A proposal to increase membership, cross-country pilots, competitors,and world champions (USA).

On Sunday, August 10, 2014 1:23:43 PM UTC-6, Matt Herron Jr. wrote:
I still maintain that soaring flight simulators (like Condor) that are widely available and approachable would help. They can reduce training time. They appeal to youth. They can be used whenever there is a spare 1/2 hour with no commute and no wait. They are inexpensive. They enable online instruction.



I would like to see the SSA try a pilot (no pun intended) program to support something like this, and track results.



Matt

Scott Manley demonstrated this as presenter of the Barnaby Lecture last year. Others have hopefully seen Scott's SSA Convention presentations.

As I commented in another post, a STEM cored glider pilot ground school curriculum would be a nice addition.

Frank Whiteley

Great idea but Minden? How about Ionia, Michigan? ;-)

On Friday, August 8, 2014 1:14:02 PM UTC-4, Fox Two wrote:
There have been several threads on RAS recently about the disappointing state of our sport in the USA: a shrinking membership, few cross-country pilots, fewer contest pilots, and no world champions. If we're going to reverse these trends, we need more than contest rule tweaking and membership drive gimmicks. We need to make our sport exciting so that we don't just attract new members but, more importantly, keep the ones that we already have.



Our sport is about soaring long distances at fast speeds or performing energy-conserving aerobatics. Of course there are also the antique enthusiasts and those who enjoy simply boring holes in the sky above the airfield - but we sell the sex. We lose potential new members when they see the Schweizer 2-33, we lose existing members when there's nothing better to fly than a Grob 103, and we lose even more due to boredom because cross-country training is a rare luxury, and inexperienced pilots are reluctant to venture away from the nest alone. The problems of our sport all originate at the club level - and it will be up to the clubs to fix them. Our clubs need to offer high-performance gliders and training that goes beyond the FAA's Practical Test Standards.



The Europeans dominate this sport for the same reason the US military dominates the battlefield: they spend more money and train more than anybody else. There are national soaring centers to teach the teachers so they in turn can offer the highest-quality training to their club's members. With the assistance of their national organizations, European clubs blaze a clear path from debutant to the diamond badge, with training at every step of the way. Unfortunately, the European model won't work in the USA (something to do with our distrust of socialism), but we can build our own model of success based on theirs.



THINK BIG: Imagine a 'United States National Soaring Center.' Let's put it where even the Europeans would be envious: Minden. Employ professional instructors with state-of-the-art sailplanes teaching our clubs' instructors, offering year-round cross-country and mountain-wave camps, and coaching the US Teams. A pipe dream you say? It would be expensive for sure - but it wouldn't be impossible.



The SSA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, which means among other things, that it is able to receive tax-deductible donations. And it does. For example, in 2011 the SSA received a $1 million cash donation. Would $1 million pay for the National Soaring Center? No. But the SSA could use some of that money to get ALL of the clubs 501(c)3 tax status. A team of tax professionals, paid for by the SSA, could work with the clubs to restructure each club so that they could receive tax-deductible donations. Every club member would immediately benefit: club dues, for example, can be tax deductible. Few club members would object to paying higher dues if they were tax deductible, and some club members would love to make tax-deductible donations to the club. I would much rather give a thousand bucks to my club than to Uncle Sam! This would allow the clubs to finally leave the 1960's and get some gliders that aren't 50 years old. High-performance gliders would attract and retain more members, paying even more dues. Eventually, there would be enough money for the National Soaring Center in Minden.



It's not a sexy solution, but we would have a growing membership, more cross-country pilots and competitors, and maybe even a world champion.



Chris Fleming

While it is no way takes away from the suggested solutions to the problem, it is worth noting that the problem of decreasing membership is a worldwide issue and not unique to the US. Take a look at John Roake's summary of worldwide membership statistics. You will see that the decline is everywhere including in those European countries we often seek to emulate. Note also that the production of world champions (something the original post highlights as a concern) does not in any way correlate to membership stats. Poland, for example, has had one of the steepest declines in membership over the last decade yet in that time has risen to be the the top in contests.

http://www.lkka.cz/sport/zapisy/Zapi...03.30_2.P2.pdf

So, the question is not what is being done wrong in the US (or my country, Canada) in particular, but rather what can change within the worldwide soaring community? We can look to best practices from abroad yes, but there may very well be things we do that those abroad may want to consider as well.

We also have to consider what the end goal is. Soaring is both a sport and an activity. Success can be measured by bums in seats or by seats on podiums. and as the Poles have shown us, the two are not necessarily one and the same.

I learned to fly sailplanes while stationed with the USAF in Germany. I've been soaring in the US since 2000 and with my airline job have many opportunities to visit clubs around the world. My take on one of the factors is that the US is so large and clubs spread so far apart. Many times not near metropolitan areas. The club I've belonged to is an hour and forty minutes each way. The next nearest clubs are at least twice that distance and more. It's just a huge commitment to make a day at the club happen.

