Why is Soaring Declining?

[Brian Nightingale]

Every year the number of new pilots gets smaller and smaller . Why is this happening , and what can be done about It ? If something isn't done , Soaring in the US is going to be gone in 20 years. What are your thoughts?

[Scott Fletcher]

Delayed gratification, and it's damn expensive. And...Its not a sport made for TV.

A year to obtain a license, two more years to learn to go cross country

You are probably going to suck at it for bit longer than you are comfortable with.

Then the costs start to add up.

Very few want to work that hard, and have the patience to finish it these days.

It's an instant gratification culture, they all expect to be VP's by 25, and

everything takes a mouse click, not actual work, and skill development.

Aviation is about personal responsibility.  That's not a universally embraced

concept today.

 

SF

[Mark Mocho]

Cost of decent equipment is also a factor. Much of the allure of soaring is the exceptional grace and beauty of a modern sailplane. It's hard to reconcile that image with the affordable entry level beasts out there. It is also a fact that we bait interested people with elegant ships like the JS3 or Ventus and then stuff them in a 2-33 for their lessons.

[Brian Nightingale]

It depends on how bad you want it , and your work ethic . I took my first glider lesson in 1983 . Operation moved off after about 6 lessons . Decided to go back to it 2023 . Had to lose 150lbs to fly . Did that in 18 months. First flight 4/30/24 , license 7/30/24 . Bought a Standard Cirrus the next day , and I will take it cross country this winter and spring season in Fl. Of course I couldn’t have done it without the exceptional people that helped me along the way . 

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[Peter N. Steinmetz]

I think the prior comments have hit the major issues, so I will just restate from a neuroscientific perspective.

Modern video games are designed to be extremely reinforcing. The marketplace for them is essentially a competition to produce the most addictive game with the fastest production of thrills.

Kids these days get their kicks by playing these. It is much safer, quicker, and cheaper than what most of us did when we were kids - which was go out and engage in real world activities. 

I think the implications are that there is basically nothing to be done about it. Sort of a downer for those of us who love the actual sport of soaring. Just as there are still people around who like riding horse and buggy, there will always be a small group of people who want to fly gliders and soar. But I suspect the best results for people will be obtained by facing these unfortunate facts and adjusting to them.

Enjoy the soaring while you can.

Pete

[Jack N. Derrickson]

I am the youth representative at Caesar Creek Soaring. I have definitely noticed a decline in youth participation across the board. However, our yearly youth camp participation is on the rise, slowly bringing back the youth. I think the SSA does a great job supporting juniors with scholarships, the junior rebate, and programs like the Discus 2cxt. I’m also very excited to see how Garrett Willat’s junior aircraft program develops, it will be a fantastic opportunity for many young pilots.

One of the biggest challenges is exposure and advertising. My (very sad-looking) SGU 2-22 was on display at the Dayton Airshow this year, and many people walking by didn’t even know what a glider was, and many youth were extremely delighted to sit in even a bare frame. The best thing we can do is engage with our communities. CCSC had a ASG-29 and Ka6cr at a fall festival at a local park, and we had 5 guest rides the next day, just from people hearing about us at the festival. Targeting community events, youth focused events (EAA Young Eagles), and local fly-ins might increase club membership.

We need to show them the beauty of the sport while also being realistic with how they will progress. At Caesar Creek, I have noticed many youth drift away despite amazing opportunities, such as me offering them my 1-26 sport canopy, the club offering them our Grob 102, and more recently, Daniel Sazhin offering up his LS-3 to youth who are ready.  The kids who have the drive and work ethic stand out very quickly and progress well to take advantage of these opportunities. If we could focus more on social media advertising, we just might get a little more interest from the youth. The main issue, as others have already stated, is the lack of instant gratification, which most youth always want today.

