Not the most significant, and they apply mostly to competition, but:

1. Turnpoint verification: I caught the tail end of "fly to the TP and draw a picture of the white panels set up on the ground by TP team". We took to Instamatic cameras OK around 1970 but the transition to 35 mm was rocky as the first mandate was for clock cameras, the clock feature of which was hardly ever used. Then GPS.

2. Tasking: I also caught the tail end of open-ended distance tasks. I never flew free distance but I did have several "fixed course back to the start and then distance on a leg extending through a point" tasks. Then cat's cradle and variations thereof. Somewhere in there was a brief fling with out-and-return-with-multiple-turnpoint-options, an attempt to prevent losing a day when the only T-storm in the sky parked right over the only TP on the task. That opened the door to POST. Then GPS brought us into the current era of AST, AAT, and MAT tasks. Whenever there's clamoring to go 100% AST, I think back to days when, if only we had picked that TP 10 miles away instead of this TP, we wouldn't have lost the day entirely.

3. Number of classes: The introduction of a Standard Class Nationals was revolutionary compared with run-what-ya-brung "Open Class" where a nationals could have long-wing fiberglass ships flying with everything down to and including the occasional 1-26. 15 Meter followed in 1976 and started to splinter the contest group. Now, I can't keep track of how many classes we have but rest assured that if you don't mind flying a "nationals" with 8 or 9 other pilots, there's a class that's perfect for you.

4. Launch times: I flew a bunch of contests with pilot-selected takeoff. Pilots chose their takeoff times each morning based on our assessment of the weather at approx. 10 AM. When your launch time came, you launched or dropped back to an open slot or the end, regardless of the wx. Yes, I've seen an entire field launched into an overcast sky just because it was time, and no one wanted to take a chance on missing something. Designated launch (a rotating launch order triggered by report from a sniffer) didn't come around until, IIRC, the late 1970s.

5. Start gates: I actually liked the conventional start gate with a high-speed plunge across the 3,300' line but it's definitely less stressful with a higher start cylinder.

6. Finishing: I also like finish lines and low passes but cylinders with floors are a bit less stressful. And less demanding: gone are the days when I spent an hour on the practice day plotting landable fields in the last few miles from every direction in case of a low final glide.

7. Weather forecasts: yeah, forecasters got it right some of the time back then and today's experts sometimes miss, but there's no comparison. QV, P3, FS, and others have a lot more and better data to work with and know how to use it.

8. And, yes, I miss not knowing how you're doing each day until the computer cranks out the actual mileages and speeds. In the old days of ASTs, cameras, and start/finish lines, when you encountered a competitor on course, you usually knew when they started and, hence, whether you had been caught (gloom) or had overtaken him/her (yes!). And I occasionally had the thrill of being greeted by my wife--who, like every good crew, kept a log of all gate times--when I opened the canopy with "and here's a kiss for the winner". Crews often knew before their pilots landed who had fastest time (equivalent to fastest speed back then because we all flew the same course distance).

9. U.S. Team selection: In the past, the Category One pilots ranked each other via a mailed-in ballot to determine the Team. There were consistent rumors of block voting, reciprocity agreements, etc., so everyone seemed happy to move to a strictly numerical-grading selection. Recently that's been tweaked to allow for some subjectivity. Check back in 5-10 years for the latest.

10. I'll get some pushback on this last one but it's my impression that we're less eager/willing to send pilots out on a task with a high probability of landouts. I don't disagree with that, for reasons ranging from lack of crew to the risks to more expensive gliders. But with the exception of days that turn sour part way around the course, I just feel like we spend less time flying in marginal XC conditions, which doubtless has some impact on our team when they arrive at the WGC and are expected to fly unless it's raining heavily.

I also recall the first televised U.S. presidential debate and the days when we all voted on the same day. But despite what 2G says elsewhere, those aren't relevant to soaring.

(yawn)
Chip Bearden
JB