The Problem I believe in 10-20 years soaring is going to look very different than it does today... Why? Ops, Oil and popularity. Here's how gliding works today in the United States... You find a club, maybe they have a "demonstration flight", but probably they don't and you have immediately fork upwards of $200 "membership fee", then you sit around the field every weekend for two months (just the nice days) and "hope" you get a ride (after all the regulars get launched for the day) if your extra lucky you get two. To make a day happen you have to have a tow pilot, an instructor and at least a couple extra guys mulling around to crew. In percentages... Flying = Weather * Tow Pilot * Instructor * Tow Plane * Glider / StudentCount That's CRAZY! Here's a typical example; Flying = 60% * 80% * 80% * 0.92 * 0.98 % / 3 = 11.52% From my experience at some clubs... that's pretty accurate. I'm fortunate t...