On May 15, 5:28*pm, Nyal Williams wrote:

When a baby learns to walk it gives up its crawling skill-set for an
overall advantage, but there is no question that it has lost SOMETHING for
a net gain.

Nyal -

Its not so much that I'm offended as it is that I find your premise
illogical and ridiculous. I believe you are speaking to nostalgia and
your view of history through rose-colored glasses; not any real loss.

To use your analogy: A Baby that learns to walk does not forget how
to crawl. We can crawl even as fully-grown adults. We haven't "lost"
a skill; we have simply found a better way to do things. Maybe
standing on two legs alters our perception of the world and the way we
interact with it; but we CAN go back and interact with it in a
different manner if we want. We _choose_ not to; we don't lose the
innate ability.

Similarly, I can turn off my GPS and/or jump in a Schweizer and
experience soaring "like the old-timers" anytime I want to. Just
because I have a DG-300 and use a PDA does not mean that other soaring
skills are lost, or that I cannot appreciate the simple beauties of
physics, nature, weather, aerodynamics, and the 3-dimensional freedom
of flight. There is no causal relationship between my ability to
perceive beauty and the equipment that I use.

In summary: You may long for simpler times; or for a period in which
different skills were _emphasized_. There's nothing wrong with that.
But confuse your desires with the skills of other pilots; and don't
impugn their sense of artistry or beauty.

--Noel
P.S. To be clear: this is not just a personal defense; its also a
reaction to the attitude that many in the Soaring community have about
newer generations of pilots. Attitudes like what Nyal is displaying
*do* come across as negatives and a discouragement to newer pilots.
With a shrinking pilot population the last thing people should be
doing is telling new folks what they _can't_ do or how they'll never
be like the people that have come before them.