In the Austin American Stateman this morning.

On Oct 13, 4:09*am, tienshanman tienshanman.
wrote:
sisu1a;743304 Wrote:



*http://www.statesman.com/news/local/...s-his-ride-on-...

"I think it's like a coffin — with a view," * * * facepalm.... * *
-
well, other than comparing gliders to vessels of death within the
first 10 lines it's a kinda good article *:/ * * ...OK, I can see the
line "you feel like a god" seriously irking many readers (especially
in the Biblebelt), and the line "sometimes you have no choice" ,after
talking about landing in treetops or water- ya know, from 'when the
rising air pockets are scarce'... really makes gliding seem very
haphazard. *Luckily it ends all jolly with Neal Armstrong selling him
a glider, but jeez... is it really that hard to figure out what NOT to
say to a reporter?

Is there any kind of do's and don'ts handout or published guidelines
the SSA has, to help keep people from making comments like this when
feeding reporters information intended for the general public? If
there's not, rule 1 is not dragging death into the subject, seriously,
unless you reporting on an actual death... Steering clear of any and
all religious references should be second- just waaay too easy to
offend people there.

-Paul

Seems to me that the
really good cross country pilots don't fly like they do without
taking some pretty big risks - sometimes. I may be on weak ground here
because I am definitely not in that league.
tienshanman

I think you are on somewhat weak ground.

Soaring, and especially XC, is the art and science of doing something
inherently dangerous in a way which is inherently safe. Skill and
knowledge makes it safe to do some pretty spectacular things without
taking risks. Spectacular things look risky to those who don't know
the reasoning behind them.

If someone does in fact take 'pretty big risks' they're going to come
up snake-eyes sooner or later. With a wrecked glider or worse,
they're probably out of the sport.

If something feels risky, good pilots back off and figure out another
way to do it without the risk. Soaring is as safe as you care to make
it.

I do not think we do anyone any good if we try to portray soaring as
some benign activity that’s about as risky as playing a game of
checkers on the front porch. Let’s face it, soaring is dangerous
and people should stop trying to put the spin on it for public
consumption in the hope of luring in the unwary. People need to come
into the sport with no illusions.


Thank goodness you have nothing to do with public relations!! There
is a huge difference between creating a false sense of security by
candy coating/spinning reality and doing what happened here. For most
people that read this, it will be their first (probably last) exposure
to gliders/gliding. For reasons that have nothing to do with safety or
a realistic representation of the soaring, what they are supplied with
for their first impression is a (likely permanent) visual mental image
of a coffin with wings. Death, possibly coupled with associated grief,
is now associated with sailplanes in the minds of the readers. FAIL!
Next they get pilots that think they're god, and then by deduction
should perhaps begin worrying about a glider falling out of the sky on
them, since after all when the air pockets get scarce pilots simply
have no choice where they crash their plane next...

While I'm sure the reporter is responsible for most of the awkwardness
of the article, the coffin line is a killer. I'm pretty sure articles
like this are more likely inspire people to avoid sailplanes
altogether, not make them come into the sport with no illusions.

-Paul

ps. this has nothing to do with PC, just basic psychology.

On Oct 13, 3:09*am, tienshanman tienshanman.
wrote:
sisu1a;743304 Wrote:





*http://www.statesman.com/news/local/...s-his-ride-on-...

"I think it's like a coffin — with a view," * * * facepalm.... * *
-

People need to come
into the sport with no illusions. I frankly found the coffin comment a
humorous breath of fresh air and I appreciate the parts of the article
that alluded to the risk factor in the sport. Seems to me that the
really good cross country pilots don’t fly like they do without
taking some pretty big risks - sometimes. I may be on weak ground here

- Show quoted text -

Hmm. If you have some analysis tools, download a bunch of flight files
from the OLC. I used to believe that the guys really racking up the
kilometers of XC were flying more aggressively, but I looked at a lot
of huge flights by a leading Region 11 pilot, and couldn't find any
instance where he put himself outside a 30:1 glide from a good landout
or airfield.

This discussion is heading in the normal direction of most ras
discussions....backwards!

Let's look toward what could potentially be the biggest media event
that soaring may have in our life time...the 100th Anniversary of
Soaring focused on Kitty Hawk Oct 21-24, 2011.

Think about how you can promote this date to your local area
reporters, start planting the seed in yours and their minds, plan a
local public event at your gliderport, and be part of something
bigger.

Only the future can be changed. Be part of it.

LT

Originally Posted by Grider Pirate

On Oct 13, 3:09*am, tienshanman tienshanman.
wrote:
sisu1a;743304 Wrote:





*http://www.statesman.com/news/local/...s-his-ride-on-...

"I think it's like a coffin — with a view," * * * facepalm.... * *
-

People need to come
into the sport with no illusions. I frankly found the coffin comment a
humorous breath of fresh air and I appreciate the parts of the article
that alluded to the risk factor in the sport. Seems to me that the
really good cross country pilots don’t fly like they do without
taking some pretty big risks - sometimes. I may be on weak ground here

- Show quoted text -

Hmm. If you have some analysis tools, download a bunch of flight files
from the OLC. I used to believe that the guys really racking up the
kilometers of XC were flying more aggressively, but I looked at a lot
of huge flights by a leading Region 11 pilot, and couldn't find any
instance where he put himself outside a 30:1 glide from a good landout
or airfield.

Hmmm....although being within 30/1 of a landable field is fine, actually landing one safely can be another story, and besides methinks there are a whole lot more factors to safety than being within glide range of a landable field. Seems like Thomas Knauff has done a pretty job lately of dispelling the safety notions about soaring.

Great point, Larry. I have already volunteered to support
SOARING100 . This is the perfect opportunity to celebrate soaring.
Here is a link to an interview for the Hampton Roads, VA newspaper.
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/08/2011...ht-outer-banks



On Oct 13, 11:24*am, HoUdino wrote:
This discussion is heading in the normal direction of most ras
discussions....backwards!

Let's look toward what could potentially be the biggest media event
that soaring may have in our life time...the 100th Anniversary of
Soaring focused on Kitty Hawk Oct 21-24, 2011.

Think about how you can promote this date to your local area
reporters, start planting the seed in yours and their minds, plan a
local public event at your gliderport, and be part of something
bigger.

Only the future can be changed. *Be part of it.

LT