Thanks, 

Jack N. Derrickson

847, LK, & P4

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[Roy Bourgeois]

I think we might also be missing an important point. Young people have many more flying options today than we had when we started. 52 years ago when I started you had only airplanes, gliders, or Rogallo type hang gliders - and those were the choices. Now we have ultralights, micro lights, powered parachutes, better hang gliders  and many more options for young people who want to fly.  I'm not certain that there are less young people flying today than before - but they have more choices and so we don't see them in our sport so much. Part of the answer ( I think)  is to sell the "magic" of cross country soaring to a market that thinks that all we do is an extended slide to the ground.

ROY  

[Jeff Banks]

Roy

That’s a good lead into another group of soaring members to attract.  Many paraglider and hang glider pilots have a wealth of experience already.  They are an experienced however aging group that might enjoy continuing a sport that’s easier on the ankles and knees (not going to say backs). 

We have many among us already. 

Sincerely 

Jeff Banks

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 20, 2025, at 09:35, Roy Bourgeois <ro...@bw.legal> wrote:

I think we might also be missing an important point. Young people have many more flying options today than we had when we started. 52 years ago when I started you had only airplanes, gliders, or Rogallo type hang gliders - and those were the choices. Now we have ultralights, micro lights, powered parachutes, better hang gliders  and many more options for young people who want to fly.  I'm not certain that there are less young people flying today than before - but they have more choices and so we don't see them in our sport so much. Part of the answer ( I think)  is to sell the "magic" of cross country soaring to a market that thinks that all we do is an extended slide to the ground.

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[Charles Mampe]

Agreed I'm aging in other flying sports. We have at least 2 exhangglider pilots in our club. Small number, but a number.

[Erik Mann]

There are things we can't control (demographics, culture,  changing social dynamics) and things we can.   I think the organizations that are being successful focus on the latter. 

I see a huge divergence among clubs/FBOs.    There are some that are definitely thriving;  growing or stable with over 100 members,  lots of youth, etc.      There are others that are rapidly declining.    

The biggest difference I've seen since I took my first instructional flight in college over 40 years ago is that we have to work a LOT harder for attention.     When I first started, it wasn't uncommon for passers-by to "stop by" and see what was going on.   Many of them would take an introductory flight,  and some percentage of them would stick with it.    That seems to happen less and less.   On the other hand,  when efforts are made (for example collaborating with our local high-schools that have suddenly re-discovered aviation as a STEM activity),   there is a lot of latent interest.    It's just a lot of hard work to pull it all together,   and I think (in the US at least),  we sort of suffer from the mindset that we have to do it our way rather than leveraging and re-using across the country.     

It really just takes one or two "spark-plugs" who put a lot of effort into recruiting and programs (like youth camps) to make a difference.   But it isn't easy and folks burn out if others don't step up to carry things forward or rotate into the positions fairly frequently.   

[Uli N]

I wanted to add to some of the points made above:

Just last week, my club - the Carolina Soaring Association - was invited for the second time to display a glider at a middle school's STEAM event. We rigged our G102 in the courtyard of this school and had all sorts of brochures and SSA magazines on a table plus we played a very nice soaring video in a loop on a huge monitor. While most of the kids were curious about the glider and wanted to sit in the cockpit while asking some good questions, most baffling to me were the reactions of the parents. The vast majority had never seen nor heard of planes that can fly w/o an engine and it was therefore deemed dangerous! Soloing their precious 14yo - are you crazy? There was one father I talked to who held a SEL license and said that this is the first glider he ever saw. Several kids asked me where the monitors were in the cockpit since they thought it was a big video game.

Besides the official SSA brochures, we also handed out the small pamphlet about our club, just as we did last year. You want to guess how many introductory flights we gained from last year's STEAM event? Zero! I expect at least twice as many next season. ;-)

Another experience I had a number of years ago when a club member brought a bunch of high school kids to the airport and showed them our gliders was with a 17yo whom I showed around. He told me that flying gliders isn't a 'Chick-Magnet' since they don't go 'vroom-vroom'! Ok - that's just one data-point but it indicated to me that teens are looking for something more flashy.

