DMcD wrote:
> Glider pilots in general have a terrific ability to be sucked down the
> technology tunnel and miss why we go gliding in the first place. To
> have FUN!
> So does it matter if you are not flying the latest 60:1 carbon fibre
> glider? Obviously not, or the average age of gliders in this country
> would be younger than 25 years and nobody would fly Libelles and
> Cirruses. Personally, the most fun I have had this year was in a T31
> with my head in the air.
With all due respect, if I showed a T31 to a new entrant to the sport,
they'd be in their car and back on the highway home faster than you can
say, "termite." (lets face it, if that new member was coming over
from PG, why would he be impressed by a sailplane that doesn't perform
any better than the rigid weightshift rolled up on his roofrack? :-)
If you've been attracted to the sport because it's a bit extreme,
and because promotional videos have pulled you in with 250km/h
beatups along visually spectacular alpine ridges, then I'd suggest
that aspiring to anything less than the aforementioned 60:1 beast
is completely out of the question.
If gliding is going to promote itself to new members in that manner
(and the pulling power of the UK's "Smokin'" videos seem to suggest
that it is), then it has to make damn sure that it can deliver the
promised outcome. Otherwise it'll just attract people who start
training, continue it for long enough to work out that it won't
give them what they're looking for, and leave.
(The HG, PG and UL people worked this out years ago, which is probably
why they've been growing and we haven't)
- mark
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I tried an internal modem, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
but it hurt when I walked. Mark Newton
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