Have you seen the new SSA 'Where to fly' web-site?

FYI, I sent a message off to Dennis at 3:35 this afternoon, about the
incorrect club info on the new page. I received a message from Doug
Easton at 8:09 asking me to check the corrections.

That's a turn around time of 4 1/2 hours on a Sunday afternoon! Way to
go SSA.

Charlie

Greg,
I have mentioned this to Rod at Hangar One two times over the past few
years and he just shrugged his shoulders. I don't know what it takes
to get on the web page but he sure wasn't interested in doing anything
about it.

BTW: Is he operating this summer? I had heard he was perhaps
'retiring'.

I would like to see a better reason to spend money.
This site now suffers from the Cadillac syndrome when we need a Model
T.
Sites all over the Web are far too flashy requiring more bandwith for
less content.
As several poster's have noted numerous sites previousy reported are
now missing requiring MORE time to troubleshoot.
Another example: the Illini GLider Club, one of the oldest glider clubs
in the United States with roots back to the 1920's, is now missing.
Spending more money to fix a web site thats not broken is a wasteof
money.
IMHO

BlueGliderGuy wrote:
I would like to see a better reason to spend money.
This site now suffers from the Cadillac syndrome when we need a Model
T.
Sites all over the Web are far too flashy requiring more bandwith for
less content.
As several poster's have noted numerous sites previousy reported are
now missing requiring MORE time to troubleshoot.
Another example: the Illini GLider Club, one of the oldest glider
clubs
in the United States with roots back to the 1920's, is now missing.
Spending more money to fix a web site thats not broken is a wasteof
money.
IMHO

BlueGliderGuy
Is the Illini Glider club a chapter of SSA? If not, they should become
one.
This would then,once info is provided, get them listed on where to fly.
Where to fly shows chapters and business members, but does not show non
affiliated organizations.
No money was spent on this. It is the result of hard work by a number
of creative and dedicated volunteers led bt Doug Easton.
More improvements will be coming from these guys.
I say WELL DONE!
UH

wrote:

BlueGliderGuy
Is the Illini Glider club a chapter of SSA? If not, they should become
one.
This would then,once info is provided, get them listed on where to fly.
Where to fly shows chapters and business members, but does not show non
affiliated organizations.
No money was spent on this. It is the result of hard work by a number
of creative and dedicated volunteers led bt Doug Easton.
More improvements will be coming from these guys.
I say WELL DONE!
UH


Concerned as we are about serving glider pilots and potential glider
pilots and about the growth, or at least arresting the decline of the
sport, it seems to me that this section of the web site should have as
its objective making it easy for people, members and non-members, to
find soaring sites, not the rewarding of clubs or operators who choose
to affiliate with the SSA. Rather than being self-righteous about those
who, "should," affiliate, we might rather ask the questions, "Why
have they chosen not to do so, and how can we change their minds?"

Al
Trustee
Soaring Society of America Foundation

I would like to see all known soaring locations displayed on the map.
Different symbols could be used for those who have chosen to affiliate with
the SSA and the ones who are not affiliated.

Wayne
http://www.soaridaho.com/

"Albert Gold" wrote in message
...
wrote:

Concerned as we are about serving glider pilots and potential glider
pilots and about the growth, or at least arresting the decline of the
sport, it seems to me that this section of the web site should have as
its objective making it easy for people, members and non-members, to
find soaring sites, not the rewarding of clubs or operators who choose
to affiliate with the SSA. Rather than being self-righteous about those
who, "should," affiliate, we might rather ask the questions, "Why
have they chosen not to do so, and how can we change their minds?"

Al
Trustee
Soaring Society of America Foundation

BlueGliderGuy
Is the Illini Glider club a chapter of SSA? If not, they should become
one.
This would then,once info is provided, get them listed on where to fly.
Where to fly shows chapters and business members, but does not show non
affiliated organizations.

Is this the best way to grow the sport (and provide future members to
the SSA)? To provide no information about glding sites that don't
affiliate with the SSA? I think the SSA is suffering some confusion
about what is good for the SSA (at least in the short run), and what is
good for the sport.

Albert Gold wrote:

wrote:

BlueGliderGuy
Is the Illini Glider club a chapter of SSA? If not, they should become
one.
This would then,once info is provided, get them listed on where to fly.
Where to fly shows chapters and business members, but does not show non
affiliated organizations.
No money was spent on this. It is the result of hard work by a number
of creative and dedicated volunteers led bt Doug Easton.
More improvements will be coming from these guys.
I say WELL DONE!
UH


Concerned as we are about serving glider pilots and potential glider
pilots and about the growth, or at least arresting the decline of the
sport, it seems to me that this section of the web site should have as
its objective making it easy for people, members and non-members, to
find soaring sites, not the rewarding of clubs or operators who choose
to affiliate with the SSA. Rather than being self-righteous about those
who, "should," affiliate, we might rather ask the questions, "Why
have they chosen not to do so, and how can we change their minds?"

Al
Trustee
Soaring Society of America Foundation
I would ask the SSA state governors to spearhead this.

Frank Whiteley

I agree that the SSA should list all sites with soaring activities.

However, I also feel the SSA should ensure complete accuracy of the
information it provides. I'd hate to drive out to some location all
ready to take an intro ride or learn more about the sport only to find
an abandoned building or office. How would SSA look to me then?

There needs to be an "official" relationship between the site and SSA
(not necessarily financial) so that anyone looking for information has
some hope of it being correct and current. I suspect that some of the
missing operations have not communicated their existence directly to
the SSA.

Like it or not, SSA is THE voice and presence of soaring in the USA.
If a club or FBO refuses to acknowledge its existence by not being
affiliated (maybe we need more than a business membership / club
chapter), then the SSA cannot recommend that operation as a place to
fly, since any information SSA may have about it does not come from the
operator, but instead a third party or the rumor mill.

I'm not trying to force SSA onto anyone, but I think there needs to be
some type of affiliation so both organizations can recognize each other
and share resources.

-Tom

5Z wrote:

I agree that the SSA should list all sites with soaring activities.

However, I also feel the SSA should ensure complete accuracy of the
information it provides. I'd hate to drive out to some location all
ready to take an intro ride or learn more about the sport only to find
an abandoned building or office. How would SSA look to me then?

There needs to be an "official" relationship between the site and SSA
(not necessarily financial) so that anyone looking for information has
some hope of it being correct and current. I suspect that some of the
missing operations have not communicated their existence directly to
the SSA.

Like it or not, SSA is THE voice and presence of soaring in the USA.
If a club or FBO refuses to acknowledge its existence by not being
affiliated (maybe we need more than a business membership / club
chapter), then the SSA cannot recommend that operation as a place to
fly, since any information SSA may have about it does not come from the
operator, but instead a third party or the rumor mill.

I'm not trying to force SSA onto anyone, but I think there needs to be
some type of affiliation so both organizations can recognize each other
and share resources.

-Tom


I'm not suggesting that the SSA site directory does or should recommend
sites any more than the phone book recommends numbers to call. Perhaps,
as someone has proposed in this thread, it could indicate whether or not
a site is affiliated with the SSA. If volunteer labor were available to
do so, using Google will find most soaring web sites in any state very
quickly. Assuming the site's own web site is up to date -- granted, a
large assumption -- most of the relevant facts can easily be confirmed.
A simple asterisk could be used to indicated that current information
has not been verified.

No matter how good our intentions, the information in the "Where to fly"
section will become outdated fairly quickly, as was the case with its
predecessor. There's just not enough available free labor to prevent
that from happening. However, with appropriate disclaimers, highly
useful information can and should still be provided, even at the risk of
occasional error.