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Attracting the kids
On another topic, bagmaker wrote:
Mr Daniels is right on the money, youngsters now have a new phone every 2 years, a new car every 3 years, a mortgage no-one can really afford, 3 ipods, a PDA, $250 sunglasses and a wardrobe of jeans the cost of which would support a small african country. Do you honestly think they will be enticed into gliding if offered an antique 2-33? And are those honestly the type you want to entice into gliding? Or are they inclined to get as much from a club as they can, and contribute as little as possible? Another consideration - does your particular club exist to provide everything for everybody? Or does it, more like my own, provide the cheapest entry into soaring, including cross-country trips, and then leave it to the individuals to move themselves into higher performance gliders? The second approach is a lot cheaper than the first. Jim Beckman |
#2
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Attracting the kids
On 15 Aug, 15:00, Jim Beckman wrote:
The second approach is a lot cheaper than the first. Jim Beckman And quite plainly does not work! |
#3
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Attracting the kids
"Jim Beckman" wrote in message ... On another topic, bagmaker wrote: Mr Daniels is right on the money, youngsters now have a new phone every 2 years, a new car every 3 years, a mortgage no-one can really afford, 3 ipods, a PDA, $250 sunglasses and a wardrobe of jeans the cost of which would support a small african country. Do you honestly think they will be enticed into gliding if offered an antique 2-33? And are those honestly the type you want to entice into gliding? Or are they inclined to get as much from a club as they can, and contribute as little as possible? Another consideration - does your particular club exist to provide everything for everybody? Or does it, more like my own, provide the cheapest entry into soaring, including cross-country trips, and then leave it to the individuals to move themselves into higher performance gliders? The second approach is a lot cheaper than the first. Jim Beckman Let me get this strait, youth is very underrepresented and pilot numbers are crashing globally and you want to be choosy? Any kid that wants to fly gliders needs to be encouraged as much as possible, bling or no bling. Kids, even more than adults, will know the difference between a 2-33 and anything else. They will want to impress their friends that they are flying a 'cool' glider. 2-33's are VERY uncool. The typical 'cheap' club spends heavily on aero tows and cuts corners on gliders. How dumb is that? If you divert 3/4's of the expenditures on aero tows to gliders, new glass gets afordable. A winch really earns money for a club while a tug sucks it down a black hole. Earn money with a winch, spend it on new gliders. About the instructor shortage; Instructors like nice gliders too. I know many instructors, myself included, who will not instruct in 2-33's. It's too dangerous. Sitting with your spine vertical over an unsprung wheel will sooner or later result in back injury. Mine is permanently sore. Then there's the fact that the 2-33 wing blocks your view into turns from back cockpit. Buy a modern glass trainer and and a winch - instructors will come out of the woodwork. Bill Daniels |
#4
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Attracting the kids
sniped good points on winch
Earn money with a winch, spend it on new gliders. I got 2 questions about setting up a winch operation. 1) How the hell do you get qualified to fly off a winch in the US ? I have been looking for a operation that I can learn to winch with, and 1 club in Texas seems the only place that I could do it. 2) How much land do you need to run a winch launch that can get the glider to 1500-2000 ft altitude ? Todd Smith 3S |
#5
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Attracting the kids
"toad" wrote in message s.com... sniped good points on winch Earn money with a winch, spend it on new gliders. I got 2 questions about setting up a winch operation. 1) How the hell do you get qualified to fly off a winch in the US ? I have been looking for a operation that I can learn to winch with, and 1 club in Texas seems the only place that I could do it. There are an increasing number of clubs in the US using winches. The Southern California area is quite active - see Region 12 newsletter. There are at least three clubs in Texas using winches - In Houston, Odessa and, I think, San Antonio. Prescott, AZ uses a winch. I'm sure there are many more. 2) How much land do you need to run a winch launch that can get the glider to 1500-2000 ft altitude ? Typically, you can expect 40% of the starting cable length in no-wind conditions. A highly optimized launch using Spectra/Dyneema can get 50%. So, 2000 feet AGL will require a 4000 - 5000 foot runway. Launches into a wind will be higher. Gliders with less than 30:1 L/D or those with poorly placed CG hooks will suffer lower launches - above 30:1 there's not much difference between gliders. 2-33's with only a nose hook are not well suited for winch launch. There are a number of winch qualified instructors, myself included, who will travel to new winch sites to help get them started. Bill Daniels |
