HG pilot in Brazil goes long - 450 km straight out- new source ofSP pilots?
The response confirms the accusation of SPs being cranky old people. Bit I don't get is SPs have a limited capacity to grow anyway, one local club had a waiting list for new student members. I got tired of grinding around in the backseat and didn't do it for all that long. So why grow SPs? Sailplane flying runs on a handful of fanatics devoting massive amounts of time, energy, and money, as long as a few replacement fanatics filter in over the years everything will be OK.
As for HG/PG numbers I understand they are about equal in the US but worldwide PG pilots outnumber everybody by a huge margin. The total number of PG pilots worldwide estimated at 250,000. Lots of semi active PG pilots that only fly on a couple of holiday weeks a year and otherwise stay on the ground living normal mundane lives. PG allows that, and it works well for people.
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