"RST Engineering" wrote:
One of the problems is that you have the same mindset
that 95% of Americans have. "We have to drive them
over there."

But since most Americans aren't just sitting around doing nothing 98% of
the time, *is* a real consideration. Sometimes 14-year-olds have
wealthy, retired grandparents that are able and willing to spend
half-a-day or more to the scenario Jay described, but many do not have
that luxury.

In the first place, if you tell me that Greyhound (or ilk) doesn't go
between Iowa City and Muscatine, I'd find it hard to believe. Or other
public transportation.

I don't know where you are, but I've yet to see a sailport in an area of
town that is on any Greyhound route. There are 3 sailports each within
1-2 hours drive (in a car) from me, but the nearest bus stop to any of
them would still leave me 5-8 miles away from the facility. Most
gliderports aren't right in the middle of town on the bus route.

In the second place, if you don't have to make the trip and wait around for
the lesson to be over, Becca can get multiple flights in a single day. When
I was in the glider game, I saw young kids (who seem to be much more
adaptive and quicker on the pickup than old geezers) solo in gliders at the
end of their second day.

Third and last, I'm sure that you are in the Iowa Hotel Club (or whatever
you call it). If members have a swapsie policy (you stay at my place and I
stay at your place swap) then Becca could do ten flights in two days with an
overnighter in between relatively easily.

And then what? Even if Becca could get her Private Pilot Glider in those
two days (doubtful, and that's not an insult to Becca, Jay), if the
place is that far away and Becca doesn't drive yet and Jay doesn't have
time to take her there and back, how does she fly often enough to
maintain her skills?

I'm just saying that it boils down to the bottom line of almost
everything -- is it convenient? affordable? time-permitting?

Most of us will make sacrifices in any or all of those areas to do
something we're passionate about, but it's also not uncommon for any one
of those considerations to be significant enough to make it un-do-able.