The Decline of Soaring Awards

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

On Wed, 25 Mar 2020 16:02:19 -0700, markmocho53 wrote:

Don't mean to be snarky, but western US
soaring conditions are exceptional.

Of course. However, as I said in a different post, the conditions where I
usually fly in Eastern UK or across into the Midlands are far more like
New England than western US conditions. Where I fly, 4-5 kts is good and
anything over 6 is exceptional.

In addition, almost everybody in my club will be flying a club glider for
Silver, so club rules apply, and I don't think our instructors would be
at all happy if a pre-Bronze pilot flew Silver duration outside local
soaring range of home, particularly given that said pre-Bronze pilot will
most unlikely to have done any field landing or navigation training yet.

Gold Hat: "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I
don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!" (From the film, "Treasure
of the Sierra Madre," Alfonso Bedoya as "Gold Hat," 1948)

In the UK and Europe badges are useful. If you're visiting a new club and
want to fly, they'll want to know what badges and hours you have before
you take a check-ride/site familiarisationflight or there's any
discussion of what single seaters they'll let you fly.

There are fields here where I wouldn't WANT to fly without a check-ride
with winch cable breaks. Eden Soaring for instance:

54°41'55.61"N 2°34'59.36"W

This is a winch-only site. That co-ordinate is at the NE end of a stone
wall across the middle of the runway with a 50m gap in its centre. The
nearest working point of the ridge is 3km NE of the airfield. The picture
looks to have been made before flying started on a day when the wind is
at nearly 90 degrees to the run.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting out and doing some soaring. Anytime, anywhere. If you don't go XC on every flight, or don't set some record (even if it is in your own logbook), who cares? If you are the last to launch, after the "prime time," who cares? Getting a few hours in the air after work in mellow conditions that don't tempt you to venture far from the field is still fun. Plus, you get some safe practice in softening, end-of day lift. It's a good thing to become comfortable in conditions that might happen on your next final glide. Fly around locally, enjoy yourself. Land late and watch the Sunset. Have a beer with friends. Laugh with them about the day. (And now for a Public Service Announcement: Wash your hands before offering your buddies a beer.)

I used to love getting a late launch after work in my hang glider (6:00 pm or so, flying till the 8:30 sunset) and hanging around the LZ with some of the most fun people I ever had as friends. I wish Soaring had that same social late-in-the-evening experience to offer. It does occasionally occur, but most folks have to drive some distance home, and DWI is serious business. (It used to be a sport!) I'm lucky. I live 2 miles from the airport, and there is a great brewery on the way home. Just in case.

Just think about all the yardwork you can avoid by following some simple guidelines.

On Monday, March 23, 2020 at 9:57:12 PM UTC-6, John Foster wrote:
I read the recent article in Soaring and it has got me fired up. I have been a member of a small club in Washington State for the last 2 years, learning to fly. The club has a 2-33 and a Lark and a Pawnee. That's it. Badge flying has not been an emphasis, even though one qualifies for at least the A badge once you solo. Part of the reason is that there is very little emphasis on cross-country flying, mostly because most of the club pilots don't like flying the Lark, and it is too big of an ordeal to disassemble the 2-33 and transport back to the airport should an off-field landing occur. As a result, most people just fly the 2-33 in circles around the airport, never venturing outside gliding distance. The club has been in the market for a decent glass two-seater to do cross-country flying with, but there is no budget for this. And the one CFIG is getting about ready to hang it up, and has not had much interest in teaching cross-country flying, at least in part due to the club not having appropriate aircraft for training students to do this. While the Lark is perfectly capable of flying cross-country, it is still not regarded by club members as a good glider to learn this in.

At the recent SSA convention, some of the club officers were discussing the dilemma with other folks from other small clubs, and again and again they encountered the same problem--aging out CFIGs and club gliders not up to the task of learning cross-country flying in.

Most of the loudest voices we hear here on RAS seem to be indifferent to the plight of smaller clubs. These people are typically close to large metropolitan areas with a very large (and wealthy) population base to draw from, and are members of large, well-established, and well-funded clubs. But the reality is that there are many small clubs that don't have a CFIG that will teach cross-country or they don't have a club trainer they can teach it in, and they don't have a membership base that can support/afford a $50-75K glass two-seater capable of cross-country training, let alone a motor glider that could be used to practice going through the motions of off-field selection and setting up an approach. Why? Because they can't afford it.

So, in order to save the sport, get more more young people flying, and make it more accessible to people other than retired old men who are sitting on a nest egg large enough afford a new JS3 or Arcus M, what can we do? How can we make it more affordable?

The other concern regarding the expense of new gliders, is that current fleet of used training gliders continues to slowly shrink. More and more training gliders are either being damaged by training accidents or by weather, and those that come up for sale often have damage history, and as a result, are heavier and have a reduced useful load. This, coupled with the obesity epidemic, is putting a premium on those training gliders capable of carrying two 200lbs + pilots. Eventually, we are going to run out of training gliders if this trend continues. We need to be thinking ahead about how we are going to replace this aging fleet, or we will be left high and dry.

