On Fri, 16 Dec 2005 17:20:29 -0800, Michael Derry wrote:
>Do other people see the direction the sport is heading in ? Will it
>affect us or future generations ? Do we, or should we care ?
The range of contributors to the interrelated threads are always good to listen in to.
When contributors disagree, I suspect that they are talking about different definitions of the core term 'gliding'.
- if you want to fly at a commercial operation, fine
- if you want to fly at a large club, ok
- if you want to fly your own glider, yep
- if you want to fly at a small operation, goforit
- if you want the club to provide all the gear, easy - just show that $ + human value is there
It is likely that then you will disagree with the definition/goals/priorities of others in other categories than your own. Pity.
There seems to me instead to be an inherent strength in the diverse paths offered by such widely different approaches to gliding.
In that it permits people from the outside to look at which one of these quite different formats is the one that appeals to them specifically.
And possibly thereby attract more newcomers than would be if everyone gathered just under a single large umbrella. (a belief unsupported by any data)
In my belief there is even a place for a 'no, we don't accept members of the public at any price' option. (Such option being only accessible to established rated pilots.)
That one provides the benchmark of scarcity which put into a better context other clubs' entry point cost and accessibility conditions.
In the same way as it is desirable to have large & small clubs, amateur, volunteer and commercial, club fleets spanning the spectrum vs clubs which provide only entry level gear and encourage/facilitate private syndication.
Just as there are winch, aerotow and self launch clubs or parts of clubs.
What I haven't heard on the list, is pilots aware of which of these categories their particular club fits into, what specific marketing edge/approach this leads to, which of these categories are the currently successful clubs.
{I suspect these are the historically well established resourced ones able right now to appeal to newcomers of limited talent, funds, time and contribution to make}
(I watch with interest the tone of enquiry from public change during the conversation toward finding out about just what entry requirements they would need, to be accepted into the 'no public' club. - ie go learn to fly, get rated, then talk to us about what glider you are going to buy - )
As several clubs close to me know, I pass each and every of these enquiries onward to clubs who do do public entry points.
On the premise that the enquirer will find that club appealing, or that they want to use it as the entry point to get later to another more suited format.
Just as individual glider pilots do tend during their flying lives to move from one format to another as their available time, funds, interests change. (sometimes repositioning themselves within a club, sometimes by moving to another club)
The level of 'paying forward' similarly varies significantly in line with the differing personal definition.
Some pilots focus on the immediate needs to hand, some to those where they can see value-adding or advance, and there are even a very few who do non-core things which no one else in the sport and related organisations in their right minds can see any point to at all.
Which then leads to chat on this list about 'why doesn't he/she put that same effort into what I declare is patently much more important.'
Surprise, surprise - 'cause that person has their own view of what is most important.
My own belief is that there was more congruence of effort and more success when there was a sport-wide overarching 'vision' that happened to encapsulate lots of these individual priorities.
Each such vision appropriate to its time.
When I got into gliding, it was
'an Oz pilot, flying an Oz sailplane, winning a World Comp'.
In my estimation that got 'old' in 1974.
I'm not aware of a similar overarching theme since.
The stats tell the story of commensurate outcomes in my view.
(No, I don't have an overarching suggestion to offer for here and now)
(People who know me are aware of the fairly limited 'vision' that I trudge along after on an as-can, when-can basis).
While I'm rambling on, permit me to note that just as club success is conditioned by local population circumstance, there are similar conditioners on groups of clubs in regions.
People who travel more widely than I, tell me how different gliding is in Australia north of the grey nomad line, compared with west of the Idaho line.
In one there is no shortage of current generation equipment at significant numbers of clubs and in private hands, contest entry numbers are high, etc.
In the other, even zero-hour old generation stuff is rare and in single numbers, there are no contest venues, etc.
Expectations of survival and success I suspect are defined in quite different terms in each.
Now back to your regularly scheduled diatribes.....
_______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list Aus-soaring@lists.internode.on.net To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
