----- Original Message -----
From: "David Smith"
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.soaring
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2004 7:37 PM
Subject: Bad Publicity

snipped

So why are numbers falling, because many clubs are
so badly organised, new recruits and ab-initios are
EXPECTED to hang around all day and maybe get a 5 min
circuit at 4pm.

This is because launching facilities are usually pretty limited at most
Clubs.
Even when I instructed at the London Club which was staffed by professionals
(as
well as us amateurs) the launch rate was pretty pathetic.

Some of this problem was down to inadequate provision of winches and tugs
but a
lot of it was just inefficiency and cost cutting (using cheap winch cable
which
broke a lot). Even aerotowing was not best quality due to underpowered tugs
and
an unwillingness to teach and use multiple towing.

Pressure from work , family,
partners and other sports terminates a great many flying
careers, clubs must recognise this ( assuming they
really want more members and by no means all do!! ).

It eventually terminated mine! I was finding time in air /time on ground a
very
poor ratio and I was an instructor! I had other hobbies which provided a
better
ratio of enjoyment to ennui, and I gave up gliding with about 700hrs and a
Silver C. I could see no chance of Gold without buying into a syndicate, as
club aircraft were just not available for me to attempt the necessary tasks.
While I enjoyed instructing (most of the time when I had pupils who were not
trying to kill me) it wasn't enough to keep my enthusiasm going. No one at
the
club seemed bothered about my departure either.

Having my own glider I spend £2000 each year which
is just about what it would cost to keep a horse, it
is a comparison that I use to put the cost in perspective
to outsiders.

Yes, but you overlook the investment in time that you put in to get to the
stage
where you were allowed to fly a high performance machine. I bet that cost a
bob
or two, and a lot of potential pilots just can't see that day coming and
give
up.

Alistair Wright
long retired glider pilot