I
simply had to get my own ship and learn how to fly cross country.

It seems that, nowadays, most people who come to the airport are simply
looking to add another token to their bucket of adventures and move on
to the next. It's very sad. Still, I take the time to talk with each
of them, answer their questions, point to the mountains and tell them
how wonderful it is to soar over there and spend the day enjoying the
scenery, and the wonder of having an eagle fly along side (or out climb
me!).

Dan
5J
choices at my club. Fly Schweizers locally, spend 20k+ on a glass
ship you
don't know how to fly, quit, teach others how to do take offs and
landings
in a 2-33. That last option is the real root of the problem. The core of
our nation's clubs and greatest influence on those new to soaring never
learned to actually soar! Until x/c is a requirement only people with
time,
money, and the ability to self teach will be able to it. (Old retired
guys)...

And the argument has previously been made that increasing the barriers
to obtaining a license (cost, time, etc.) has its own discouraging
effects. Consider your own paradox: "Until x/c is a requirement only
people with time,
money, and the ability to self teach will be able to it."

I doubt the perpetual chicken-or-egg conundrum as it applies to
soaring will (or can) ever be satisfactorily laid to rest. That said,
learning to soar and learning how to fly XC are different - if
complementary - skills. Knowing how to soar is a prerequisite to
flying XC; not true the other way around...

Somehow, despite doing all my primary training and obtaining my
private pilot (glider-only) license in a club having only a 2-33 and a
1-26 and but one instructor (not mine) with any XC experience, the "XC
seed" was planted and took root in my mind even before I'd taken my
first lesson. How? My officemate was an XC glider pilot, and from
breeze-shooting with him as well as accompanying him to do glass
repairs on the gear doors/belly of the Libelle of the one instructor
with XC experience - land-out-induced damage (really!) - as well
(perhaps) as my innately realizing flagpole sitting as an idea seemed
boring merely as an idea, "it was obvious" to me that my PP(Glider)
certificate was but a license to learn without always having an
instructor in the back. Point being that it was the *idea* of XC that
was the crucial part of the picture for me. And the idea cost me
nothing but some enjoyable breeeze-shooting and hanging out time.

I actually obtained my license before ever soaring (i.e. climbing) on
my own, and only once experienced my instructor climbing in a thermal,
so I suppose my second point is that *neither* soaring nor XC need be
crucial elements of obtaining one's license...while the *ideas* of
both, most certainly *are* crucial elements to going XC in a
glider...and opening one door to a lifetime of (good!) life-altering
experiences. How a person thinks, matters!

Bob W.

We need to consider strongly inspiring our Jr glider students to go beyond a "pattern license." In fact, we need to standardize our training to make achievement of cross-country proficiency the goal rather than something that we might do later in life! Most U.S. glider students never actually experience "true soaring!" It is our fault that this is happening. At current, the goal we set for these pilots is achieving a "glider license" that includes zero cross-country skills, training or experience. The goal should be (for all clubs, instructors, and all commercial operations) to get all new glider pilots (especially Jrs) comfortable, confident and PROFICIENT with flying cross-country. Sure, some are not going to achieve this goal. So what? Let's aim higher. Much higher.

Gliding clubs are focused on rides and basic training (no cross-country). What a tragedy. In fact, most U.S. Soaring Clubs have almost zero interest in inspiring or developing cross-country skills for their students or newly licensed pilots. U.S. clubs must be re-tooled and refocused on an entirely new training goal. We need fewer trainers and more cross-country capable gliders for members to train in and rent. The conversation should not be how do we get you your glider license, it should be how do we build you into a cross-country soaring pilot capable of competing in your first soaring contest! The glider license itself should not be the goal, the first 100km solo cross-country should be the goal. We are capable of SO MUCH MORE than we are currently achieving.