Now, my experience in Europe where I've flown internationally the most (Germany and England) There is a club every 30 miles. Usually, there's public transportation available from town to the club which makes it very accessible even for me on layovers. Imagine if here in the US we had this kind of access to our club field and facilities. Europe is not the US and this is the limitation we have. There are many reasons membership is dwindling, but I wanted to put this part of the equation out there.

Steve Vihlen

In the UK there is considerable resource put into the juniors moment to
attract youth to the support. This is very successful, and IMHO a very
worthwhile investment.

As I see it a bigger issue is retaining members through their mid to late
20s. Typically at this stage in life their are external factors affecting
membership retention ( careers, mortgages, wife / husband, children, etc).


So should clubs invest in creating and environment / infrastructure where
the airfield is a "family friendly environment". Static caravan parks for
members, so that the family can stay for the weekend and BBQ in the evening
with friends, etc. Make each weekend like a holiday for the family and
allow yourself more time to fly?

I, and I suspect many others find that gliding is wonderful, but the
friendships and social aspect of our sport also play a considerable role in
enjoyment of the sport (particularly in the UK where the weather is crap
for 11.5 months of the year!)

Just a thought.....



At 13:21 13 August 2014, SCVihlen wrote:
I learned to fly sailplanes while stationed with the USAF in Germany.
I've
=
been soaring in the US since 2000 and with my airline job have many
opportu=
nities to visit clubs around the world. My take on one of the factors is
th=
at the US is so large and clubs spread so far apart. Many times not near
me=
tropolitan areas. The club I've belonged to is an hour and forty minutes
ea=
ch way. The next nearest clubs are at least twice that distance and more.
I=
t's just a huge commitment to make a day at the club happen.=20

Now, my experience in Europe where I've flown internationally the most
(Ger=
many and England) There is a club every 30 miles. Usually, there's public
t=
ransportation available from town to the club which makes it very
accessibl=
e even for me on layovers. Imagine if here in the US we had this kind of
ac=
cess to our club field and facilities. Europe is not the US and this is
the=
limitation we have. There are many reasons membership is dwindling, but
I
=
wanted to put this part of the equation out there.

Steve Vihlen

We all appear to agree on two points: First, we have a problem attracting new members to our sport.

There aren't many people in the general population who are interested in soaring, but I believe that those who are will seek us out. It is important that we are able to quickly satisfy their curiosity when they do. I think it's safe to assume that most people's first stop would be a search on the internet, and that first visit to our website needs to convince them to make further contact. When they do, we need to respond quickly, and get them to come for a visit. When they arrive, somebody should be there to make them feel welcome, and answer their questions. I would suggest that this 'greeter' be somebody other than the person giving the glider rides so that the conversation can remain fluid. This personal touch cannot be overemphasized. In addition, our facilities need to be attractive. My wish-list would include a well-groomed outdoor picnic area that is in the shade, a well-maintained comfortable club house with refreshments, and a clean toilet with a sink that is kept stocked with paper, soap and towels (very important to the ladies). But it's the glider ride that sells the membership. The glider itself should be the best glider in the fleet, but it MUST be well-maintained and clean, inside and out. And the pilot giving the ride shouldn't look like a bum.

The second point that we appear to agree upon is that we have a problem keeping the members that we already have.

We can retain many members by just making improvements to club policies, such as:

1. While many members can only come out to the club on weekends and holidays, there's no reason why the club itself should be open only on weekends and holidays.

2. Double the size of each flying day by training in the mornings; pattern tows don't require thermals.

3. Standardize initial training. There is more than one way to satisfactorily demonstrate a maneuver to the PTS, but students are easily frustrated by different instructors teaching different procedures.

4. People hate duty rosters. If your club has a difficult time staffing a position, offer the carrot and not the stick.

5. Don't discourage cross-country by putting a daily time limit on club gliders. If you only have a few gliders for several people to share, set one glider aside for some to share, but let the others fly their gliders all day.

6. Encourage cross-country by correlating badges to privileges. For example: flight privileges beyond immediate local would require a C badge, flights beyond extended local require a Bronze badge, access to the club's entry-level fiberglass glider would require a Silver badge, etc.

7. Instructors should introduce cross-country BEFORE they sign them off for their check ride. The SGS 2-33 and ASK 13 can easily fly Silver distance tasks.

Other necessary club improvements would require deeper commitments, such as:

1. The basic training gliders, like the SGS 2-33 and the ASK 13, fill an important role in our sport. But they live hard lives, and all too often they're in poor condition. This is unsafe and unacceptable. Gliders need to be maintained (not just inspected), and eventually they need to be torn apart, refurbished and rebuilt.

2. Club fleets must grow. We need classic ships for the beginners, fiberglass ships for the intermediate members, and high-performance ships for the advanced members. And we need a safe and reliable way to get them all in the air, quickly.

3. But high-performance gliders by themselves are useless without receiving the necessary training to extract their performance capabilities; instruction must continue beyond the initial check ride in high-performance bi-place gliders, far away from home.

4. And club facilities must grow. We need hangars, internet-equipped club houses, covered areas near the runway for members waiting to fly, golf carts, picnic areas for end-of-day beverage consumption and holiday barbeques, campgrounds for tents and RV's, playgrounds for the kids...

