On Nov 9, 5:26*am, Jim Beckman wrote:
At 00:32 09 November 2010, Mike Schumann wrote:



1st impressions make a huge difference. *When you are dealing with a new
person who is interested in the sport, you want to make sure that
his/her 1st glider experience is a positive one.

It's not just what kind of glider it is, but also what condition it is
in. *A pristine L-13 can make a very good impression, matching a
mediocre K-21. *The same goes for a museum quality 2-33. *However, a
worn glider that sits outside just, doesn't do it for a lot of people,
including power pilots who are just putting their toes in the water.

I would suggest that the attitude of the ride pilot is just as important,
if not more so, than pure appearances. *And a ride pilot is obviously
going to treat a pilot passenger differently than a novice.

Not to mention the attitude of the other people assisting with the flight
or just hanging around the gliders. *When I first starting taking lessons
to transition from power to gliders, the club on the field took absolutely
*no* interest in what I was doing, or explaining what the club had to
offer, or attempting to interest me in joining. *I practically had to
force myself on them (damn glad I did it, too). *We generally present an
unfortunate impression of aloofness and distraction. *The gregarious,
outgoing, friendly glider folks are a valuable exception.

Jim Beckman

Ride pilots make a huge difference, but even they can't overcome a
trashy glider.

It's a real shame that few ride operations take the time and trouble
to tell their customers what soaring is really all about. In my case,
the owner just wanted to chase them off after they paid for the ride.

If they persisted, they got pitched a $7,000+ "training package" in a
2-33. Once they looked at the 2-33, that deal became a really hard
sell.

A few of them walked over to the club to find they could train in a
well maintained G-103 or DG 505 for a small fraction of the cost, then
passed the word around. The 2-33 deal became nearly impossible to
sell.