On Nov 23, 11:45*am, John Cochrane
wrote:
Pull is good, but conversion is harder. The sad fact is that we fail
miserably at converting first rides into long-time pilots. For each
ride, how many get a license? For each license, how many are still
flying 3 years later? Typical numbers I've heard are about one in a
thousand. If that were even one in a hundred, we'd have 10 times more
glider pilots!
John Cochrane

Rough statistics from one club- Valley Soaring Club- Middletown NY
Close estimates for '09
About 1600 tows/Yr
About 160 introductory flights(360 the year the NY Times article came
out).
About 40 four flight intro packages which lets prospect see what it's
really about- then they join or find out it's not for them.
About 15 new members
About 10 new solo pilots
About 8 new certificated pilots
FWIW
UH