At 01:36 PM 22/10/2008, you wrote:
But Mike, in the land of the free, where they do everything you espouse,
they are suffering from a declining gliding population too, so your
proposals do not address the issues either.
Last I heard the SSA had increased its membership(it is purely
voluntary as there is no legal coercion to join). Their magazine
seems vastly improved and since the arrest of the last bent SSA
official, morale seems high.
My contacts tell me that there is increased interest in soaring as
fuel costs have gone up. It is much easier for power pilots to
transition to gliders as the licence structure is the same (and I've
never heard a word from anyone in the USA suggesting the SSA go to
the Australian/British/NZ self administration model).
On a per capita basis soaring has never been as popular as power
flying in the US compared to elsewhere probably because of the
previous easy accessibility and relatively low cost of power flying
in the US. I suspect that much the same holds here as you only need
to look at the rapidly growing recreational sector here. Most seem to
want to just get off the ground. They don't care if there's an engine
out front but my point is that for those who do want to fly gliders,
better, faster training will get them there quicker and more likely
retain them even if much of it isn't done in sailplanes. This has the
potential to take the training load off the club scene which
currently is a vast effort and expense for essentially little to no
gain. Just don't expect people who have had the freedoms of a PPL or
RAAus certificate to be impressed by the GFA nanny state.
If you've got a better plan let's hear it. The "floggings will
continue until morale improves" isn't a plan.
Mike
Borgelt Instruments - manufacturers of quality soaring instruments
phone Int'l + 61 746 355784
fax Int'l + 61 746 358796
cellphone Int'l + 61 428 355784
Int'l + 61 429 355784
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
website: www.borgeltinstruments.com
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