If you compare soaring in the US to other countries - let's say Germany - another problem becomes visible. In Germany, a youngster 'grows up' in a club's youth group, soloes, gets his/her license and typically gets to fly some pretty nice club equipment. Then life happens and that youth member moves away to go to college or for for a job in a different part of the country. The going joke is that one can pick up a rock and throw it in any given direction and chances are it lands on a glider field, meaning it is easy to just join a new club nearby and continue to fly. The US is not blessed with such glider-port density, so that person fades out of the sport. Fast forward to 35 years later, now an empty-nester, divorcee and/or retiree, memories of soaring pop back up and he/she calls the nearest soaring club to join. I am the point of contact for our club and I get calls/emails like this all the time.

So my suggestion is if you want to gain youth members, start educating the parents. Also, start educating the power flying community who in many cases regard soaring as a 'lower species of aviation'! A flight school in our area has reached out and wants us to put on an introduction to flying gliders for their instructors and students next spring. I don't expect any new members from that activity but at least it raises the awareness about soaring. 

Uli

'AS'

[Ryszard Krolikowski]

Roy,

About 24 years ago flying as a guest at Seniors in Florida, my final didn't look good so I had to land at still to this year, famous hang glider spot ,Wallaby Ranch. I was surrounded by tens of young enthusiastic people.

In last April I decided to visit them.

I met many older people. 

I told them about my 24 years ago landing at Wallaby, and there tens of young enthusiastic people welcoming me 24 yrs back .

Where are all those young people, I asked?

One of old ladies told me :" we are still here", and she remembers my landing there 24 yrs back, than 3 other older people confirmed remembering my landing there only I don't look the same.

Ryszard

Ps. Wallaby was sold, and I think now is closed?

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[Tango Eight]

Ryszard:  no way.  I’ve known you since 2011, you don’t look any different at all. All the changes must have happened before that. Maybe you used to be handsome?

Lol. 

Evan / T8

[Ryszard Krolikowski]

In Europe, specifically in Poland I see every year, vacation time 20 to 30 new students pilots training in places I visited : Czestochowa, Ostrow Wielkopolski, Stalowa Wola, only about 10 in small club Slupsk( a place I got my wings).

There are many other clubs in Poland and tons of them in Europe, especially in Germany.

So visit European big club and learn what they do differently. 

What I see different but not 100% sure it makes a difference: 

1.They don't try to scare away young people who could see Stefan Langer in nice white ship on YouTube, with a 2-33 and 1-26.

Few yrs back at Club Class Nationals in Perry, I had this discussion by ban fire with World Champion Sarah and Boyd Willat. 

They both as kids fell in love with old Shweizers and totally disagreed with me.

I tried to compromise pushing at least to paint training ships white, still NO.

But I noticed Sarah later got PW6 for her school training.

She operates far away from metropolitan areas,  so little visibility, but I'm interested to hear from Sarah if there was any difference.

2. Places like Ostrow Wielkopolski used to have, and Czestochowa has, and Previdza very good food restaurant. 

Those restaurants have fenced place to watch operations.  Every day you could see maybe 50, sometimes 100 visitors from the town.

They have small children playgrounds, sand box and few swings. 

Slupsk is small because of no restaurant, no bear bar, no visitors from town.

3. Mass population recognizes on the streets soaring champions. I went for a walk in Previdza, Slovakia, not Poland, with Sebastian Kawa. Stranger after stranger insisted to have a selfie with Sebastian.

How many people here would recognize our champions .

We have 3 World Champions hidden. All are good looking,  all have many super interesting stories to tell.

Did any of them participated in a interview on national TV, do they get invited to televised discussions about our sport (old school) , did any of them had recorded YouTube, TickTock, Instagram, FB  blogger meeting like this one: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpQA2rypK0k

I know I'm biased,  I grew up there, so let's hear from the other pilots who visited European clubs.

