Great stuff Kirk. I agree with nearly every point you make. I've
personally suffered under the "old codger" effect, have heard the
howls of "XC is dangerous", and have spent some considerable hours
clowning around on expensive bicycles too.

But I think that we DO have to address the hardware side of things in
terms of costs. Those cycling clowns are riding $3000 bikes not
$30000 bikes. The hang and paraglider ships dont necessarily offer
the safety or performance of a sailplane. The low cost gliders that
exist are the vintage neglected birds that can be bought for used car
prices.

Guys like the Cherokee Kid, Tony on this forum, ARE the future of this
sport. He's flying a nearly antique glider cross country nearly every
time he launches. He can do this because his glider and trailer cost
about what a typical college kid could spend on a decent used car. I
hate to think of all the people out there who would love to do what
he's doing but don't have a glider available to them.

And on the topic of launch methods... I believe the future of the
sport is in electric self launch for single seaters and maybe winch
for training and event centers. But that is really another topic.

MM

MM