On May 7, 8:27*am, "S. Murry" wrote:

As far as whether there is some built-in "soaring gene" or something. *I
have heard this argument before. *What I don't understand is if it is true
that people have some innate desire to fly and nothing can stop them, then
why are the number of pilots declining even as the overall population is
rising? *It seems that if there is some (small) percentage of people who
are just "wired" to eventually get into our sport, this percentage ought
to be more-or-less constant over time. *Genetics don't change so quickly.
If this were the case, then our numbers would rise with the overall
population.

The thing with the 'glider gene' is people don't know they have it
until they are made aware of soaring. (It doesn't take much -
sometimes just a picture or short video will do.) As for why people
aren't finding the sport on their own, I think it comes down to one
word - ignorance.

They don't know about us.
They don't know what we do.
They don't know how spectacular this sport is.
They don't know they can become glider pilots too.

Unlike "Cave Diving" which gets a fair amount of press, we've
inadvertently done a great job of hiding. Very few people even know
we exist much less what we do.

I constantly talk to airplane pilot groups and I'm amazed at how
little they know. Almost to a person, they think gliding is exactly
that - tow up and glide down. Or maybe, on extremely rare occasions,
someone finds a mysterious force called a "thermal" and stays up a few
minutes longer.

When shown what modern sailplanes can really do, and are doing on a
regular basis, they're flabbergasted. Explaining the OLC is an
effective way of convincing skeptics. It proves cross country flying
in gliders is not a "fish story".

Make them aware of us, tell them what we do and those afflicted with
the "glider gene" will come roaring out of the woodwork.

Bill Daniels