Bob C wrote:

And most importantly, don't underestimate the effect
you have on the kids! These are the people who will
keep us flying 20 years from now. Convince them they
can fly before the naysayers brainwash them into thinking
flying is too dangerous. I often do school presentations.
They are fun and I really believe some of these kids
will become pilots one day partly as a result of this
influence.

I think the posts in this thread may be unduely pessimistic about the
effect of airshow displays. Sure, people don't show up the next weekend
for rides, but it may have an effect over a longer time period (though
too small to notice).

But I think Bob Carlton really makes the important point, which is that
airshows are a way to educate people (especially kids) about soaring. I
have displayed a glider at maybe a show a year over the last 6 years.
I presume the people who attend airshows are somewhat more savvy about
aviation in general, and soaring in particular, than your average person
on the street. Yet many airshow attendees apparently never have never
heard of gliding. They are amazed that there is such a thing as a plane
without an engine, and have no idea how such a contraption might be
launched into the air.

With such a lack of knowledge, it isn't surprsing that soaring isn't
very popular. If soaring were as well known to the general population
as say, scuba diving, I bet we would have a lot more soaring pilots.
Currently, there could be many potential pilots who go through life
without ever knowing about soaring.

I do disagree with Bob Carlton about one thing. At an airshow, you have
the noisy planes with smoke coming from their wingtips, and then the
quiet glider with smoke coming form the wingtips. For my money, if you
are going to be watching a plane do aerobatic maneuvers, you want it to
be as noisy as possible. I find glider aerobatics pretty boring from
the ground. Also, I think airshow attendees who are not familiar with
gliding may get the impression that it consists of crazy people who get
towed into the air and then fly upside down, which may actually hurt our
recruitment rather than help it.