I'm not taking about our US Team members, going for Worlds, they don't see students, and the bar or the restaurant with tons of visitors, they think its because of the World Championships. I see those students and town visitors when is quiet.

4. Training: You buy $2.50 student pilot book with page by page written curriculum, with step by step progression .

It goes  from winch duals, solo,s, aerotow duals and solo,s, Thermaling with instructor,  Ridge flying with an instructor, small Cross Country with instructor , missing instruments with an instructor, broken rope with an instructor, broken release, you show how to brake rope , formation flying required for one towplane taking 2 or 3 gliders from the farms field outlanding, cross country flying with instructor, badge flying, till 3 Diamond gold badge. Each club has progression ladder so getting to specific step conformed in your fly book, you can fly up to specific higher performance, own by the club glider.

5. Thermaling training: to progress with your initial training you need good thermal mentor.

• In US they teach a kid to safely TO and land, they teach emergency procedures only to TO and landing, they teach airspace and  FAA rules for gliders, local rules and you good to get license
• 
  
• Ryszard

On Tue, Nov 18, 2025, 6:06 PM Brian Nightingale <brian.ni...@johnsongroup.global> wrote:

Every year the number of new pilots gets smaller and smaller . Why is this happening , and what can be done about It ? If something isn't done , Soaring in the US is going to be gone in 20 years. What are your thoughts?

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[Ryan Bluestein]

My opinion as a relative newcomer to soaring (started flying in 2022) is that the recruitment issue comes from a few different places.

1) Grouchy old curmudgeons driving away new people. Why would people choose to spend their whole day at the gliderport listening to people complaining about everything under the sun when they could do something, literally anything, else. Admittedly, I've only flown out of a few airports but there seems to be a contingent of grouches at every place.

2) Price. Sure, gliders are cheaper than most other forms of flying but that doesn't mean it's affordable by any stretch. Tows are expensive. Rental costs aren't cheap either. My LS1 is probably on the cheaper end of glider prices in every regard, but flying still works out to be about the same cost as having a sports car would be only with a lot less functionality. I'm an EE making a decent salary but it still is one of the largest chunks of my budget each month. I've talked to several people my age (mid 20s) that just plain out cannot afford to fly gliders even though they would like to. 

3) Time investment. At my club, I would wager most people have to drive >40 minutes to get there. Then they hang out at the airport all day to take a few flights and spend $100+. Repeat this every Saturday and Sunday for 6 months to get ready to take your checkride then continue for another 3 months because you can't get a DPE lined up. If you can't be there at least once every week, or you're a slower learner, or the weather is bad, or yada yada yada.... Good luck finishing your license.

As is generally the way it goes though for most people, I'm really good at pointing out all of the issues but not any good at actually finding realistic solutions to any of these things.

Ryan

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[Gregg Leslie]

He never was

Gregg Leslie N345

802-598-4993

On Nov 20, 2025, at 2:12 PM, Tango Eight <tango...@gmail.com> wrote:

Ryszard:  no way.  I’ve known you since 2011, you don’t look any different at all. All the changes must have happened before that. Maybe you used to be handsome?

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[Sean Franke]

I think there’s a useful distinction to make between decline and extinction. The sport isn’t on a straight-line trend toward oblivion. Yes, many of the reasons already mentioned (demographics, cost, access, attention spans, competition from other flying options, geography, etc.) are real and have contributed to a long, gradual contraction. But aviation trends rarely move indefinitely in one direction.

What’s more likely is that soaring in the U.S. will continue to shrink until it reaches the level supported by those changing variables — and then stabilize, not vanish. We’re already seeing this pattern: some clubs are struggling, while others are stable or even thriving because they’ve adapted with outreach, youth programs, local partnerships, and strong internal culture. Those examples matter because they show the sport is sustainable when run well, even in 2025’s environment.

