<>See http://www.glidingmagazine.com/FeatureArticle.asp?id=485 for the NZ article titled "Membership: It’s not a pretty picture".It may however be totally accurate - for here - as well as for New Zealand. That's the scary thing about writing out a blank cheque for a group of consultants, as some are advocating. Some 100+K$ later they will almost certainly come up with the conclusion that gliding doesn't really interest, much less excite the general population, and that other "competing" pastimes come easier and/or cheaper. We already know that, and it hasn't cost us anything (in monetary terms). One of the things that the combined magazine should have taught us is that gliding is pricing itself out of the sporting aviation scene, or at least putting itself at the higher end of the options. Compare the prices in the hang gliding classifieds with those of our kind, and you soon get a picture of the relative costs of the equipment. Furthermore, the price of the basic equipment sets the base line for the cost of the complete operation. The simply fact is that a K-21 costs more that (say) a Jabiru, and if you want to put an engine in the K-21 - surely the only way to really set up even a basic training regime for the "Satisfaction Now!!" generation - it gets even worse. There isn't really much we can do about that. I don't particularly like to see this in print myself, but all the publicity, promotion and research doesn't change the basic facts of the equation. Gliding these days is expensive; it also takes time, effort and a certain dedication to 'make it'. Only an enthusiast is going to see it through - even to solo stage - much less to go on to greater things. Most people will make easier and cheaper choices - no matter what we do, and how many consultants we hire, and what they tell us. Of course we still promote the sport we love, and we need to do so with the same enthusiasm and passion we show in our inner circle here. Terry Cubley and the others who are working in this area are doing well, and should be supported with ideas and action. However we need to keep our expectations and ambitions within the parameters of our product. Almost everyone I speak to about gliding expresses the wish to "go for a flight sometime". However I just know that even if they do - and I give every encouragement for them to go to their nearest club and give it a try - that they probably won't be seized with the elusive addiction that keeps the rest of us going over the years and even decades. That's just how it is. Now standing well clear of the fan ..... Terry |
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