Train how you fight, fight how you train. Such a fantastic quote, perhaps the best I have ever learned. In other words, we are getting what we are asking for in U.S. soaring circles today. We are getting pattern pilots who do not stick with or progress further into the sport of soaring. They get bored. It is no surprise that pilots move on when the sport consists of flying near the home airport. We wonder why we are failing (in terms of growth and development) and why all the effort we are putting into basic training at our clubs is producing fewer pilots who stick with a sport which is, to them, essentially pattern sleigh rides. We wonder why we are failing yet we have not changed the way we do things, in the slightest. We need to stop measuring how many new glider pilots were licensed this season. We need to start measuring ourselves by how many new cross-country pilots were developed this season! Clearly, how many licenses we complete is entirely irrelevant to U.S. soaring health.

Glider clubs literally build their "business" on whipping new students (members) thru the primary training cycle. The old guard within most soaring clubs are happy as pigs in "mud" when their club gliders are flying locally. Generally, they have little focus on if cross-country is being conducted. In fact, many clubs actively discourage cross-country soaring ("in club ships"). Heaven forbid a "club" glider is not on the ground on time for the next revenue producing rental! Blasphemy!

We need to fundamentally change our priorities, our mindset, and our strategy. We need to change almost everything about our current way of thinking about glider training. This includes our clubs, instructors and especially the SSA's goals and strategy. US Soaring is a marketing disaster that should be studied at graduate schools. On so many levels...

Again, Great Britain just hosted it's nearly 70 strong youth gliding national championship. They appear to have strong Jr. attendance year after year and an armada of young, highly capable cross country pilots being developed year after year! Meanwhile, the USA does not host even have a single Jr soaring event. The USA has only a handful of youth pilots who are capable of entering a contest. In short, WE SUCK!

Can anyone tell me when the last Jr contest was held in the USA? The USA is SIX TIMES the size of the UK. So don't tell me geography. We could have 6 regional youth events of equal size (NE, SE, S, NC, NW, SW) in the USA just to be equal to Britain. Don't tell me we can't do this. Of course we can. We simply do not try anymore. We are simply not focused on youth soaring. We are simply not very bright.

The first step is setting a goal to hold on US Junior Nationals with 20 pilots in 2016. A very achievable goal. All US clubs should share this goal. We need to make this happen. In time, this Junior event should be our most important of all contests, and it should be how we measure the health of our sport. The second step is "changing the guard" and getting some new leadership capable of truly inspiring our youth pilots to go further and motivate them to take the sport of soaring to its full potential. The fact that we still have embedded leadership that is not focused on growing youth contests in the US is unacceptable. Does your club leadership have a cross-country development strategy? Does your club even care about cross-country or is cross-country entirely outside of their focus? Does your club keep statistics on cross-country utilization? A strategy? Youth? Adult? How many of your clubs instructors are proficient cross-country pilots? What percentage of newly licensed pilots (from your clubs training program) achieve a cross-country badge in the first 1-2 years after being licensed? How does your club measure success? Is your club a success or a failure?

Unfortunately, right now, effective cross-country training is far beyond the capabilities and comfort zones of many instructors. We have to begin digging out of this hole someday. Why not start now?

Or, just stay the course? Keep doing what we are doing now? Keep bumbling along into oblivion.

Will 2016 be any different that 2015? Will we develop a meaningful strategy? I wonder...

Great Britain sure seems to be showing us how it is done...

Sean, while much of your analysis is correct you're discounting a huge factor - club income. If US clubs continue with their current business plans and switch to the XC mode you suggest, they'll go broke. If you can post a different business plan that keeps clubs on a solid financial footing I'm sure it would receive great attention.