Soaring won’t look like it did in the 1970s or even the early 2000s. But it’s not heading for zero. There will always be a community of people drawn to the challenge, the freedom, the atmosphere, and the magic of real cross-country flight. At some point, the numbers settle into a smaller but steady base of people who genuinely want to be here.

The productive question isn’t “How do we stop soaring from dying?” but “What size do we realistically stabilize at, and what can we do locally to be on the healthy side of that curve?” The examples already mentioned and more — youth camps, community engagement, school partnerships, visible champions, and simply creating a welcoming club environment — are exactly the kinds of things that move the needle.

In other words: challenging times, yes. Gone in 20 years? Not even close.

[Ryszard Krolikowski]

Mexico soaring went from decline to extinction, same with many clubs in New Jersey. 

There is only one club in NJ.

Only a big club has a chance to survive.

All those US clubs with up to 20 members are already extinct, only they didn't noticed.

If you draw 1.5 hr driving circles around US glider clubs, you will see 3/4 of US gliding is already extinct.

Ryan,

Rest of the world, even smaller clubs would have LS1 class glider for members like you free to fly, included in your membership($400yr), you still pay $7-10 for winch or $30-40 for aero tow.

If pilot outside of US flys 100hrs a yr he would have 2 partners in the type of the ship club can not afford like JS3 and he takes it to the competitions.

Single ownership of the glider outside of the USA is not common like here.

Ryszard

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[Jeff Stetson]

All points being discussed so far are good ones. But an elephant in the room is the gradual disappearance of the middle-class over the ~50 years I've been flying. A major part of that is monetary. I, for example, graduated with a BS in 1977 with no debt. Summer and part-time jobs covered most of the costs. 5 years later, at a normal for then wage, I had a house, two cars, 3 motorcycles and 1/2 of a Citabria. Got a PPL-ASEL in new C-172's and PA-28's, then sold the Citabria to fund Commercial in a new Rallye 150ST and Instrument in a new C-177RG. Then a glider add-on at Estrella, all by age 32, all with my own money. This was not unusual. Teachers, factory workers, preachers and even housewives were doing it too. Now? Forget it. One can stoke all the wonder, hopes and dreams of kids these days and, for most, soaring is out of reach. Soar or pay on that $100k student debt? Soar or try to save for a house? All while paying $2k/month rent. And none of this is their fault.

Too, the family dynamic today is far different. The peak soaring glory years of the 70's & 80's where the family vacations consisted of dad flying and the stay at home moms crewing for him with the kids in the family wagon is a fantasy for families today. Call it a plus or minus, but that's not how things work now. If there's any flying it's in power planes, a scheduled 10 am on a Saturday and home by noon, not all day at the club and maybe or maybe not fly at all.

Seems to me that our most successful clubs are near major cities where statistics and income are better, yet based on fields with little or minimal power traffic. Too, those close to an airline hub pick up quite a few high-income pilots tired of flying by touch screen, often bringing their kids for lessons as well. Clubs in deeply rural areas, just aren't doing well, no matter their outreach or other programs, and many have gone under. 

[Ryszard Krolikowski]

Handsome pilot is not because of boobs, ass, hair or make up.

It's because she or he can fly.

When you fly 1000 km triangle on the US east coast in dry IGC club class glider or at least 30 flights of 500 OLC km with no circle after initial climb on thermal day anywhere in the world I will call you both handsome pilots :)

But my point was hang gliding is same way, like soaring declining in US and many hang glider pilots joined us.

 All the choices have consequences. Those small clubs with 20 members with 1 to 3 old Shweizers, will be extinct unless club image is changed : by bringing private white ships to the operation, to be visible, or swapping of 1-26 to PW5 or Russia, or Libelle if no money, and swapping 2-33 to 2 seater Grob with $15k injection.

