Why is Soaring declining

On Thu, 15 Apr 2004 06:29:53 UTC, (Lennie
the Lurker) wrote:

: Then look at how many of the voices ripping the pw actually have flown
: or own one. Not a very good ratio of first hand knowledge to personal
: opinion. Probably closer to 5% first hand and 95% ignorant badmouth.
: 2-33, 1-26, PW-5, Russia, makes no difference, it's below 40:1 and
: anything that can be said negatively will be. Nobody asks if it's
: serving the purpose for which it was designed.

As a 34:1 chap myself, and a strong supporter of the SIFOWs brigade, I
have nothing against the PW-5 per se. However, I am not sure that it
has fulfilled the purpose for which it was designed:

1) Stimulating interest by being affordable. Unfortunately for the
PW-5 (and the Silent, and the Russia, and ...) there are just too many
second hand gliders around for the same sort of money, and a ten year
old glider isn't nearly such an off-putting proposition as a ten-year
old car. So in this respect it has failed - it hasn't caused a surge
of interest, even if it costs what it was meant to. This is not to
disparage some local successes - it seems to have given the people in
New Zealand a way to renew a predominately Ka6 club fleet effectively
and popularly.

2) Stimulating interest by being a competition class. Unfortunately
for the PW-5, there just aren't that many pilots around who care about
competing. And, almost by definition, those who don't care enough to
be selling their houses, spouses and cars to buy something big and
modern are also unlikely to pay a premium for occasional lower-level
competition. It's a shame that more top-end pilots haven't taken to
it, but I suspect that the competition year is already pretty crowded.

I haven't flown one, though I'd like to, particularly to see how it
compares with my Pirat. From all accounts it's a very nice wee glider,
but I'm afraid that as far as renewing the sport goes, it has been a
failure. The cheap, simple, competitive gliders which attract people
into flying have lots of strings and pack intoa big rucksack. Maybe
the conventional gliding world should swallow its pride, descend from
its high horse, make common cause - and try to lure the paragliders
across when they get to an age when breaking ankles seems less
attractive ...

Ian