-John, Q3

On Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at 10:57:15 AM UTC-4, Sean Fidler wrote:
We need to consider strongly inspiring our Jr glider students to go beyond a "pattern license." In fact, we need to standardize our training to make achievement of cross-country proficiency the goal rather than something that we might do later in life! Most U.S. glider students never actually experience "true soaring!" It is our fault that this is happening. At current, the goal we set for these pilots is achieving a "glider license" that includes zero cross-country skills, training or experience. The goal should be (for all clubs, instructors, and all commercial operations) to get all new glider pilots (especially Jrs) comfortable, confident and PROFICIENT with flying cross-country. Sure, some are not going to achieve this goal. So what? Let's aim higher. Much higher.

Gliding clubs are focused on rides and basic training (no cross-country). What a tragedy. In fact, most U.S. Soaring Clubs have almost zero interest in inspiring or developing cross-country skills for their students or newly licensed pilots. U.S. clubs must be re-tooled and refocused on an entirely new training goal. We need fewer trainers and more cross-country capable gliders for members to train in and rent. The conversation should not be how do we get you your glider license, it should be how do we build you into a cross-country soaring pilot capable of competing in your first soaring contest! The glider license itself should not be the goal, the first 100km solo cross-country should be the goal. We are capable of SO MUCH MORE than we are currently achieving.

Train how you fight, fight how you train. Such a fantastic quote, perhaps the best I have ever learned. In other words, we are getting what we are asking for in U.S. soaring circles today. We are getting pattern pilots who do not stick with or progress further into the sport of soaring. They get bored. It is no surprise that pilots move on when the sport consists of flying near the home airport. We wonder why we are failing (in terms of growth and development) and why all the effort we are putting into basic training at our clubs is producing fewer pilots who stick with a sport which is, to them, essentially pattern sleigh rides. We wonder why we are failing yet we have not changed the way we do things, in the slightest. We need to stop measuring how many new glider pilots were licensed this season. We need to start measuring ourselves by how many new cross-country pilots were developed this season! Clearly, how many licenses we complete is entirely irrelevant to U.S. soaring health.

Glider clubs literally build their "business" on whipping new students (members) thru the primary training cycle. The old guard within most soaring clubs are happy as pigs in "mud" when their club gliders are flying locally. Generally, they have little focus on if cross-country is being conducted. In fact, many clubs actively discourage cross-country soaring ("in club ships"). Heaven forbid a "club" glider is not on the ground on time for the next revenue producing rental! Blasphemy!

We need to fundamentally change our priorities, our mindset, and our strategy. We need to change almost everything about our current way of thinking about glider training. This includes our clubs, instructors and especially the SSA's goals and strategy. US Soaring is a marketing disaster that should be studied at graduate schools. On so many levels...

Again, Great Britain just hosted it's nearly 70 strong youth gliding national championship. They appear to have strong Jr. attendance year after year and an armada of young, highly capable cross country pilots being developed year after year! Meanwhile, the USA does not host even have a single Jr soaring event. The USA has only a handful of youth pilots who are capable of entering a contest. In short, WE SUCK!

Can anyone tell me when the last Jr contest was held in the USA? The USA is SIX TIMES the size of the UK. So don't tell me geography. We could have 6 regional youth events of equal size (NE, SE, S, NC, NW, SW) in the USA just to be equal to Britain. Don't tell me we can't do this. Of course we can. We simply do not try anymore. We are simply not focused on youth soaring. We are simply not very bright.

The first step is setting a goal to hold on US Junior Nationals with 20 pilots in 2016. A very achievable goal. All US clubs should share this goal. We need to make this happen. In time, this Junior event should be our most important of all contests, and it should be how we measure the health of our sport. The second step is "changing the guard" and getting some new leadership capable of truly inspiring our youth pilots to go further and motivate them to take the sport of soaring to its full potential. The fact that we still have embedded leadership that is not focused on growing youth contests in the US is unacceptable. Does your club leadership have a cross-country development strategy? Does your club even care about cross-country or is cross-country entirely outside of their focus? Does your club keep statistics on cross-country utilization? A strategy? Youth? Adult? How many of your clubs instructors are proficient cross-country pilots? What percentage of newly licensed pilots (from your clubs training program) achieve a cross-country badge in the first 1-2 years after being licensed? How does your club measure success? Is your club a success or a failure?

