Hi Patrick, Where are you working, are you anywhere near Holister where I did some flying? Also Truckee is probably a great place to check out
/daveb |"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground, and....miss." | --- Ford Prefect | Dave Boulter ---------- Original Message ----------- From: "Patrick Barfield" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.'" <aus- [EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 21:47:57 -0600 Subject: [Aus-soaring] Commercial gliding operations / airsickness > I'm just catching up on a few older topics. I'll attempt to answer a > question: > > SNIP -It's all very well to want a commercial operation to fit in > with the time pressures you have Mark, but how much would you be > willing to pay for that convenience? - SNIP > > I have flown at two commercial gliding operations in the USA. Years > ago I flew at Caracole Soaring in California > (http://www.caracolesoaring.com/) and I currently fly at Southwest > Soaring in Caddo Mills Texas > (http://www.southwestsoaring.com/). Both web sites list their rates > and, as a note of comparison, there is a club slightly closer to me > (http://www.texassoaring.org <http://www.texassoaring.org/> ) so you > can see how much extra people pay for the convenience. > > You obviously pay more for aerotows and hourly charges than a club situation > but that is offset by not having to pay an annual membership fee. > The extra convenience is important to me since I have a 90 mile > drive to Caddo Mills which would make for an extremely long day if I > had to help get things ready in the morning and stay until the > equipment was safely packed away at the end of the day. You book a > time slot, turn up, the glider is ready to go, go flying and leave > the glider for somebody to put away. You only pay for the launch and > flying time so even if the weather is unsuitable for flying, you > don't have to pay anything. To be perfectly honest, I don't see how > Southwest Soaring makes a profit because their utilisation seems > fairly low for the prices they charge and the money they have > invested in their fleet. > > As a convenient alternative, I think that microturbine powered > trainers may revolutionise gliding training. If you had something > like this Blanik > (http://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/dg1000t-e.html#Jet-Propulsion), you > could book a training time despite lack of lift and not require many > crew to look after the operation. I don't know how much the > modification and fuel costs would be, but I am interested in doing > this when I return to Australia next year so I would appreciate any > information that people can offer. As a suggestion to improve the > fuel efficiency of the microturbine, has anybody developed a > microturbofan that would be more efficient at lower speeds? > > For the airsickness topic, since some people mentioned specific > medications, I know some people that have taken a drug STUGERON for > flying and boating and swear by them as they supposedly don't make > you drowsy. I believe that they aren't available in Australia but > there are over the counter medications in the UK. I am not a medical > expert so if any pharmacists or doctors know more about this drug > and any possible dangers for flying, please enlighten us. > > Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to everybody on the list, > > Patrick Barfield > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.13.8/184 - Release Date: 27/11/2005 ------- End of Original Message ------- _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
