yes, times have changed. well articulated.
> On 30 Jan 2017, at 9:10 PM, James McDowall <[email protected]> wrote: > > I first came into contact with gliding in the early 1960's when my father > took up gliding to satisfy an itch dating back to the late 1940's when he > helped build a glider that ultimately ended up with the fledgling ASC. > In those days, many people would spend their weekends (or perhaps do a two > week course) sitting on the side of the airfield in all sorts of weather > waiting for the chance to do a few circuits or if they were really lucky a > soaring flight. Time wasn't an issue and no one thought too much about > spending their Saturday nights in primitive accommodation. > Fifty plus years later society has changed and flying for most is regarded in > the same as taking a bus trip. The wonder of flying has been lost on most. > Our WW2 pilots who formed the backbone of post war GA and recreational flying > are gone as is the connection with their exploits - how many kids today will > rub shoulders with a RAAF pilot, let alone one who has seen active service? > Many sports are struggling to attract newcomers - especially in country areas > which were the backbone of gliding. Tennis courts are ploughed under, > football clubs merging to stay afloat and even bowls clubs closing. > Whilst there are many reasons one only has to talk to fathers with school age > children. Their weekends are driven by activities planned around the kids. > These activities are so highly organised to be risk free and non-competitive > you really wonder if there is any long lasting benefit to anyone as their > seems to be no sense of achievement. Throw in the thuggery of social media > and non-conformance is not tolerated. Taking the kids to an airfield to sit > on the edge of an airfield all day would probably be regarded as a form of > child abuse! > But the biggest factor governing human behaviour today is TIME. Whether it is > true or not the community is convinced that it is time poor - so poor that we > cant even cook for ourselves for example. Everything we consider buying is > now presented as so many dollars per week or month - we live in pay by the > month society. This is not conducive to a discretionary spend like flying. > Add to this that there has been no real increase in wages for about a decade > there is little doubt that or many in the community who would have been > attracted to gliding fifty years ago can no longer consider it on economic > grounds alone. > Unless gliding restructures itself to reflect the time constraints of society > it will most certainly die. Unless students can make an appointment to take a > lesson for example the completion rate of students will decline. Unless > gliding aligns its independent operator rules with RA-Aus and RPL > requirements and lets motor glider operations occur beyond the club system it > will lose those people. It must embrace self launching and see any other form > of launch as ancient history. > The future of gliding requires the GFA to look into the future and at the > society around them, and recognise that the club, state association and > national association model is dead and re-model the relationship between > itself and the gliding fraternity. OR if that is too hard hand the whole lot > over to RA-Aus or ELAAA if they will have the disfunctional mess. > > >> On Mon, Jan 30, 2017 at 6:29 PM, Richard Frawley <[email protected]> wrote: >> i suggest you have a reader failure then, do try a reboot. >> >> >> >> > On 30 Jan 2017, at 6:08 PM, Mike Borgelt <[email protected]> wrote: >> > >> > My iPad sometimes tells me " this message has no content" >> > I'm surprised it didn't in this case. >> > >> > Mike >> > >> >> On 30 Jan 2017, at 2:33 PM, Richard Frawley <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> interesting, but in the end perhaps irrelevant. >> >> >> >> Analysis will show that the base driving interest that was present in the >> >> primary age group during the halcyon period no longer exists and likely >> >> never will again. There was in the people of that time an unsatisfied >> >> latent demand to express themselves through control and command that >> >> flying gave purpose to. What developed via clubs was in response to an >> >> inherent demand and limitations of that time. >> >> >> >> That core need is no longer apparent in the wider community. Flying no >> >> longer offers natural attraction but to a small number of our population, >> >> which by observation is getting smaller and smaller. As such there is no >> >> longer the need for response in the manner that was previously provided. >> >> >> >> As to what gliding will be in 20 years time will matter little in terms >> >> of what the GFA does today. As needs change and new services are required >> >> then those services will be provisioned if demand is sufficient, as that >> >> is the way of things human. >> >> >> >> As new people do cycle into GFA management on a regular basis, that is a >> >> good thing, as flexibility and adaption are likely to be the nett result >> >> which is what i observed during my 3 years on the exec. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >>> On 30 Jan 2017, at 3:50 PM, emillis prelgauskas >> >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> >> >>> Thank you all for the delightful conversation at ‘GFA negative >> >>> advertising……' >> >>> >> >>> I thought I’d start fresh, on some items that move away from that thread >> >>> above. >> >>> >> >>> It surprises me that the ‘but you are bashing the GFA’ legion didn’t >> >>> pipe up. >> >>> Perhaps it was because GFA are bashing themselves up in their Pravda >> >>> list. >> >>> >> >>> There are diverse views across the glider pilot nation about what GFA is: >> >>> - Some see GFA as being the whole of ’the sport'. >> >>> - Some see GFA as an administrative benefit or necessity to the sport >> >>> - Some (me) see this 67 year old organisation as having had its day and >> >>> now being in its own generated death throes. >> >>> >> >>> For all the reasons already enunciated by others - self destructive, >> >>> dictatorial, creating silos of irrelevant hierarchal positions which >> >>> will never be filled because there aren’t enough volunteers left, and so >> >>> on. >> >>> >> >>> The biggest hurdle for GFA is the loss within itself in its corporate >> >>> knowledge - all the current incumbents came into a fully formed sport >> >>> and try to re-imagine it in their own image without a skeric of >> >>> understanding of how things came to be. (e.g. they don’t know what ‘the >> >>> Valentine Curve’ is) >> >>> ‘Those who don’t know their history are bound to repeat it’. >> >>> >> >>> With the benefit of longevity and a curiosity to track things (yes, I am >> >>> the dude who did the quantitative measuring of successful and defunct >> >>> clubs for the whole of Australia in the 1970s) I advise - >> >>> >> >>> - In 1949 the GFA was formed to be the barrier between glider pilots and >> >>> ‘the Department’ >> >>> - where glider pilots said ‘WE are the people who know how gliders work, >> >>> they are not power planes, so we set rules appropriate to us >> >>> - helped by the proposition (a la ‘The Castle’) that the Australian >> >>> Constitution does not regulate aviation (which didn’t exist when it was >> >>> first written), hence aviation is regulated federally only by the >> >>> consensus of the aviation community >> >>> >> >>> - That original bottom up driven model of regulation of the sport by the >> >>> sport, in the best examples of participatory democracy, lasted until 1981 >> >>> - By then the sport had grown to 100 clubs, about 5000 pilots, and >> >>> enthusiasm and volunteer inputs to ‘our sport’ which got it there and >> >>> was propelling it even higher >> >>> - So GFA has never been ‘the sport’, it has always been the external >> >>> peripheral administrative element that we ‘needed to have’, and was thus >> >>> always kept as small as possible. >> >>> >> >>> - So in 1981 the world changed, yes Richard, you are right. The system >> >>> was re-written and has been re-written several more times since, by >> >>> incumbents of their day who saw a great sport, and thought re-imagining >> >>> it in their own image would both serve the sport and themselves well. >> >>> >> >>> - So gliding the sport declined to 2000 pilots in 50 or so clubs, with >> >>> the unstated direction being the demise of the small clubs (less than 20 >> >>> members), leaving commercial servicing, schools and big clubs. >> >>> >> >>> We are indeed on track in that direction. >> >>> >> >>> The barriers to achieving the goals of that objective (a more >> >>> ‘professional' sport) is that it is being pressed onto the old model of >> >>> volunteer cadre to achieve. >> >>> And people not being stupid, say things (as per the previous thread) ‘ >> >>> ‘why would I work at making my kind of gliding fail or be >> >>> inaccessible?’, and stuff like that. >> >>> >> >>> Gliding is not a franchise that GFA owns. So people choose to bale out >> >>> when the onerous impositions exceed the benefit to them, assessed >> >>> against their definition of ‘the sport’. With many then going to other >> >>> sport aviation; a barrier to hoped-for flow the other way. (Their tales >> >>> of woe unimpress aviators from other sport) >> >>> >> >>> GFA does not control gliding, despite continuous threats and >> >>> intimidation issued by it/them. Glider pilots agree to follow rules that >> >>> make sense because these keep us alive. GFA is overlaying this with >> >>> rules addressing ‘fear of litigation’ against themselves, to be shifted >> >>> onto the volunteers. >> >>> >> >>> The current conversation, either in its form today or some future time, >> >>> will result in the demise of the GFA. Glider pilots will find their own >> >>> way to fly the kind of sport each group within the sport wants. >> >>> GFA doesn’t have the budget to follow through the promotion and support >> >>> to create the sport in their image. >> >>> All the attempts so far (since 1981 to date) have thoroughly failed as >> >>> noted above, and will continue to fail. >> >>> >> >>> Pilots and clubs (particularly the small ones) are right now debating >> >>> internally what sort of sport they want. Paying lip service to ‘the >> >>> authority’ and getting on with flying safely is a reality since 1924 >> >>> (the oldest glider I have in my 2 dozen collection). >> >>> >> >>> Some pilots and clubs will decide to be ‘mucking about in boats’ style >> >>> volunteering, and will attract like minded people. >> >>> Some pilots and clubs will go ‘hire & fly’ with commercial support; and >> >>> ditto. >> >>> And all the other variants between. >> >>> And really few pilots will aspire to the GFA view of itself. >> >>> >> >>> Welcome to the real world folks. >> >>> >> >>> Emilis >> >>> (turn rant mode off) >> >>> _______________________________________________ >> >>> Aus-soaring mailing list >> >>> [email protected] >> >>> http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> Aus-soaring mailing list >> >> [email protected] >> >> http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Aus-soaring mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring >> _______________________________________________ >> Aus-soaring mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.base64.com.au/listinfo/aus-soaring
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