#6
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Attracting the kids
1) How the hell do you get qualified to fly off a winch in the US ? Where in the US are you? There are a couple locations in the Northwest where you can get Ground Launch Endorsements. 2) How much land do you need to run a winch launch that can get the glider to 1500-2000 ft altitude ? Most of my Winch launching was don on about 4000 feet of cable. Launches were between 800-1200feet. Which is great for training. (Wnd conditions can vary the alititude siginficantly) I have done AutoTows out in the desert where about 2 miles and 3000 feet of cable will get you 2000 feet Brian CFIIG/ASEL |
#7
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Attracting the kids
Guys, I live in the Northeast US. To do my personal training at a location that far away, I would need a commercial type operation where I could do an intensive course. If you know of any that do that, please post specific names. The land required is the biggest problem here in the east. Land is too expensive and too crowded to get a 5000ft piece of land bought and turned into an airport. Unless you are a long drive from any large population centers. I do believe that for soaring to grow, it needs to be more exciting (for the newbie) and cheaper. Todd 3S |
#8
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Attracting the kids
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#9
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Attracting the kids
"toad" wrote in message ups.com... Guys, I live in the Northeast US. To do my personal training at a location that far away, I would need a commercial type operation where I could do an intensive course. If you know of any that do that, please post specific names. The land required is the biggest problem here in the east. Land is too expensive and too crowded to get a 5000ft piece of land bought and turned into an airport. Unless you are a long drive from any large population centers. I do believe that for soaring to grow, it needs to be more exciting (for the newbie) and cheaper. Todd 3S I think one of the overlooked possibilities for winch sites is underutilized GA airports. I'm seeing and hearing that single engine GA traffic is WAY down everywhere. Paying $300 to fill your Cessna's tanks will do that. Out-of-the-way farm town airports are ghost towns. The EAA Airventure attendance was down 100,000 compared to last year and many who attended drove instead of flying. Several clubs operate their winches on GA airports with no conflicts at all. Bill Daniels |
#10
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Attracting the kids
On Aug 15, 3:55 pm, "Bill Daniels" bildan@comcast-dot-net wrote:
Let me get this strait, youth is very underrepresented and pilot numbers are crashing globally and you want to be choosy? Any kid that wants to fly gliders needs to be encouraged as much as possible, bling or no bling. Spot on. Kids, even more than adults, will know the difference between a 2-33 and anything else. They will want to impress their friends that they are flying a 'cool' glider. 2-33's are VERY uncool. One point of reference. My daughter's first experience was an aerotow in a DG500 on a cloudless windless November morning. She enjoyed it. That afternoon we went to the neighbouring club (only 10 km away just to see what that was like. To our pleasant surprise (no bookings, arrived at 3pm) they winched her up in a K13. That experience hooked her. Last weekend she told me she rather likes the K13s because she can see their innards - there's no "hidden magic". The coolness is that she is flying an aircraft; some classmates still have difficulty believing it! Her friends wouldn't know (or care about) the difference between a DG1000 and a T21. Another point of reference. The K13s benefits do have to be "explained" to adult trial flighters and potential members; the DG505 doesn't have that image problem. The club is solving that by ordering a couple of PW-6Us to replace a couple of the K13s. Make of that what you will. The runway is 1500m, the record winch launch is 2800', a K13 gets 1500' in still air and 2000' with a "decent" headwind. Crosswinds reduce the launch height of course, but 1500' is still normal. tom gardner |
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