On Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 8:14:14 PM UTC-6, wrote:
On Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 8:06:25 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 8:21:09 AM UTC-6, wrote:
Gliding is not in decline because it has become too expensive. It is in decline because it has failed to adapt to the needs and demands of society as it is today.

"I know what I'm going to do for fun this weekend....I'll spend my Saturday hanging around with 85 year olds, pushing heavy gliders about all day and hopefully I'll get a 20 min flight in return for my efforts".

Anyone who thinks finances are NOT a factor in the decline of gliding, has their head up their a$$. It may not be the only factor, but it most definitely is a major contributor. Most successful clubs are large. With large clubs comes significantly more dues, thus padding the bottom line, and thus enabling them to operate nicer equipment. How much $ do you think that club has invested in their equipment that operates 5 tugs and 5 K21s? Where did that money come from? There is this concept of critical mass, where you need a certain number of paying members to support the success of the operation. Below that, things start to dwindle and die. I did my training at a club that had a 2-33 and a Lark. Members hated flying the Lark. The instructor did not teach XC because he had no personal experience in it, and if the 2-33 landed out, it was a HUGE deal to trailer it back to the club. After getting my license in the 2-33, I bought my own glass ship, but they refused to tow me because I hadn't been checked out in it. But they also couldn't offer training to transition me from a 2-33 into a glass ship because the club didn't have one. They couldn't afford it. So I had to go elsewhere to get the training I needed to transition into my own glider. But that hasn't happened yet. I had to go to a commercial operation that charges SIGNIFICANTLY more than what the club charges. One 2-days weekend cost me almost as much as my entire ab-initio training cost me at the club. This has further delayed my training because I've had to take breaks from my training to save up money, often going 2 months between lessons during a limited soaring season (May to September). Now I will be the first to admit that the commercial operation is giving me excellent, quality training, and is making me a better pilot. But the financial aspect of it has been the biggest limiting factor in my development as a glider pilot. I live in a part of the country where there are no active soaring operations. I've had to travel 4hrs one way just to get training, and I see tremendous potential for soaring in my immediate area. I dream of starting a local club. But again, the biggest hinderance to that dream is the financial aspect of it. There just isn't enough of an interest locally to support the necessary financial investment needed to start something and "get it off the ground". I do agree with G2 that Condor has tremendous potential at generating interest among young people, particularly when it is used with the immersion of VR. I hope that one day this can be my reality of working with young people locally to set up an operation that is both affordable and captivating. I believe it is doable. But it will take a significant capital investment that I just don't have at this time. So please, don't say that gliding is not too expensive. Expense is the single biggest barrier I'm facing in my own personal development, and in moving forward with my vision.
How do you know that there is not enough local interest? More likely the problem is not enough local awareness of the existence of soaring. Motorless flying is WAY outside what most people even believe is possible. Knowledge coupled with access (that’s what clubs are for) can really change that. So, how many people does it really take to start a club? Same as for nearly everything that gets done: one committed individual. Oh, but aviation is different, it is expensive! Yes it is. But there are ways. Oh, yes, there are ways!

So, here’s one way to do it:

Get a glider. How does one individual afford that? Get a loan with the option to only pay interest. My club was started by one guy who bought a Ka-7 and a Ka-8 and financed them with just such a loan. Our monthly payment on the Ka-7 was $50 if we elected to only pay interest. We had months when that’s all we could afford. But, guess what? The club that coalesced around those two old gliders actually ended up paying off that Ka-7 and Ka-8 early.

Get a ground launch rig: 1000 meters of Dacron, or Dyneema rope, a tow pulley setup, and a tow vehicle with a trailer hitch. You can launch without a pulley setup, but you will get better launches with the pulley and it's easier on the tow vehicle. I can give you details on where to get this stuff..

Find a place to fly. With the pulley launch system, you don’t even need completely smooth ground since the tow car will never have to go faster than 30 mph. If it's smooth enough to land the glider on, you are good.

Get ground launch qualified. You might have to travel to some place where they do auto or winch launch. Sooner, rather than later your club will need a ground launch qualified instructor. Get your CFI! SSA has scholarships to help you do that. I got my CFI-G cert that way.

By the time you have found a glider, you should be able to cultivate sufficient interest in a couple others who will chip in to get the club going.

My club started this way back in 1990-91 and today we have over 50 members, 5 club gliders (soon to be 6 with addition of a second glass 2-seater), and a Pawnee towplane with recently refurbed like new engine and airframe.

Establishing a club is a lot of work and it requires committed individuals who will do whatever it takes to keep it going. With luck, you will find that there are more like-minded folks around than you think.

Wally, et al,

These were all ideas discussed with John about Ronan, MT, over the past 3-4 years. I provided him with case files on 501(c)(3) chapters and other information, including the names of six CFI-Gs that were within about a 90 minute radius, 18 commercial glider rated pilots in the same vicinity from among the 39 or so glider rated pilots in the same area. I also suggested he contact the EAA chapters in the area (3-4 IIRC) and Rotary Clubs to develop support and funding (similar to the way Jim Callaway pitched Hamilton Soaring Club). He also was basically donated a Phoebus A and a K-8. Two-seaters are harder to come by with funding. But the longest journey begins with a single step, which I saw a forming the 501(c)(3) before staring the 'big ask' for money. Not blaming John as he's a physician with young children and I'm sure his discretionary time also has a large honey do list, but it takes more than money to make it happen. There is/was a tow hook in the area and a self-launcher. Last year at least five 2-33 were totaled in wind incidents. One for sure it being rebuilt, but finding replacements is and will be increasingly difficult. (FWIW, most of the CFI-G's and Commercial Glider ratings in that radius were getting pretty senior, so probably not interested in crawling in the back of a 2-22 or 2-33).

Frank Whiteley