soaring into the future

I'll vote for the use of simulators in training. There are sites using this
approach now and reporting good results.

Many students have fears about training maneuvers but they rarely tell their
instructors. Offering a syllibus where you teach each maneuver on a
simulator before performing it in the air removes this fear - and speeds
progress. I think this could reduce the many student dropouts. It also has
the benefit of keeping students and instructors busy in wintertime.

No simulator is a total and complete replacement for in-flight instruction
but they can be used to advantage.

Bill Daniels



"Newill" "Mario Lazaga"" wrote in message
...
On Dec 25, 4:11 pm, Brad wrote:
I was browsing thru one of the Yahoo glider N.G.'s today and read
where the World Class design may get ressurected. That got me to
thinking:

What would the ideal recreational next generation sailplane sailplane
look like? I

I think this is an excellent subject for discussion - with SSA at 75
years - what will soaring look like in 25 years?

My own contribution - and commenting on another persons post as well -
perhaps we go the way of skiing? Snowboards changed the age and number
of players on the slopes - so I think we need something that is the
"snowboard" of soaring-

How about a trainer that cannot go higher than 4 - 6 - 8 - 10 feet? if
one had a way to have a primary glider - with self launch capability
[ or tow down the wire with a winch?] and it could not go high enought
to cause great damage on rough landings - then maybe the teens could
teach themselves along side the runway while the big ships launch -
and then play on the runway ( yeah, I know that won't work at some
sites ) and "hop" into the air ten or twenty times in 30 minutes to
get the idea of basic controls and landing understood. The craft would
be something any club could assemble, not registered, and repaired by
anyone on the field with foam and (epoxy - duct tape - bolts and
clamps??) I have sketched up some ideas along these lines -

Another thought would be a super low cost simulator - projectors
costing ~ $500 today combined with software that connects to a stick
and rudder pedals and runs on a used computer could let the students
fly each part of the mission many times before getting into the air.
At the Memphis convention, one group reported that such a simulator
took a non-pilot to the point they were ready to fly with only five
flights in an ASK-21 !!! (They did go for a few more circuts before
solo - but all IP's on the field felt the student was completely
ready.) Anything that gets the student to solo in less time is the
right answer.

Finally, watch out for the "Chinese" and similar low labor cost sites
getting into the general aviation business. Once an India or China
decides that soaring and gliding are fun - beneficial to the
generation of new needed pilots - and sellable on the open market -
the europeans are going to need to focus on only the highest
performance and most costly machines.

Over to the next writer!
DBN