Most numerous sailplane type and model in the world?

On 2/6/2011 8:19 AM, Tim wrote:
On Feb 5, 9:04 pm, Eric wrote:


BUT, most auto racing is done in various entry level classes that are
alive because they have continually adapted to changing values and
needs within auto racing. The soaring "powers that be" need to start
thinking and acting "strategically" when considering how to preserve,
let alone GROW our sport of glider racing.

That was exactly the thinking that led to the present World Class, but
it didn't work out. It's not an easy problem. We can't be sure what we
think would have worked, like new LS4s, would have turned out any
better, either. I can hear people saying, "Why buy a new World-Class-LS4
when I can buy a used one for half the price, or a new, higher
performance [insert favorite here] for only 20% more?".

Race cars at the entry level are much cheaper than gliders because they
can be built by almost anybody with a welder's torch and some steel
tubing, or because they are based on production models built by the tens
of thousands PER YEAR, and because they don't have to meet stringent
certification. "Changing and adapting equipment" is probably a poor
model for glider world.

My guess is it's not near the top of the sport - competition - that we
need to think and act, but near the bottom, where the new people come
into the sport. More glider operations closer to the people, a lower
cost path to a license, and less time to do it, would have more impact
on the sport than making a competition class more equal and less expensive.

Get the sport growing 5% a year, and we'd have vibrant racing classes in
a few years without changing the rules or the gliders.
--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to
email me)