Eric,

I think you're doing a great job.

In the sport of sailing, detailed articles are required (demanded) by the winner (or can be delegated to another competitor in some cases) of any minor (regionals, camp, etc) regatta. A detailed nationals article by the winner of any class is a given. The mob gets angry if a solid regatta report is not available within a few days (week max) and published in the class online magazine, social media, yearbook, etc. This is part of the sailing culture.

In soaring I think there are many more interesting subjects to write about than sailing. Long OLC flights, record attempts, new achievements such as badges, instruction, rating, etc., new gliders (buying a new or used one), Safari excursions out west, etc., etc.

I often wonder if the time has come to change to an online soaring "magazine" instead of a printed version. This has happened in many sailing classes long ago and saved tremendous amounts of money. This way you are not waiting a month or quarter for the print magazine to arrive and there is a constant stream of content several times a week as articles, reports and news are published. This has numerous advantages.

Anyway, I know it's hard to be an editor and I think you are doing a great job. Probably the best thing to do is not be bashful about hounding key people more and helping them come up with more ideas. Rather than asking for one article, ask for one article a month, quarter, etc. As a community we should not be starving you of such content. That makes your job much harder than it should be.

I have a hundred ideas for you as I write this little note. PM or email me and I will send you a list. I have a friend who flies in France every summer for 3-4 weeks for example. That's an easy annual article right there about the French gliding experience (very interesting). Every winter a few lucky Americans go to Africa or New Zealand to fly, etc, etc. Junior activity is another. Sailplane Grand Prix USA is another. And so on....

Sincerely,

Sean