I ski, bike, and golf.
Skiing is a ways away, so it takes a special trip (near Minden).
I can ski 8 hours for one fourth the cost of a glider flight at Minden.
But the next time I go up, I'd sure rather soar than ski

Biking and golf are within 3 miles of my home. Because of land costs and
aviation accidents/airspcae issues the closest gliderport is 1.5 hours
drive away from my major metropolitan city. I have difficulty
getting my friends to try soaring because of the drive, but can get them
to fly power out of the airport 5 miles away (at least the ones with $$$s).

Because I love it, 1.5 hours each way (or often 3 hours each way to
a different gliderport) never seemed too much. But recently, with a young
daughter, a wife who cooks tasty dinners, and job interviews heating up,
that drive is becoming a concern.

Auto racing? Lemmesee...the DMV gives the test for free
at thousands of locations, your older brother can instruct it,
and you have the vehicle in every driveway in the US. Then you
can walk on to a track and for maybe $100 you get a NASCAR license and
you are a racer. Every weekend dozens of motorheads at all levels of
experience. I absolutely love the local dirt track scene. Fun!
I'd do it but I don't like engines that much. Noisy, smelly things...

Sailing? No license. Get a boat. Sail. BBQ. Other than the license,
the other costs seem in many ways comparable to soaring. This of them
all is probably what I consider the closest comparison to soaring.
The main difference (other than license) is that you can't get
4-6 people in the sailplane after the race drinking beers.

I don't participate in any sports more expensive than soaring,
but sailing (24 foot) was probably the closest. Mooring, sails,
lines, maint, drive to a location, etc. is the most comparable
to soaring from my experience.

And both are pure sports...just for fun

In article ,
Stewart Kissel wrote:

I beg to differ....

Skiing? Cycling? Hunting? Golf? etc, etc...

So why don't you list those sports you consider comparable?

Auto racing? Sailboats?

How many glider pilots participate in sports more expensive
then this one?



At 08:00 09 March 2005, Ted Wagner wrote:
Price out a new competitive glider in any of the major
racing classes....then add several free weeks every
summer to campaign it....not for the average working
stiff.

This is not different from other sport requiring any
degree of hardware or
training expense.








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Mark J. Boyd