Ryszard

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[Cookie Cookie]

Here in NJ there are a bunch of high schools which offer an aviation  cirriculum.  Earlier this year, our club and the commercial operator did a presentation at one of these schools.  We brought our LS4 and assembled it in the athletic field.  All of the kids got to sit in the glider and were familiarized with all aspects of it. We brought a three-screen Condor Simulator which we set up in the school library.  We ran a 40 minute slide and video show.  About 40 students attended, as well a School staff members, teachers, Board of education members, and even an elected State assemblyman.  

We followed up with inviting students and their parents to visit us at the airport.  Club members put up the $$ for introductory rides/lessons in our twin Grob, for about 11 students as well as their teacher.

Because of this, we were invited to do our program at another high school last month, and two more High Schools in December.

Will we get any soaring students from this?  Maybe...maybe not.  We did create an awareness of our little known and little understood sport.  We had a lot of fun working with the students and giving the rides.  You never know who their parents are...could be important contacts in the future?

One thing we tried to stress, is that a youngster can solo in a glider at 14 years old.  If one has aspirations of an aviation career, this is the best way to get started!!

It really didn't take much effort on our part.....Like they say...it couldn't hurt

BC

[Davis Chappins]

This is the main reason. Time and Money.

But anyone over 60 blames "attention spans" and "instant gratification" and has no idea what its like to not be retired with a pension. It's tough out there. And it's getting tougher.

The other reason is soaring exists in the dark. I say that because no one knows what a glider is or what it does. Seriously. No one knows anything about soaring. Why is that? How to fix it?

I've said it several times and I'll say it again - The SSA needs to fund and promote a Netflix show in a drive to survive style. Or a day in the life of a contest style. Narrative driven, a few interviews, some air to air, in cockpit, tell a story, create some drama. Simple.

They have the money for it, just redirect some of the $500,000 spent on the website to this and do something productive.

[Stefan Will]



I agree - people have much less free time than they used to. When I first earned my license back in Germany during high school 30+ years ago, I pretty much spent all day all weekend at the club. Soloed in less than 2 months and logged 100+ flights in the first 6 months alone - without breaking the bank. Kids these days (especially in the US) are so overloaded with school work and other extracurriculars that they just don’t have the time to spend like I and my friends did back then. And that is without the 50+ work hours one was expected to put in each year.

— Stefan

On Nov 20, 2025, at 7:22 PM, Jeff Stetson <flit...@gmail.com> wrote:



All points being discussed so far are good ones. But an elephant in the room is the gradual disappearance of the middle-class over the ~50 years I've been flying. A major part of that is monetary. I, for example, graduated with a BS in 1977 with no debt. Summer and part-time jobs covered most of the costs. 5 years later, at a normal for then wage, I had a house, two cars, 3 motorcycles and 1/2 of a Citabria. Got a PPL-ASEL in new C-172's and PA-28's, then sold the Citabria to fund Commercial in a new Rallye 150ST and Instrument in a new C-177RG. Then a glider add-on at Estrella, all by age 32, all with my own money. This was not unusual. Teachers, factory workers, preachers and even housewives were doing it too. Now? Forget it. One can stoke all the wonder, hopes and dreams of kids these days and, for most, soaring is out of reach. Soar or pay on that $100k student debt? Soar or try to save for a house? All while paying $2k/month rent. And none of this is their fault.

Too, the family dynamic today is far different. The peak soaring glory years of the 70's & 80's where the family vacations consisted of dad flying and the stay at home moms crewing for him with the kids in the family wagon is a fantasy for families today. Call it a plus or minus, but that's not how things work now. If there's any flying it's in power planes, a scheduled 10 am on a Saturday and home by noon, not all day at the club and maybe or maybe not fly at all.

Seems to me that our most successful clubs are near major cities where statistics and income are better, yet based on fields with little or minimal power traffic. Too, those close to an airline hub pick up quite a few high-income pilots tired of flying by touch screen, often bringing their kids for lessons as well. Clubs in deeply rural areas, just aren't doing well, no matter their outreach or other programs, and many have gone under. 

