Being retired and having spent nearly every day at the airport (towing,
flying my glider and my motor glider) for almost 5 years, I have the
following observation about the adventure crowd: They come to the
airport to take a ride, have a terrific time, and then disappear.
Another square filled. That is probably how I'm viewed at the jump
club. What a hoot, but not for me... The majority of folks with an
interest in soaring seem to have no difficulty in finding us and joining
in and they're almost always welcomed and nurtured.

Most of us have a friend or two who are intrigued by our sport. Simply
bringing them out for a ride on a good soaring day and showing them what
it's about will hook a fair number of them. Those are the kind of people
I want in the sport. Of course you have a right to your own opinion.

Dan Marotta

On 10/31/2014 7:39 AM, gotovkotzepkoi wrote:
Mark628CA;891291 Wrote:
OK, I am tired of the HG/PG/SP is best, old people need to die, young
people will save us, there are more of us than them, the sky is falling
etc. etc..

I started HG in the early 70's and fell in love with it. I thought
sailplanes were for old people that were just sitting on their asses
wiggling their sticks. When PG finally came around, I thought they were
kinda neat, but there was no way I was going to be lucky enough to
survive the early days of a new aviation sport- I got through the
Standard Rogallo days, but barely.

Finally, after logging over 2,500 HG hours through 28 years of HG, as
well as a few knee operations and attending far too many funerals, I
decided that, yes, I was too OLD to be subjecting myself to the risks of
HG.

I took up sailplanes, and while I still miss the wild 'n woolly days of
HG with some of the most fun people I had ever met, I discovered an
entirely new world of soaring. The people were friendly and encouraging,
the scope of an average day of XC flying far surpassed anything I had
ever accomplished with a hang glider and I nearly always made it back to
the home 'drome. And did I mention landing on a wheel instead of using
my own little pink body as landing gear?

In the last 15 years of flying sailplanes, I have amassed far more
airtime (1,900 hours) than I would have thought possible. I fly in
conditions that would be difficult in a hang glider and impossible in a
paraglider. I cherish the friendships I maintain with my HG and PG bros.
and I am overjoyed when I see one of them join my "new" aviation
family.

As far as the old vs. young, expensive vs. cheap yada yada, I think a
real, dedicated soaring addicted pilot will find a way to continue
flying. I did, and I am not rich, by any means. I figure I fly my 1984
40:1 glider for about $15 per hour, and I can do it more often than I
could with my HG, and I don't have to replace every component on a
regular basis as things wear out or become obsolete.

Don't denigrate old people- they have a lot to teach us, and if you are
lucky enough, maybe you will live long enough to become one. Don't
denigrate young people because they fly HG or PG- something lit their
fire, and with luck, they will eventually make it to sailplanes.

In 1991, the SSA held its convention in Albuquerque and I was invited to
display my hang glider (UP Axis 15) in the exhibit hall. I was talking
to Ray Gimmey, and after we shook hands and he walked away, I overheard
another pilot ask, "Ray, why are you wasting your time with bozos like
that?"

I will never forget Ray's response: "When their knees wear out, they are
going to save soaring."

Thanks, Ray. Ray won the 2014 US 15 M Nationals at age 81, and I bet he
had tubes up his nose, too.

FY gotovkotzepkoi
I have nothing against older people. Hell, I am becoming one myself. I
like being around people my age. The debate here is not about who is
better, old or young. The discussion started rather as a question on how
to attract HG pilots to soaring. Therefore, the question was about
marketing the sport to them. Now, assuming one wants to market it at all
(big question mark here) one is faced with the issue of how soaring is
perceived by those you're tying to lure into it. My point was simply to
point how how THEY look at soaring, not how I see it. Having been around
both sports for a while I am very familiar with their perceptions and
potential interest in soaring. Largely because of these perception very
few HG/PGing pilots will make the jump; the vast majority won't. I am
perfectly comfortable with the demographic scene in the glider world. I
don't need to pick up women at the glider field. I have a beautiful wife
many years younger than me. And besides, I don't need another
distraction from the checklist.