In short, we desperately need to improve our product. Many clubs focus on making the sport affordable, but by doing so they won't ever have enough money to make improvements like these. But even if we doubled our fees we wouldn't raise enough revenue to make the improvements our sport needs; we would only lose more members.

While money by itself won't fix anything, we won't be able to fix everything without money. For clubs in the USA, the best tool available to grow funds is the 501(c)(3) certification. The government created this program specifically to help organizations like ours grow, but too few are even aware of it. The core of my proposal is that the SSA has an opportunity (and I would even say a responsibility) to get the word out to every club about the benefits of 501(c)(3). The specifics of to what degree the SSA becomes involved with each club's process is open for debate.


Chris Fleming

What if America's national training center for soaring was mobile?

A two-place,self-launching sailplane towed by a motor home driven by the SSA's chief of training
could show up a week before a regional contest. The instructor would conduct seminars, take students aloft and encourage others to follow in their own planes. Other times, clubs could pool interested members to bring SSA training to town. It might be popular enough to require bidding with sites bringing the most paying students getting the trainer first.

The chief training officer could write a column for Soaring magazine, have winter chores in the offices at Hobbs, help put on the convention and other national events.

The project would be partially self-funding, but mostly supported through the SSA with the most subsidy aimed at the instructor community, because we want our instructors to convey excitement about cross country flying. Some sailplane manufacturer would get the benefit of a top-of-the-line product being demonstrated across the country.
Robin Clark

On Wednesday, August 13, 2014 11:06:47 AM UTC-6, Robin Clark wrote:
What if America's national training center for soaring was mobile?



A two-place,self-launching sailplane towed by a motor home driven by the SSA's chief of training

could show up a week before a regional contest. The instructor would conduct seminars, take students aloft and encourage others to follow in their own planes. Other times, clubs could pool interested members to bring SSA training to town. It might be popular enough to require bidding with sites bringing the most paying students getting the trainer first.



The chief training officer could write a column for Soaring magazine, have winter chores in the offices at Hobbs, help put on the convention and other national events.



The project would be partially self-funding, but mostly supported through the SSA with the most subsidy aimed at the instructor community, because we want our instructors to convey excitement about cross country flying. Some sailplane manufacturer would get the benefit of a top-of-the-line product being demonstrated across the country.

Robin Clark

Last time I checked, first solo in a self-launching sailplane was not insurable. I know there was interest at one time in forming a training club around a Grob G-103 SL, but lack of insurability for first solos put that idea to bed.

Frank Whiteley

On Wednesday, August 13, 2014 2:28:02 PM UTC-4, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Wednesday, August 13, 2014 11:06:47 AM UTC-6, Robin Clark wrote:

What if America's national training center for soaring was mobile?







A two-place,self-launching sailplane towed by a motor home driven by the SSA's chief of training



could show up a week before a regional contest. The instructor would conduct seminars, take students aloft and encourage others to follow in their own planes. Other times, clubs could pool interested members to bring SSA training to town. It might be popular enough to require bidding with sites bringing the most paying students getting the trainer first.







The chief training officer could write a column for Soaring magazine, have winter chores in the offices at Hobbs, help put on the convention and other national events.







The project would be partially self-funding, but mostly supported through the SSA with the most subsidy aimed at the instructor community, because we want our instructors to convey excitement about cross country flying. Some sailplane manufacturer would get the benefit of a top-of-the-line product being demonstrated across the country.



Robin Clark



Last time I checked, first solo in a self-launching sailplane was not insurable. I know there was interest at one time in forming a training club around a Grob G-103 SL, but lack of insurability for first solos put that idea to bed.



Frank Whiteley

All flights in an SSA sponsored self-launched two-place would be with the SSA's chief instructor aboard. Instruction would be for advanced cross country and racing with the idea of improving overall US performance and eventually our results internationally. There would be a minimum skill requirement to fly with the instructor. Training on the ground would be open.

Thnat's not very far off a description of about 25% of my job as Senior
National Coach for the British Gliding Association in the late 80's and
90's. The training weeks weren't linked to competitions (apart from the
Junior National Championships) but run a various clubs around the country.
Easier in the UK, everywhere is within a day's drive.

At 17:06 13 August 2014, Robin Clark wrote:

What if America's national training center for soaring was mobile?

A two-place,self-launching sailplane towed by a motor home driven by the
SS=
A's chief of training=20
could show up a week before a regional contest. The instructor would
conduc=
t seminars, take students aloft and encourage others to follow in their
own=
planes. Other times, clubs could pool interested members to bring SSA
trai=
ning to town. It might be popular enough to require bidding with sites
brin=
ging the most paying students getting the trainer first.=20

The chief training officer could write a column for Soaring magazine,
have
=
winter chores in the offices at Hobbs, help put on the convention and
other=
national events.

The project would be partially self-funding, but mostly supported through
t=
he SSA with the most subsidy aimed at the instructor community, because
we
=
want our instructors to convey excitement about cross country flying.
Some
=
sailplane manufacturer would get the benefit of a top-of-the-line product
b=
eing demonstrated across the country.
Robin Clark