Hi
All,
All the reasons for dropouts are coming thru loud and clear on
this list: ATTITUDE
The present badge system post C certificate, is aimed only at x/c flying so has virtually no relevance to the fun flyer. As we ignore their preferences they leave.
There
seems to be in Gliding a distinct domination by those who prefer
contest/x/c flying-particularly in the management structure.
I
suspect there are probaby lots of people who WOULD simply enjoy the
challenge of staying up and floating around near the airfield and sight
seeing
These people I suspect leave after solo when the mentally
taxing and stressful nature of x/c flying is presented to them as the only
option and they are made to feel inadequate (In a subtle manner)if they do
not start down that path.
Some
just may not feel that 4-5 hours in a cramped, hot and often uncomfortable
cockpit, with a very high concentration level not exactly relaxing and fun,
strange really eh?
I
have often said that I only enjoy x/c after the flight is over myself,
frequently, much to my surprise, finding others feel the same
way.
There is
a constant subtle pressure that one is expected to perform x/c after solo, and
that one is a lesser pilot if one does not see x/c as the be all and end all of
a glider pilot. I have seen this happen at my own club recently a fellow pilot,
who is not interested in going away from the airfield, is frequently
encouraged to so, despite his clearly stated lack of
interest.
As I
personally have not seen the kind of student of which Emilis writes in my 3
phases of flight training at 3 clubs with many different other students, I
wonder if there is not some portion of the pilots whom he talks about who are
justified in their statements. This is a recurring theme in Emilis writing and
only Emilis's over the years, that makes me wonder if it is the student
or the instructor that is the issue. I personally could not wait to get out of
the old clapped out , 30 year old 2 seater and into an pleasant aircraft to fly.
And what is wrong with wanting to go
solo as soon as possible, if safe? Learning thermalling by myself after
solo gave me an excellent feeling of an accomplishment of my own, defining
part of my flying as my own, as did going cross country the first time
and developing my
own method.
Another
point, more applicable to SA is the fact that the 2 main aerotow clubs have old
nearly hour expired trainers that are NOT pleasant to fly.(Twin Atirs with
10000+ hours!). I wonder if the dropouts happen after the first single seat
flight or before?
In all honesty, out of probably 20 instructors I have had
only 20% who managed to make me feel relaxed, and enjoy the process of
training subsequently, this alone is probably part of the issue. Some have
damaged my confidence so much in one flight it has taken several weeks to return
to its normal level. How many never come back?
If we do not get rid of the
X/C is everything attitude, gliding will continue in its decline and
eventually die. My 16 yo son put it best I reckon, he said to me that by the
sound of things gliding has been "Flying straight in sink for more than 20
years", and if it doesn't change course soon there will be a final
outlanding.
The most
telling post is Leigh's rant comparing cardboard wine etc to peoples
attitude to gliding. He talks of peolpe sampling then moving on, well yes of
course, the point being that if the sample does not deliver the goods then they
will move on. Most interesting is the denigration of those who do not make
the same expensive choices as the poster "Readers Digest Life" indeed!(Sorry
Leigh). Personally I like the immersive approach to gliding but that does not
mean I expect everyone to want or need such a large time
commitment..
I
suspect that an immersive involvement has a 5 to 1 ratio of flying to actual
atendance time, ie 5 hours on site for one hours flying.(Try adding up your own
figuer for this!)
To sum
up I feel that unless we can accept that some folks want different goals than
x/c we will continue to lose these precious trainees.
What is
often overlooked is that at a later date some peolple will, and do return
when their lifestyle/financial position improves. Perhaps we should
concentrate more resources on getting some of the departed back, rather than
getting more new recruits.
As a list member has often said of people, " You can tell 'em, but you can't give 'em the f.....g brains to think with."
How appropriate!
PS I have had 6 goes at writing this and still am not totally convinced I have made clear what im trying to say, but I had to post this as is because of time constraints.
Computer Manager
Elizabeth Primary
School
Elizabeth East Prinary
School
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Emilis Prelgauskas
Sent: Saturday, 18 February 2006 9:22 AM
To: [email protected]; 'Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.'; [email protected]; 'Tom Wilksch'
Subject: RE: [Aus-soaring] Soaring trainingOn Fri, 17 Feb 2006 19:04:27 +1100, Matthew Gage wrote:>Does it really matter if someone takes 2 hours longer to get solo>than they could have if it means they have experienced more of what>is available in the process ?There is indeed a portion of the customer base who do wish to solo as quickly as possibleand accuse the instructors of all sorts of personal agendas when they don't.Their goal is to get away from a 2 seater as quickly as possible and permanently.These people just know everything about the sport, and their inability to soar is put down to the inadequacies of committee, site, club, fleet, launch, weather...On the other end of the spectrum, there is scope to introduce low hour pilots to the real payoffs in having the experience, skill, will to squeeze all the potential out of the available list above.The tension between the two is to find the right level for the individual pilot.
_______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
