Every time you make the winches stronger and the line heavier you FORCE people to move to stronger, more expensive planes which takes this hobby further and further from the sport flyer. NO one forces Americans to do anything. A big part of our deal is that we get to 'chose' what we do and buy. Ed mentioned that 'you' force people....I wondering who he means. Does he mean Joe Rod, or maybe Dave H, or maybe that sneaky Darwin is forcing poor sensitive American pilots to buy expensive planes.
When a new ship comes out that turns my fancy, come January I get off my butt and head out in the evening to cut my neighbors lawns in North Dakota, or shovel driveways in Orlando to EARN the extra cash. The money doesn't fall from trees here in Louisville, when we want something extra, we have to get an extra job to earn it. I was on a train a while back and there was this guy who was loud and a real authority about winches and launch technique...(I happen to know that he only flys wood and electrics but the assumption was that he spoke from experience...so the rest of us should take his advice to heart.) One of the season sailplaners, a good ole guy still actively flying contests all over the country, stopped him and said,"Once there was a little bird, he was perched on a wire above a farm field, it was a deadly cold and icy nite, and as morning approached he was nearly dead. As the sun came up the farmer let his cows out to graze, and as they passed by they pooped. The little bird managed to fly down to one of the piles and began eating the warm, undigested grains. After a short while the sun was warming the air and the little bird, filled with the warm grain felt strong and optimistic. So he flew up to the highest wire and began to sing at the top of his lungs....and a hawk flew down and ate him. The ole guy just stopped talking. The 'authority' said what the hell does that have to do with launch limiters and broken lines? The ole sailplaner just looked up at him and said, Well the story doesn't have anything to do with that topic but the moral does....when you are full of shit, keep your mouth shut. :-) No one forces us to do the hobby, fly contests or buy sailplanes. We don't want, buy and fly bigger more capable planes in order to win a piece of wood, we do it because its more fun to fly big planes. And fun is why we do the hobby. So if you authorities out there have a problem competing against big expensive molded ships, then likely your issues are about self esteem, not wing span. You won't win with any span, that takes practice, study and talent...and by the way, you can not be 'beaten' by some one with a huge wing span plane in any soaring contest currently flown in the world. You can only do the task precisely or not. Its YOUR score that puts you in position on the board, not some one else's ;-). Gordy Lets see I fly more often, more places with more guys and have never ever bought a new plane because winches were stronger...or lines more reliable. **************************************See AOL's top rated recipes (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)