Unfortunately, right now, effective cross-country training is far beyond the capabilities and comfort zones of many instructors. We have to begin digging out of this hole someday. Why not start now?

Or, just stay the course? Keep doing what we are doing now? Keep bumbling along into oblivion.

Will 2016 be any different that 2015? Will we develop a meaningful strategy? I wonder...

Great Britain sure seems to be showing us how it is done...

On Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at 9:57:15 AM UTC-5, Sean Fidler wrote:

Sean, look at a map of the US and of England. Take a guess at the density of junior pilots. The reason they can get the numbers (aside from a much more social club environment, I agree) is that they are a lot closer to the racing venue - If every junior pilot in the US could get to a Junior contest with a club or loaned glider within a day's drive, we would see the same or better numbers!

And you are getting a bit tiring, up on your soap box. NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO FLY XC, MUCH LESS RACE! Most of our long time club members, including private owners of some nice glass, have no desire to stress out flying XC. And they are perfectly happy (and pretty good pilots).

Personally, I agree with you that XC and racing is most fun in soaring, along with acro, intro rides for grandmas who have never flown, end of day sled rides with the wife in glassy air as the sun goes down - hmm, I guess it's all good!

Oh, and "low approaches, circling to land..." ;^)

My solution? It's the social aspect, not the flying. THAT'S THE BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EURO AND MOST US CLUBS! We need nice, appealing facilities more than we need nicer gliders; we need clubhouses with bars (or even restaurants), weekend sleeping accommodations, nice areas to park the RVs, things for the spouses and kids to do - When the locals stop by to sit in the shade, sip a cold one, and watch the pretty shiny gliders fly, then you are on the right track!

Kirk
66

On Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at 2:32:07 PM UTC-4, kirk.stant wrote:
On Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at 9:57:15 AM UTC-5, Sean Fidler wrote:

Sean, look at a map of the US and of England. Take a guess at the density of junior pilots. The reason they can get the numbers (aside from a much more social club environment, I agree) is that they are a lot closer to the racing venue - If every junior pilot in the US could get to a Junior contest with a club or loaned glider within a day's drive, we would see the same or better numbers!

And you are getting a bit tiring, up on your soap box. NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO FLY XC, MUCH LESS RACE! Most of our long time club members, including private owners of some nice glass, have no desire to stress out flying XC. And they are perfectly happy (and pretty good pilots).

Personally, I agree with you that XC and racing is most fun in soaring, along with acro, intro rides for grandmas who have never flown, end of day sled rides with the wife in glassy air as the sun goes down - hmm, I guess it's all good!

Oh, and "low approaches, circling to land..." ;^)

My solution? It's the social aspect, not the flying. THAT'S THE BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EURO AND MOST US CLUBS! We need nice, appealing facilities more than we need nicer gliders; we need clubhouses with bars (or even restaurants), weekend sleeping accommodations, nice areas to park the RVs, things for the spouses and kids to do - When the locals stop by to sit in the shade, sip a cold one, and watch the pretty shiny gliders fly, then you are on the right track!

Kirk
66

Steve Bennis, our mentor at Middletown NY, took me aside one day 30 years ago or so and asked me if I wanted to know the most important thing to keep people coming to our soaring operation.
Not stupid, said tell me the secret.
He did:
Drum roll..................................
Picnics!
The message was that the social environment is very important to capturing and retaining members or customers, in addition to a stimulating flying environment.
UH

On Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at 5:03:19 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at 2:32:07 PM UTC-4, kirk.stant wrote:
On Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at 9:57:15 AM UTC-5, Sean Fidler wrote:

Sean, look at a map of the US and of England. Take a guess at the density of junior pilots. The reason they can get the numbers (aside from a much more social club environment, I agree) is that they are a lot closer to the racing venue - If every junior pilot in the US could get to a Junior contest with a club or loaned glider within a day's drive, we would see the same or better numbers!

