I have a problem with ever converting to GA or RA-Aus as they don't fly gliders. I'm in a gliding club for that reason. I had a PPL but only used it for towing ( one of those dumb volunteers I know) but don't have the time or money to maintain it.
I enjoyed your post Erich and was suitable insulted as a current GFA volunteer[đ]. I do wonder who we are trying to attract and how these ideas of spending vast amount in marketing are going to keep the price down. Unless we are planning to become a bunch of elitist pilots IMHO we need to encourage the average person in to the sport and that in my eyes meaning keeping the price down so possibly some one with a wife ,husband, girlfriend, boyfriend, cat , dog, family and mortgage can still afford it. (politically correct I hope). The wealthier end of market will probably just buy their own self launcher anyway, but can still be great club members. The people I have introduced that where keen only had one issue and that was the amount of spare income they had to play with. All loved it and couldn't tell the difference between a flying a 40 grand twin or a much more expensive duo. Even flew some in the T53 and a Blanik and all had a great time so maybe you don't need to learn to drive in the Ferrari as some people I have dealt with would have you believe. The club environment/structure is set up for looking after members as opposed to turning the whole sport commercial. Nothing against commercial operations and I wish them all the best but many have tried before and unless you can afford to be a private owner/ motorglider where do you go after learning to fly. A club I assume. I don't see anybody addressing the non owner club population or the more remote clubs in these solutions. I doubt the guys in my state at Townsville, Bundy, Central Qld, Gympie will want to travel to some commercial /super club to do their gliding so I wont be surprised if the smaller clubs are more resilient than some think. Maybe spend some marketing money there except I think a some of the punters hope they die out. As for the ex members who have left the sport ( and still trying to run it or criticize it) maybe you need to find a club that suits you and try it again. The GFA may not be perfect but has a lot of average members trying their best in their spare time as well. But then my love of gliding prevents me from leaving so maybe im blind to the imperfections. Looking forward to gliding this weekend, and for the others I hope you enjoy what ever form of aviation you have chosen. Laurie ________________________________ From: Stuart Wolf <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, 3 February 2017 5:42 AM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] MEMBERSHIP AND A WORLD REVIEW It would be interesting to get a survey to that effect. I have found that with the people I have tried to recruit. Those who show an interest see it as a high performance sport. Aside from the sporting aspect, what does gliding hope to offer a new member? Cheap flying? Prices are compatible to RA-Aus. Convenient flying? No matter about procedural changes at the club level powered will always have the upper hand. Professional opportunities? Again, RA aus can be converted to GA and commercial much easier Cost of ownership? I have much more options in Ra Australia, especially at the lower end of the market. Instead of trying to copy RA aus's attraction (on which gliding will always be on the back foot) we should be chasing the people who want what Ra Aus doesnt offer. I've found that sharing tasks and talking about performance of people at comps has attracted more follow up and continuing engagement on the topic than the flying aspect. The people who I have got interested in the flying have moved on to RA Aus for the exact reasons I've stated On Friday, February 3, 2017, Matthew Scutter <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Regarding the competition pilot vs. non-competition pilot debate, I don't think I've met a junior that hasn't been, or doesn't want to go to Joeyglide. Perhaps in the broader population competition pilots are under represented, but amongst younger pilots (fresh blood) it seems to swing the other way. On 3 Feb 2017 2:56 PM, "Greg Wilson" <[email protected]> wrote: In an attempt to get a worthwhile discussion get back on track. Not my ideas but a brief summary of this conversation so far. Perceived problems: GFA administration Overly focused on competition carried out by a tiny minority of pilots Resistant to change Minimum required to deal with CASA Clubs Membership declining Training Volunteer based - not providing scheduled and efficient training expected by younger people Instructors need to be paid Pilots Very few given L2 independent ops so vast majority permanently operating under supervision of instructors Gliding responsibility needs to be in the hands of the pilot, not club or CFI Aging pilots Aircraft Many aging gliders many out of service yet still on register Solutions?? Greg Wilson ---- On Thu, 02 Feb 2017 21:40:18 +1100 Robert Izatt<[email protected]> wrote ---- Not entirely true. Many have indicated a direction. Your problem is, for 1 through 4 you have to have willingness and co-operation from the clubs and the management skills at the club level. Most members of a club want to enjoy the activity without having to run a business. You need special or stupid people who are happy to devote countless hours to this when really the club (or some members) doesnât want to deal with all the hassles of larger numbers, less access to equipment (glider/tug), bigger queues at the flight line etc etc etc. I have been there. And thatâs their right and good luck to them. On 2 Feb. 2017, at 11:11 am, Peter Carey <[email protected]> wrote: This has been a very deep and meaningful discussion and, to me, it was enlightening and educational. Most of the contributions were well thought out and clearly expressed. My only problem is that the conversation was confined to defining the problem and, what we should be concentrating is a solution. We have done the talk, now, let's try to do the walk. I am new to the game (been gliding for 40 years) and a bloody foreigner (living here for 60 years) so, you have to forgive me if I am on the wrong path. We won't be able to solve the membership decline issue with volunteer, amateur way so, we need to look for an alternative and here is one of many. For years the GFA has been sitting on well over a million dollars. I suggest that we spend half of it on professional planning and marketing. We would get an organization to 1. Draw up a business plan for the GFA and for the Clubs (one each for large, medium and small Clubs) 2. Draw up a plan and budget for effective publicity and social media campaign. 3. Oversee the implementation of the above. 4. The implementation should be carried out by the staff employed by the GFA. This is my crude attempt to invite praise, abuse and expansion to the above. âBeside the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone.â â lin yu tang<http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14586136.lin_yu_tang> Peter Carey On Thu, Feb 2, 2017 at 10:12 AM, Erich Wittstock <[email protected]> wrote: ..ahh..the sweet sound of jealousy! ;-) On Thu, Feb 2, 2017 at 10:10 AM, Mark Newton <[email protected]> wrote: On 2 Feb 2017, at 9:24 AM, [email protected] wrote: > If we assume it is only age related, the register shows that the cut off year > for the 600 oldest gliders is 1978. So all that "old low performance stuff" > would include all the LS1s, Cirrus, Libelles, Mosquitos, Astir CS/CS77s and > Hornets and some of the Jantars, PIK20s, ASW20s and LS3s. The ASH-25 first flew in 1987. That makes it a 30 year old aircraft. Wonât be too long before itâs classified as a vintage sailplane :-) - mark _______________________________________________ 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 -- PETER CAREY Executive Member The Victorian Vernier Society The Society for People with a Passion for Manufacturing 'sharing experience - building a better future' www.vernier.org.au<http://www.vernier.org.au/> 0412464340<tel:0412%20464%20340> _______________________________________________ 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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