On Jan 30, 5:52*pm, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:32:48 -0800 (PST), toad
wrote:

So how many pilots can show up and expect on a good day to get a 3-5
hour XC flight in ? *7 gliders doesn't seem like enough for 80 pilots.

Usually 2 gliders are reserved for XC, each pilot has got about 5 to 6
weekend days per season where the glider belongs to him.

There are also about 7 private gliders which are used by the serious
XC pilots.

Of course, if necessary, we could trade the ASW-27 into two ASW-20's
if we felt the need to increase our capacity - but on most days the
current capacity is more than sufficient.

This brings me back to your original perception about US pilots all
wanting to own their own glider. That perception might be skewed by
only hearing from the US pilots who post here, who are mostly "serious
XC pilots", or want to be. There are lots of US glider pilots flying
club equipment and having fun, but the time limits on flights during
weekends prevent them from doing much XC until they buy a glider
themselves or withing a partnership. Those club pilots spend less
time on RAS :-)

Todd Smith
3S