In article ,
David Bingham wrote:
Hi Gang
For approximately 30 years the performance of gliders has hardly
advanced at all and yet we now have the tools (computer programs) and
much stronger materials (carbon composites) to surely advance the
state of the art of gliders. Has this happened? Yes there are marginal
improvements but so small. What's the reason for this slowdown in
innovation?

Not enough glider pilots. 625 thousand active pilots in the USA
(based on medicals applied for). Maybe 1 in 30 fly gliders.
Van's making a self-launch LSA glider would be a big help.

I recently was counseling a Park Ranger who flies a Husky
on patrol. She told me she wanted to improve her radio calls and
thought also that an IFR rating would help. I told her based on
the mountains she flies around, glider training would be much
more valuable. She was quite surprised.

If we get more glider pilots, we'll get enough mass to get the
innovations going. Turbine powered gliders, LSA transitions,
and the Sparrowhawks of the community are a good start...

I don't believe it has much to do with classes. There are a
lot of people on RAS that care, but of the 20,000 others,
most just get a glider they like...

I believe in no small part it is due to the sailplane
classes. With the establishing of the classes that are so rigid and,
in my mind, so restrictive, innovation has suffered. What a breath of
fresh air the SparrowHawk is! However there is no sailplane class for
it. So I got to thinking. Is the present setup of the classes
rational, reasonable? Could a better system be envisioned? OK, taking
this further if there were no classes today, and it was suggested to
set up classes, what would they look like? I think closer to what I'm
suggesting than what they are now. I hope my posting keeps the gang
thinking.

A couple of specific comments:

It is true Greg Cole required me to write him a check before demoing
the SparrowHawk but he also told me he would return the check if I
didn't like it.

Bob K wrote:
"So, if these classes were suddenly instituted tomorrow, would you
compete in them?"

A tough question. I just might participate in a class 1 competition
if were held close to home.
Dave


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Mark J. Boyd