And you are getting a bit tiring, up on your soap box. NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO FLY XC, MUCH LESS RACE! Most of our long time club members, including private owners of some nice glass, have no desire to stress out flying XC.. And they are perfectly happy (and pretty good pilots).

Personally, I agree with you that XC and racing is most fun in soaring, along with acro, intro rides for grandmas who have never flown, end of day sled rides with the wife in glassy air as the sun goes down - hmm, I guess it's all good!

Oh, and "low approaches, circling to land..." ;^)

My solution? It's the social aspect, not the flying. THAT'S THE BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EURO AND MOST US CLUBS! We need nice, appealing facilities more than we need nicer gliders; we need clubhouses with bars (or even restaurants), weekend sleeping accommodations, nice areas to park the RVs, things for the spouses and kids to do - When the locals stop by to sit in the shade, sip a cold one, and watch the pretty shiny gliders fly, then you are on the right track!

Kirk
66

Steve Bennis, our mentor at Middletown NY, took me aside one day 30 years ago or so and asked me if I wanted to know the most important thing to keep people coming to our soaring operation.
Not stupid, said tell me the secret.
He did:
Drum roll..................................
Picnics!
The message was that the social environment is very important to capturing and retaining members or customers, in addition to a stimulating flying environment.
UH

This is very true. We had 4 picnics this year and it has done amazing things for morale. Santa Claus even brought the club a nice 6.5qt crockpot so on busy weekend days the members can grab a hot dog, chips, and a soda, drop a couple bucks in the donation bucket and know they wont go hungry spending the day with their friends at the airfield. I want to thank the guys at Thermal Research and Kendall Gliderport circa 1985 for that (my brothers and I ate a lot of hot dogs at the gliderport growing up as kids). In any case, Costco and Sam's Club can make this an affordable proposition for any club.. What's required is a decent clubhouse kitchen and on that front I'm proud we re-modeled our clubhouse this year. We may even start doing pancake breakfasts next winter (once we get hot water installed) just to give everyone an excuse to get together when its snowing outside (we did put in heat and insulation). But without further digressing, you are absolutely right. You can see the excitement in peoples eyes when they come out to the field now.. Picnics, BBQ's, and other themed outdoor parties do a lot to bring people together and get people flying again! And more importantly, the social environment is the key to progress. Unfriendly clubs tend not to keep their new members around for very long. Conversely, clubs whose members take the time to make their new (and existing) members always feel welcome, extend a hand, or sometimes just a healthy shot of encouragement, get this small investment returned to them in spades. Usually, it results in untold volunteer support that you can't always put a price on but nor could a club survive without. Lastly, there's Grinch among all of us. My advice is don't let the resident grouch sit around and poison the well. Circumvent the grouch and steer the newcomer in a positive direction and the grouch won't have anyone left to complain to but himself.

- Chris Schrader, Sandhill Soaring Club, near Ann Arbor, MI

On Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at 2:32:07 PM UTC-4, kirk.stant wrote:
The reason they can get the numbers (aside from a much more social club environment, I agree) is that they are a lot closer to the racing venue.

And winch launching in UK lets large numbers of fledglings test their wings.

We had one 13 year old visiting UK pilot take his first aerotow (ever) while visiting relatives in Vermont. He had 150+ winch launches in his log book @ $5 a pop. 30+ kids in his youth program.

By contrast...We have 5-6 kids working on our line crew where they get one aerotow/lesson/glider_rental for each day that they work as line crew (paid for by a separate non-profit).

The British are holding a Jr winter series! They already have 50 Jr pilots registered for the first event of the series. They are soliciting 2 place gliders from clubs and associated instructors to participate. See attached photo...

Absolutely amazing. The contrast between the UK and US with respect to youth soaring. Talk about getting ones clock cleaned...

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0255Z2WM8lGXY