Youth in soaring, and anything

Our kids pay $15 to 2000 ft and the 1-26 is free. Their other flying,
such as training, is about 1/2 of regular member. essentially they pay
variable costs for their flying and the regular membership, plus some
income from introductory flights, covers absorption of fixed costs.
Alas, our airport is not suitable for winching.
UH- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hank,
your club is a shining example for supporting youth in soaring. Caesar
Creek is another one. Neither one is winching for various reasons -
and yes, Harris Hill is a bit short for that. The one thing both clubs
have in common is their size and members dedicated to taking on the
job of training. Hats off to both clubs!
Uli

GM wrote:
.....Ever wondered how it is
possible for European clubs to train their students for far less than
over here (US)? (Please, don't give that crap about the government
paying for their planes, etc.!)


It's not *all* crap. Late one year, some Canadians showed up and bought
an L23 that was on lease back to a small outfit that I flew commercial
rides for. You see, they had to spend CDN$50,000 before the end of the year.


There are some really encouraging developments ongoing in the US to
make winches more affordable for clubs. Besides lowering the costs per
flight, a winch launch provides a certain 'Wow-Factor'; something the
younger crowd craves.


Thanks largely to member Ken Flaton, the Greater Boston Soaring Club is
working on that
http://picasaweb.google.com/verhulst...inchDay091010#.

Tony V.

On Dec 19, 7:47*am, Tom Gardner wrote:
On Dec 19, 5:50*am, GM wrote:

a winch launch provides a certain 'Wow-Factor'; something the
younger crowd craves.

Definitely.

My daughter's first flight was an aerotow in a DG500. Her reaction:
"it was OK".
Her second flight (same day, different club!) was a winch launch in a
K13.
Her reaction: "Can I do it again?". She was hooked, and remains so.

Precisely my observation - kids LOVE winch launch. With good
equipment and sharp instructor staff, it's a fun, economical and
effective way to attract the younger crowd.

Bill D

On Dec 19, 7:51*am, "
wrote:
Money is the easy complaint. *I'd guess time is the real answer,
followed by spousal permission. *And we have become a risk averse
planet, current culture punishes non-risk averse individuals.

Especially with many 'leaders' trying to scare the crap out of
everyone. Those are our 'profits of doom'.

In the '60's the question was 'are you experienced?' Now, it seems to
be 'are you dangerous?'. Funny how obtuse PC has become.

I'm the youth program coordinator at Texas Soaring Association, and I
can tell you that one of my ongoing concerns is precisely what is
addressed in the beginning of this thread. Our program gives youth
program members credit for $10 per hour worked on club tasks. It's a
great deal, but when the young person finishes their private license,
they are done in the youth program. They then have the option to
convert to full membership for half the normal initiation fee. This
is a huge concession on the part of the club, but it still leaves us
saying goodbye to some fine young people who would be great for the
future of the sport. I'm trying to find a way to bring some of these
kids back into the program as mentors/supervisors/role models and
continue their membership in the youth program. But even that doesn't
resolve the long term issue that pops up in their 20s--career, school,
family vs. soaring.

BTW, in my time with the club, I only recall one teenage towpilot, and
he's not with the club any more. Gone off to school, I believe.

On Dec 19, 9:31*am, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Dec 19, 7:51*am, "
wrote:

Money is the easy complaint. *I'd guess time is the real answer,
followed by spousal permission. *And we have become a risk averse
planet, current culture punishes non-risk averse individuals.

Especially with many 'leaders' trying to scare the crap out of
everyone. *Those are our 'profits of doom'.

In the '60's the question was 'are you experienced?' *Now, it seems to
be 'are you dangerous?'. *Funny how obtuse PC has become.

On Dec 19, 5:30*am, "Morgans" wrote:
Frank, (and others) be kind and trim previous posts, please.

Yeah, I noticed that the quoted text (Google) was large after I posted.

On Dec 19, 7:47*am, Tom Gardner wrote:
On Dec 19, 5:50*am, GM wrote:

a winch launch provides a certain 'Wow-Factor'; something the
younger crowd craves.

Definitely.

My daughter's first flight was an aerotow in a DG500. Her reaction:
"it was OK".
Her second flight (same day, different club!) was a winch launch in a
K13.
Her reaction: "Can I do it again?". She was hooked, and remains so.

Don would like you all to visit Florida this winter;^)
http://www.crosscountrysoaring.com/florida.html

On Dec 19, 3:29*pm, bildan wrote:
On Dec 19, 7:47*am, Tom Gardner wrote:

On Dec 19, 5:50*am, GM wrote:

a winch launch provides a certain 'Wow-Factor'; something the
younger crowd craves.

Definitely.

My daughter's first flight was an aerotow in a DG500. Her reaction:
"it was OK".
Her second flight (same day, different club!) was a winch launch in a
K13.
Her reaction: "Can I do it again?". She was hooked, and remains so.

Precisely my observation - kids LOVE winch launch. *With good
equipment and sharp instructor staff, it's a fun, economical and
effective way to attract the younger crowd.

Adults enjoy it too Gets me away from that nasty hard stuff asap

Your point about "good equipment" and "sharp instructor staff"
shouldn't be overlooked. The BGA has recently been particularly
active in promoting winch launch safety; see
http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/saf...hlaunching.htm
for leaflets, a quiz, and for video simulations

On Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:50:28 -0800, GM wrote:

I realize that not everybody will push his water-
laden $180k glider into the winch queue but perhaps there are many
pilots perfectly happy to do a couple of launches and maybe catch a
thermal for a local flight.

You may be surprised. In my UK club a number of our better pilots
routinely start an XC task off a winch launch.

I'm not one of the pundits, but I prefer to start an XC from a winch
launch on the grounds that if I can get away fairly easily off the winch
then its quite likely that I can do it again if/when I get low when out
on task.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

On Dec 19, 3:55*pm, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Dec 19, 7:47*am, Tom Gardner wrote:

On Dec 19, 5:50*am, GM wrote:

a winch launch provides a certain 'Wow-Factor'; something the
younger crowd craves.

Definitely.

My daughter's first flight was an aerotow in a DG500. Her reaction:
"it was OK".
Her second flight (same day, different club!) was a winch launch in a
K13.
Her reaction: "Can I do it again?". She was hooked, and remains so.

Don would like you all to visit Florida this winter;^)http://www.crosscountrysoaring.com/florida.html

Tempting: it feels cold on our runway at the moment. But our
runway is just as long (club lore has it that a B52 lined up
to land on it), and it is too much hassle to get special
passports to meet the TSA regs