Grow soaring thru entertainment

"Bruce Greeff" wrote in message
...
Shawn Curry wrote:
bt news wrote:

In the UK the problems associated with getting a bunch of high school
kids
onto an airfield are far too challenging for the average club. Health
and
safety, child protection and the sheer responsibility of having someone
else's kids under the control of an unnofficial, untrained,
unsupported and
potentially 'dangerous' supervisor is enough to make this a
non-starter!


Nah, its not so hard. Myself and a fellow clubie once flew with about
10 14 year olds. We were in the gliders most of the time. We gave them
rules and instructions. Followed up between flights. No problems and
no complaints.

Shawn
Just ran a flying day for some scouts. 9 girls, one boy version turned up
and we
had a really good day.
Started off with a safety lecture at the hangar.
Took them to the launch point and got them to follow around with a daily
inspection, and then made 30 flights, including taking some of their
parents up.

The biggest problem we had safety wise was a club member having a senior
moment
and sending the retrieve vehicle up the runway when we had a cable out.
Slowed
things down a bit but our procedures worked and no danger incurred.
Experience has been similar to Shawn's - Have well thought out rule,
explain the
rules, be alert to problems, enjoy a really rewarding day. Kids in the
10-16 age
group who come out to the field are generally no problem. They were safe,
worked
hard and were a pleasure to have around, wish I could say the same of some
of
the adult geniuses we occasionally get turning up for a flight.

It is a bit of work, and you have to have the right people on the field
but is
is a great way to introduce people to the sport.

Will be doing this with my scout troop in a few weeks.

In the US Boy Scouts there are some permit (two-week lead time) and consent
(two signatures for most) requirements
Permit http://www.longspeakbsa.org/forms/flight.pdf
Consent http://www.scouting.org/pubs/gss/forms/23-673.pdf

Plus your local release. You might add a Young Eagles recognition also.

Frank Whiteley

At the site where I am a part-time instructor, we give rides to troops of boy
scouts perhpas twice a year. They come in troops of 15 - 20 kids, plus adult
supervisors. They each get a ride from a 2500-ft tow. To my knowledge, not one
of the literally hundreds of kids who were given intros to soaring has ever
come back for instruction.

Cheers anyhow, Charles

"Vorsanger1" wrote in message
...
At the site where I am a part-time instructor, we give rides to troops of
boy
scouts perhpas twice a year. They come in troops of 15 - 20 kids, plus
adult
supervisors. They each get a ride from a 2500-ft tow. To my knowledge,
not one
of the literally hundreds of kids who were given intros to soaring has
ever
come back for instruction.

Cheers anyhow, Charles

I don't disagree with your sentiment at all. I've promoted soaring at EAA
regionals, airport open houses, at school days, shopping malls, and
universities. By far the best results have come from universities and
several clubs near major universities have been successful at this. Other
clubs, with historical roots in university clubs, have distanced themselves
somewhat.

That being said, most new members in our gaggle have been walk-ons with 2-3
coming in as acquaintances of members. More than half have come with
private power tickets and a couple with commercial or higher ratings.
Soaring still belongs to the seeker. Most of the churn this past year has
been due to work re-location and lay-offs.

The only reason I'm organizing my Scout troop is for continuing troop
activity through the summer months. The past two Scoutmasters didn't want
to meet during the summer months and our troop has dwindled to about half
it's original size as a result. A few of these current scouts will make
Eagle some day and may find that Scouting, like soaring, is an activity one
can be involved with for life if you're willing to stay fit and enjoy the
rigors. Plus it dovetails with the Aviation and Bird Study Merit Badges (to
be conducted by a locally well-known and world traveled Audobon Society
member who has a recognized bird sanctuary in his garden). Perhaps one of
these Scouts will get to soar with a hawk, or even a bald eagle. The winch
launch will grab their attention anyway.

Frank

"Marcel Duenner" wrote in message
m...
wrote in message ...
Have to ask yourself if this really is the kind of people you want to
involve in soaring... Fair-goers awaiting some new source of
entertainment-

Admittedly, I want people interested in the sport that are willing to
work
toward a goal, not be given something that is easily
obtained and cheaply advertised.

It's a great sport, an amazing gift-
I don't want it taken for granted by those seeking entertainment, I want
it
enjoyed by those seeking joy-


Of course we don't really want that kind of people. But don't worry -
they won't stay. And don't forget that not all fair-goers are soaring
pilots but some might be if you give them the opportunity.
I think the idea was to get lots more people to know about our sport
and have a little taste of it. As John said: throw enough people into
the air, and some of them might stay up.
As a side effect we get positive publicity which is another thing the
sport needs desperately.

Not exactly the same audience but with a higher success rate:
At our club we offer an introduction to soaring for about 80US$ three
to five times a year, depending on demand. It includes an evening of
theory and a day of gliding. One aerotow and one or two winch launches
per person. Depends on weather and on how long the flights turn out to
be. We take 6 to 10 people a time and require a minimum age of 14 so
if they like it they can start next year. We get about 1 or 2 new
members each time.

Marcel

Why walk when you can soar?

We offer a three flight mini-course, $200US, which has been a reasonably
successful recruitment tool. I can't recall anyone taking a scenic flight
that's ever returned for instruction.

At one of my former UK civil clubs, we used the longest day of the year for
fund-raising by offering an Air Experience Flight (1500ft winch launch) for
14UKP. We did 130 between 7AM and about 8PM on a two drum winch run. It
was a lot of effort and generated no members, but that wasn't the goal
either.

Frank