Funny thing is not all clubs are declining, our club has its membership over the last 12 months increase by 10%, I know Boonah, Kingaroy and DDSC are on the rise as well. One contributing factor has been the increase in XC courses, weekend training in X/C and the fact that on the downs given any weekend we all fly set tasks - every weekend!
Maybe we should move the GFA to the true gliding hub of Activity - Queensland! Another note, the AAFC up here are doing a tremendous job at introducing and training cadets, every 2nd or 3rd Sunday at Warwick a bunch turn up for ab initio flights (I towed 30 on that Sunday until we ran out of light) and 3 or 4 weeks a year they hold training camps at Warwick, all over subscribed! And 2 weekends ago we had over 60 cadets attend a 2 day event at Amberley aimed purely at getting all the cadets a fly in either a glider, motor glider or tomahawk - hugely successful. I do agree however the training system needs an overhaul in that we need to change our way of thinking to the 21st century, but the real downer will be the cost of getting to an airfield and paying for an aerotow - all about to increase significantly. Cheers Nig **************DISCLAIMER************ The information contained in the above e-mail message or messages (which includes any attachments) is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended only for the use of the person or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the addressee any form of disclosure, copying, modification, distribution or any action taken or omitted in reliance on the information is unauthorised. If you received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your computer system network. _____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of DMcD Sent: Wednesday, 28 May 2008 1:03 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] GFA,marketing and democracy in the GFA (was Re: PDA Programs and othermatters) All positive suggestions welcomed! Jenny Sailplane glding as a sport (in Australia) is clearly doomed. The falling rate of membership and participation (which is a lot less than the membership) means that the membership of many clubs will fall below a level which can be sustained. So, I am sorry JR, unless you have a self-launcher and don't want to fly comps, this is deadly serious. The membership and participation rates in ALL sports is falling. The membership numbers of hang gliding clubs is also dropping, but you don't hear HGFA members constantly moaning about this. Why? With a hang glider or a paraglider, a pilot can turn up at almost any hill-top with their car and glider, rig-up single handed and launch. Compared with other forms of gliding, flying sailplanes is hugely demanding in terms of capital assets such as airstips, tugs, hangars, winches, club-houses and so on. If the membership of a club gets below a critical level, it will implode. I can't offer any quick fixes. I honestly know nothing. So here are some opinions, not all of them mine, many of which may attract flames. And sorry for those with short attention spans, it is a bit long. Anyway, here goes... If I was 20 and wanting to glide, I would not choose to go gliding in a sailplane. Paragliders and hang gliders are more exciting, more glamorous, and far less restricted. After a few hours of tuition, most of which are solo, I can get my own glider and fly by myself. That is, I can take responsibility for my own safety and airmanship. Many hang glider pilots flew solo ab-initio. In any case the exams and tests for pilots are far, far less than with sailplanes. At most sites there are no safety officers to prevent people flying. The tests for aircraft are zero. No annual inspections. No hourly rating. No log books. There are many more of them than there are of us. For the last two years, the safety record of sailplanes is worse than that of either HG or PG operations. Maybe the sailplane movement has to take more risks. With an HG or a PG, I can turn up at a beach site, rig up and fly and land back at the beach. where the girls are. For a few thousand dollars, I can buy a complete set of kit, including helmet, harness and vario. Yes, it may not be new, but it would have been manufactured before I was born. Or before my parents were born. All gliders over 30 years old should be put in museums, a all Blanics scrapped. Having your airstrip look like a used car lot is bad for business. With a sailplane, we live some monk-like existence at some remote fly-blown strip. No girls. Most of the young pilots who I have talked to after going solo in a sailplane would say something like " yeah, it's OK but I would rather go surfing with my mates." It's my personal belief that there is not much point in focussing on trying to retain younger members unless a lot of these factors are addressed. So what about retaining new pilots? (I have not been flying sailplanes long. I have only about 150 hours in the last 18 months. Many of the opinions below are from people I trained with and do not in the main reflect the performance of the club I belong to.) It's all down to club level. It is the survival of clubs which is at stake, so many of the hard yards have to be done by club members. 90% of the problem with retaining low airtime pilots is that they are not hooked on the sport. Before pilots can become active club members, they must become addicts. Clubs must find a way to make gliding FUN for the new pilot, instead of a hard and lonely slog to get hours and experience up local soaring while the the senior boys are off doing 750 kms. My most memorable flight when training was when I was doing some remedial flying after losing the plot. An hour or two wandering about under a black storm front which did not appear like training at all. Clubs must provide something for nothing. A student can get all the way to solo without ever finding out why sailplanes are fun. At some time in the training process, the instructor should stop the clock take the student off for a fly when the conditions are good and just fly for fun. Show the student the Why instead of the How. Clubs must have some mentoring system for new pilots. Some pilot who is prepared to take up the new pilot in a two seater without it looking like another test. Ask the new pilot who they would like as a mentor (from a short list if necessary). Put the new pilot in the back seat for a change. With the mentor paying. For what seems like years, the new pilot is going to be flying aircraft which are too slow to do much in the way of cross country follow the leader stuff, but IMHO, that is a big problem. The anus clenching adventure of X-C soaring is going to be just too much for some new pilots, and they are going to need help to get beyond local soaring. Clubs must be prepared to take a few more risks with the club gliders. This does not appeal to me either, but for many people coming from HG, PG, RAA or Trike flying, the level of control at the average gliding club is far too conservative. Clubs must understand that new pilots want to fly. Don't even think of getting the new pilot (especially the younger ones) to run out the winch wire or mow the grass or launching air experience flights. Get them up in the air while the rest of us do the work. Yes we all did this back in 1935 in our lederhosen but the world has changed and young pilots now are different). Clubs must understand that many pilots, especially from the city, especially the younger ones, have to work very hard to get their few hours or days at the club. Every effort has to be made to make these hours productive. People are used to booking something, turning up and doing it and paying for it. Many moan like hell when they have to wait around for a turn at the stick when training. Always make training the priority over joy-flights. If this does not sound like an appetising prospect for clubs, then their membership numbers will fall, costs rise and they will eventually fail. Regulating the sport. The costs of ownership of a glider must be reduced. A glance at WIDOLA (World Directory of Leisure Aviation) will show that there are a great number of low-cost to cheap ultralight gliders around. The GFA must embrace these! Since most are self launching, if the GFA does not actively encourage these gliders, then the people who buy them will become members of the RAA. The Canadians have just brought in a system of owner-maintained aircraft where a certified aircraft can be owner maintained. Many or most gliders and tugs appear to fall into this category. As their CASA points out, the accident rate for ultralight aircraft is no higher than with certified aircraft and people are naturally disposed towards self preservation. It is very unlikely that the average privately owned glider, doing the hours and landings they do, requires to be inspected every year for a form 2. We regulate our own sport. Let us change our regulations. However, the onus has to be on pilots. People must be allowed to take risks! Most sailplane pilots would see HG and PG as risky, though the statistics do not bear this out. Would that I had a solution, but as Mao said, the march of a thousand days begins with a single step. D McD
_______________________________________________ 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
