new Soaring article

At 12:27 15 May 2011, Nyal Williams wrote:
I'm sorry you have taken offense. My comment was not an attack on you;
i
was a comment about everyone's experience. George Moffat lamented th
passing of those days when navigational skills without use of GPS were a
important to winning races as the weather judgment skills. Until you or
become as fluent as he was using that system we cannot appreciate th
subtleties and enjoyment of them that he gave up by accepting GPS.

The rules define the nature of the competition. Navigation
used to be an important, nay vital, part of racing sailplanes.
It no longer matters. The equipment changes, the rules
change, the competition changes. It's just different.

It used to be important that you knew how to maneuver
your glider to get a good photograph of the turnpoint.
It wasn't as easy as you might assume.

Jim Beckman

No question about that.

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.


At 22:39 15 May 2011, Jim Beckman wrote:
At 12:27 15 May 2011, Nyal Williams wrote:
I'm sorry you have taken offense. My comment was not an attack on
you;
i
was a comment about everyone's experience. George Moffat lamented th
passing of those days when navigational skills without use of GPS were
a
important to winning races as the weather judgment skills. Until you or

become as fluent as he was using that system we cannot appreciate th
subtleties and enjoyment of them that he gave up by accepting GPS.

The rules define the nature of the competition. Navigation
used to be an important, nay vital, part of racing sailplanes.
It no longer matters. The equipment changes, the rules
change, the competition changes. It's just different.

It used to be important that you knew how to maneuver
your glider to get a good photograph of the turnpoint.
It wasn't as easy as you might assume.

Jim Beckman

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.

This has gone on too long on here. You mistake my comments as desires for
the past, which I do not hold, and even more as disparaging newer pilots
because they haven't flown without technological advances. I don't do
that either. As a matter of fact, I never discuss these matters with most
pilots. In particular, I have not said that there is a causal
relationship between [the]ability to perceive beauty and the equipment
that [one] uses. I was referring only to those qualities as they pertain
to a particular skill set, which has been abandoned. Even less do I
denigrate younger pilots for not having certain experiences.

As for the baby, neither of us can now crawl with the same facility as a
baby. We don't want to, of course; our lives are much better because we
have abandoned that for walking. Nontheless, we have lost a particular
facility that had its own usefulness and enjoyment. (We can't have it
all.) Nor can we suddenly shut down our electronics and fly with the same
facility as those who have constantly practiced that way (i.e. hang-glider
pilots) until we gain that facility.

I only responded to your original post because you said NOTHING was given
up. I'd be happy to continue this conversation in a friendly manner
offline either by direct email or on FaceBook if you like, but not here
any longer.

I'll wait for any further contact you might like to make.

Best wishes.




At 21:07 16 May 2011, noel.wade wrote:

On May 15, 5:28=A0pm, 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
fo=
r
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.