Re: [aus-soaring] Fwd: Winners - 3rd FAI World Junior Gliding Championship

[Geoff Vincent]

Adam,

Well said.  If anything is going to bring gliding clubs unstuck it is this mindset amongst the older fraternity of instructors that they can let go the reins once a student pilot has demonstrated solo capability.  Very little, if any, training or mentoring seems to be provided by most clubs to turn glider pilots into soaring pilots.  I soloed at 61 in 2001, I'm not an OFTTH and took to X-C like a duck to water.  My dream is to help mentor less experienced pilots so that they can enjoy the same X-C buzz as I get each time I get away from the field.  I don't have the patience or desire to become an instructor but know that I, and people like me, have a part to play in making sure that emerging X-C pilots get the opportunity to achieve maximum enjoyment and satisfaction from their flying.

Geoff Vincent
Mangalore Gliding Club
PIK 20B  GAX

At 03:53 PM 24/07/03 +1000, you wrote:
>G'day All,
>
>Please find the article I wrote on the 23/07/03 [Aus-Soaring] The Junior
>Movement and Goals!
>
>I wrote this e-mail to to let you all know what the juniors are up to in
>Australia, and to show you all what were doing to try and improve the junior
>movement and to increase the members!
>
>I also forgot to write down that we have now got our own unique webgroup,
>open to all under twenty-six year olds to discuss anything and everything
>about junior soaring and the way we want to see it run! We have now got a
>total of 35 known juniors from all states and the list is growing!
>
>I looked at how our training has been done at a number of clubs and it seems
>that the students are bought up to "just go solo", and there then left to
>find out what else there is in our magnificent sport! I heard someone say
>that "When I went solo, I used to just hang around the airfied saying to
>myself "there must be more to this sport than just this" and then stumbled
>into the XC side of things" - Can we have a club mentor @ each club to show
>the different paths students can take?
>
>I can remember when I was doing my training, a couple of instructors used to
>take me on short XC's, one going over 100km in a Blanik! I always had
>intentions of going XC because of my background! but why not cover some XC
>as a part of the students training, and bring them up to get their to Silver
>C , then try and let them make up their own mind whether to continue or head
>off!
>
>Safe Landings
>Adam Woolley, 19
>CQGC
>
>_________________________________________________________________
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