On 12/14/05, Graeme Cant <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I really don't care whether gliding in Australia is growing, shrinking or > tying itself in knots. I would like MY OWN CLUB to continue in existence > and it seems to be doing that very nicely, with relatively stable numbers - > perhaps slightly increasing. I've introduced a few friends to gliding and > every now and then other members do and the club chugs along nicely.
Not trying to be offensive but it seems a bit short-sighted point of view to me. "Gliding" is an eco-system which has many parameters contributing and depending on it - mostly pilots but also menufacturers, state authorities and other resources necessary to sustain it. If all the other clubs in the world (or even only in Australia) shut down tommorow I'm pretty sure that your club won't survive for long by itself, would it? I'd even say that you would find it much more expensive or maybe impossible to get your own private motor-glider because it's possible that glider-makers will not survive (and I that's the point the guy from DG is trying to make in the article pointed to before) Let me try to give a more specific example - I come from Israel where we had only ONE mechanic who was authorized to sign on CofA for gliders. When his (late) retirement aproached there was a rush to find and certify a couple new mechanics to replace him. I suspect that If the Israeli glider pilot community would have been a little smaller then it should have had a problem to get a replacement. The point I'm trying to make is that there must be a minimal "critical mass" to sustain such an eco-system and if you don't try to marsh forward in increasing its size then you won't stand still but will actually fall behind (the "leaking bucket" analogy is good here). > I don't care if gliding becomes more popular. It appears it was much more > popular in the late 70s but since it has shrunk from then, that popularity > clearly didn't translate into a better gliding experience for many of the > members - because they left. Or as was already suggested in the current thread - people who might be interested in gliding were not exposed to it enough. > It seems to me that if we all try to make sure that our own club stays a > happy, solvent organisation which provides as far as possible an affordable > and enjoyable gliding life for those who wish to be part of it, then that is I agree to that - "Think globally, act locally" etc. > the best we can do. Growth will then take care of itself. By which I mean > - it will happen if that is what makes people enjoy gliding more. And if > not, it won't. > > The only thing I can do about the state of world gliding is to help keep my > own club viable. That's all you can do too. The rest is gum-beating. Maybe, but: 1. If you would agree with me that it's better to have as many active glider pilots in the world as possible. And - 2. We can learn from experience of other clubs overseas and even cooperate with them to achieve (1) Then this kind of discussion might turn out some useful results to help your club in general and you specifically one day. > > Graeme Cant Cheers, --P _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
