Bert Willing wrote:

And in Europe, gliding for youngster asks for a budget very much like
skiing, horse riding, small motorcycles or whatever a 16 years old fancies
to do (and it's those 16 years old kid who are the future of soaring, not
any of those 50-years-old-catching-up-with-their-dreams folks) and gets the
money for anyways.

Well, I'm one of those catching-up-with-their-dreams folks and I see no
reason why 16 year olds' fickle fancies are worth more to gliding than
my dedication. Is my money a different colour? Do I work less hard for
the club? Why shouldn't gliding be a sport for middle-aged men? We're
too old to steal hubcaps.

And what do you mean by "the future of soaring"? If Eur200,000 gliders
are the future - and they're certainly the present - then sure as hell
16 year olds don't figure much in that future. Yes, there's room for
teenagers in gliding just like there is in ocean racing, and teenagers
are the future of gliding just like they're the future of ocean racing.

As you said, we need a new approach - at least the ration "airborne
time/time running around on the field" has to be greatly improved, and those
"because-we-have-done-it-like-this-for-the-last-fifty-years" farts have to
be dumped...

Try it.

If the teenagers don't like the effort involved, then 50year olds WILL
be the future of gliding because they WILL make the effort. If
teenagers don't like the way things are done, 50 year olds who DO like
these ways will be the future of gliding.

Why are you concerned about this nebulous "future" anyway? Enjoy your
gliding NOW. Do what you want to do in gliding NOW. When you don't
want to keep doing it, LEAVE. Someone else WILL take your place.

It won't be a teenager.

Gliding's fine (except for the IGC). Leave it alone.

Graeme Cant