On Nov 5, 10:02*pm, Martin Gregorie
wrote:
On Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:44:18 -0500, Jim Logajan wrote:
"noel.wade" wrote:
On Sep 15, 10:14*am, "Surfer!" wrote:

But since the Schweizer seems to be the training ship of choice in
most U
S
clubs that shouldn't be a surprise. *It's certainly not (IMHO) an
endorsement of them.

I couldn't agree more! *As a "younger" glider pilot myself (29 when I
started), let me make a few assertions:

1) Do you think you can get *ANY* young person interested in soaring if
what they see is a 2-33? After playing any modern computer game? After
watching movies like "The Fast and the Furious"? *The 2-33 looks like a
dog and flies slowly.

I started lessons when I was 52. I didn't have a problem with the club's
2-33 because it is possible I'm not a shallow youth anymore. ;-)

I started learning when I was 54, and that was certainly thanks to a ride
in an ASK-21. I'd had a couple of trial flights 8-10 years previously in
an ASK-13, but though it was a nice experience it didn't inspire me to
take up gliding. However, and I don't know why, that flight in an ASK-21
in the fall of '99 at Front Royale set the hook and I joined Cambridge GC
in the UK at the start of the 2000 season, picking them for no better
reason than they were the only local club with a glass training fleet. As
it happened I couldn't have chosen better given the club's strong xc
culture. This became apparent at the 2001 Regionals when I got my first
cross-country ride in the club's G103: I had a ring-side seat as my P1
won the day on handicap.

--
martin@ * | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org * * * |- Hide quoted text -

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I started learning to glide in 1981 at the age of 35 in K13s. I went
solo on my 40th flight within three months of starting, and got an
instructor rating in 1985. However I felt that K13s with their wooden
skids looked a bit antique even back then. Our club still has two of
the same K13s as we had back then, plus seven newer ones. Most of them
have had nose wheel conversions, which makes them look fractionally
more modern, but not exactly inspiring. Tall people have difficulty in
fitting into the front seat. Unfortunately no manufacturer has yet
come up with a decent glass 2-seater trainer that ticks all the boxes
that a K13 can.