John from my experience it has to do with the club atmosphere much more then the the fleet. I'm part of a small club out on the west coast. We have 2 2-33's, 1-26, and a DG-100. None of these are great cross country trainers, but the club is Very cross country oriented. In the spring when the weather is good there will b at least 5 or 6 people going xc in private ships and the students pick up on this.

Another thing to note is that you don't need to be a CFIG to teach cross country. One of the members of our club owns a Duo and he will often bring fleshly minted pilots on flights with him to see what you can really do with cross country and for mentoring. For me personally he has been the best resource for learning to fly cross country both on the ground and in the air..

Last note, and this is probably an unpopular opinion, but I think that badges, at least after the bronze badge, are a silly and outdated way to encourage cross country flying. For a badge one must declare a task, fill out a lengthy task decoration, find an official observer, find a certified tracker, if not in calibration get that tracker calibrated, and so on before making the flight. These steps are for the most part pointless, annoying, and discouraging people from flying. Thus I think OLC is a much better motivator for cross country soaring if you need one.

Hello Wyll, as for some of the badges you don’t really have to do a thing. For gold and diamond distance all a guy has to do is have a logger, call an observer or the airport manager, tell them your going on a long flight and fly it. If you make the distance, then you fill out the forms and have the OO or manager check over things. Actually easy peasy.
The same goes for altitude legs. For declared distance legs not really that much harder, you just have to preload your intended task into your logger and same thing, go fly. Actually it is way easier than back in the “paper� days with written declarations, cameras, turn point photos and barographs.

Dan

On Thursday, March 26, 2020 at 2:31:18 PM UTC-6, wrote:
Hello Wyll, as for some of the badges you don’t really have to do a thing. For gold and diamond distance all a guy has to do is have a logger, call an observer or the airport manager, tell them your going on a long flight and fly it. If you make the distance, then you fill out the forms and have the OO or manager check over things. Actually easy peasy.
The same goes for altitude legs. For declared distance legs not really that much harder, you just have to preload your intended task into your logger and same thing, go fly. Actually it is way easier than back in the “paper� days with written declarations, cameras, turn point photos and barographs.

Dan

Any special equipment needed for the altitude component for badges today? Like an altitude encoding transponder? Or does a simple GPS data logger suffice?

A clarification on badge distance rules. All flights for Gold Distance, Diamond Distance, and Diamond Goal must be pre-declared - unless they are a point to point "downwind dash".

I learned this the hard way by being an OO for a Diamond Distance flight where we screwed up the post flight waypoint GPS identification and tried to change it.

Only an IGC approved logger is needed for altitude claims.

Lou

Yes MNLou, sorry for not clarifying that about distance, guys can just plan/make a straight line flight and qualify for gold or diamond distance without declaring where there going. Those have been the most fun flights for me.. I like just heading out on a good day and seeing how far I can get in a direction that looks good.
Dan

On Thursday, March 26, 2020 at 2:52:53 PM UTC-4, Dan Marotta wrote:
A couple of comments:

If your tracker is not in calibration, you can have that done within 30
days after the flight (unless rules have changed).

For me, (steenkin') badges were a way of showing the community that I
had (30 years ago) what it took to fly unsupervised for long distances.Â*
OLC does not prove anything other than you can follow a decent path
through the sky.Â* A badge means that you can plan in advance and execute
a flight.Â* It's not as easy as you might think. And, yeah, the rules are
a pain, but nothing compared to film cameras, paper maps, and a
barograph.Â* So, plan a badge flight and fly it as planned.Â* You might
see the difference.

And as to mentoring newbies, though I can hardly be called a newbie,
there was a man, since retired from soaring, who owned a DG-500m-22 at
Moriarty.Â* He didn't much care to fly alone and anyone who wanted could
have the front seat and learn.Â* He happened to be a CFI, but I don't
recalling him doing any formal training.Â* He just helped people fly in a
nice ship and enjoyed their company.Â* Your Duo Discus guy seems to be
the same way.

On 3/26/2020 11:26 AM, Wyll Surf Air wrote:
John from my experience it has to do with the club atmosphere much more then the the fleet. I'm part of a small club out on the west coast. We have 2 2-33's, 1-26, and a DG-100. None of these are great cross country trainers, but the club is Very cross country oriented. In the spring when the weather is good there will b at least 5 or 6 people going xc in private ships and the students pick up on this.

Another thing to note is that you don't need to be a CFIG to teach cross country. One of the members of our club owns a Duo and he will often bring fleshly minted pilots on flights with him to see what you can really do with cross country and for mentoring. For me personally he has been the best resource for learning to fly cross country both on the ground and in the air.

Last note, and this is probably an unpopular opinion, but I think that badges, at least after the bronze badge, are a silly and outdated way to encourage cross country flying. For a badge one must declare a task, fill out a lengthy task decoration, find an official observer, find a certified tracker, if not in calibration get that tracker calibrated, and so on before making the flight. These steps are for the most part pointless, annoying, and discouraging people from flying. Thus I think OLC is a much better motivator for cross country soaring if you need one.

--
Dan, 5J

From current Sporting Code 3: "...shall be calibrated within 5 years prior to the flight or within 2 months after the flight."