The Decline of Soaring Awards

I believe when I did my 5 hours, was before the bronze badge existed, and I did it in an ASW-20 while doing gold distance/diamond goal.
Eastern US.
Thermals.
Film (no logger/GPS).
One film was cut mid flight, one was processed in a mall type color machine.... the Replogle barograph got me the 5 hours, but not distance.

A year or so later, I did the same flight during a drought in the northeast....took about 3 hours on thermals, but I got them.

Yes, since early '70's, our field has had CFI-G's that do XC as well as contests. We tend to shove peeps out and/or lead them out.
We always have people going somewhere, from kids to a "ripe old age".

XC/badge flying is not for everyone, but usually good to keep people in the sport for more than a year or so.

‘XC/badge flying is not for everyone, but usually good to keep people in the sport for more than a year or so. “

I second that. It has always been pretty clear that the folks who set personal goals in soaring like the badge program, continue in the sport, where the guys who get their ticket but never venture out in xc or contest flying don’t stick with the spirt for long.
Dan

On Wednesday, March 25, 2020 at 2:40:14 PM UTC-4, wrote:

I second that. It has always been pretty clear that the folks who set personal goals in soaring like the badge program, continue in the sport, where the guys who get their ticket but never venture out in xc or contest flying don’t stick with the sport for long.

Some people may need to fly XC to stay interested in the sport. This seems to be more true for some personality types, and maybe it is true for people who fly in places with less interesting terrain, or who fly very high above interesting terrain, or maybe for people who fly in places with generally strong soaring conditions. And it is certainly true for people who lose interest and stop flying soon after they pass their checkride, or the many who're frustrated by slow progress in weekend only training and dropout before they even take the checkride.

For 10 years, people have told me that I will surely quit soon if I do not take XC seriously.

I've 400 hours in my logbook and I own a medium performance glider and a hangar. I fly 30-40 days a year in a beautiful and challenging location. I'm active in gliding clubs in two hemispheres (I just returned from NZ).

The XC pilots at my home airport, pilots who own beautiful high performance gliders, gliders that sit assembled in the hangar and unused for most of the season (and several more parked in trailers), tell me that I'm going to quit soon if I don't fly XC. I'm also told that 'Good XC days' at our location are few and far between (most years).

Owning a high performance glider at a place with routinely weak conditions and low cloud base relative to ridge lines, seems like a trap. If I bought a high performance glider at my current location, I would probably need to take up XC and competition, or move to NM, CO and like places. ... or quit..

On the other hand I've found that there are many days when it is a satisfying struggle to stay up for an hour, and that there are lots of days when I can figure out where to go (and where to avoid) to stay up for 2-3 hours. Its satisfying to 'figure out' the day especially when other pilots (including XC pilots who try for a 'local flight') are dropping out of the sky. Its even more satisfying to climb out of a low tow on a day like that.

Flying often, I remain current and proficient, and I get measurably more proficient every year. I've been told that weak days are just 'too easy' and boring in a high performance glider, and that when you can't reasonably expect to get back over the ridge lines (once you've crossed over), you can only go up and down the valley, but not too far. Yeah. Boring. Plus you're missing the thrill of XC (I have enough experience to know that XC can be thrilling).

Having my glider assembled in the hangar and living close to the airport means its easy to try to fly on a lot of weak days. Figuring out when to launch to get that 1-2 hour flight is part of the fun. I have time and energy to do something else before or after my flight. I enjoy ground operations and the people. I enjoy working on projects in my hangar before or after a flight. I'm fortunate to be in this unique situation.

I'm not saying anything against flying XC and competitions. I'm just saying that there is more than one way to enjoy and stay enthusiastic about soaring. When people discount my way of enjoying the sport, when they tell me that I'm still a beginner, and occasionally say 'so you're not a real glider pilot', I just nod and move on. Okay. Maybe I am a beginner. I still have a beginner's enthusiasm about soaring.

No Dis intended Flubber. You have found your own nitch within the sport and are having lots of fun. I have just been looking at the trends over the last 40 or so years and see that it usually takes some goal or subset of soaring pursuit to keep folks involved in the hobby.

You found your points of motivation. For others its the instruction side where they just love to introduce people to the sport. For others its the social aspect of their club. These guys may have never had any interest in xc, and are content just to fly local, it works for them. But the drop out rate is still pretty substantial. I grew up at a time when soaring was an actual lifestyle. That really does’nt exist anymore in large part.
Dan