On Thursday, November 20, 2025 at 5:48:17 PM UTC-5 Sean Franke wrote:

I think there’s a useful distinction to make between decline and extinction. The sport isn’t on a straight-line trend toward oblivion. Yes, many of the reasons already mentioned (demographics, cost, access, attention spans, competition from other flying options, geography, etc.) are real and have contributed to a long, gradual contraction. But aviation trends rarely move indefinitely in one direction.

What’s more likely is that soaring in the U.S. will continue to shrink until it reaches the level supported by those changing variables — and then stabilize, not vanish. We’re already seeing this pattern: some clubs are struggling, while others are stable or even thriving because they’ve adapted with outreach, youth programs, local partnerships, and strong internal culture. Those examples matter because they show the sport is sustainable when run well, even in 2025’s environment.

Soaring won’t look like it did in the 1970s or even the early 2000s. But it’s not heading for zero. There will always be a community of people drawn to the challenge, the freedom, the atmosphere, and the magic of real cross-country flight. At some point, the numbers settle into a smaller but steady base of people who genuinely want to be here.

The productive question isn’t “How do we stop soaring from dying?” but “What size do we realistically stabilize at, and what can we do locally to be on the healthy side of that curve?” The examples already mentioned and more — youth camps, community engagement, school partnerships, visible champions, and simply creating a welcoming club environment — are exactly the kinds of things that move the needle.

In other words: challenging times, yes. Gone in 20 years? Not even close.

On Tuesday, November 18, 2025 at 6:06:39 PM UTC-7 Brian Nightingale wrote:

Every year the number of new pilots gets smaller and smaller . Why is this happening , and what can be done about It ? If something isn't done , Soaring in the US is going to be gone in 20 years. What are your thoughts?

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[Roy Bourgeois]

"But anyone over 60 blames "attention spans" and "instant gratification" and has no idea what its like to not be retired with a pension"

Really? How do you think we got to age +60? On a pleasure cruise?

ROY

[Curt Lewis]

I think a strong factor in pilot "retention" is sailplane ownership.  It adds an entirely different element to the sport to have the freedom to fly when and where you want.

The "hobby" of aircraft ownership is joyful (usually) in itself.  I currently own a Genesis and (2) 1-26s.  I restored my first 1-26 and in process on the second.  I have had many seasons where my hourly or per-flight overhead costs were ridiculously high vs club glider use rates, but I would not trade it for anything.  Owning, maintaining, customizing and freedom of use are an important part of the "sport" for me.

Maybe we should find better ways to encourage and assist individual and partner ownership to improve retention. 

Curt Lewis

Genesis 95

1-26B # 216 Squirrel

1-26B #300 Gemini

[Stéphane Vander Veken]

Looking at it from a US perspective, I seem to remember that the only times there was a notable increase in US membership, was when there were important communication items to the general public through non-soaring media : articles about soaring in National Geographic, a Walt Disney TV show about "the boy who flew wxith the condors", etc. The rest of the time, the decline was slow but steady. 

In the rest of the world, the decline has also be steady. 

In Europe, contributing factors have been: 1) a steady decline in state subsidies (in the forties and fifties, gliding was heavily subsidized in many countries - almost free, in fact - to attract young people to careers in civil and military aviation); 2) a very complex airspace structure, prohibiting access to a big part of the airspace; 3) a much more demanding system of licensing; 4) a complicated airworthiness system, instead of the former system where glider pilots could maintain and even build their gliders themselves; etc.

[Doug Tarmichael]

Sean F. has a sober take on this.  If I may expand... Why is it shrinking?  To answer that we need to look at where we started.  My observation over the last 35 years is the current soaring movement is an extension of the post WW2 G.A. climate, not necessarily born of the pre-war Golden Era and not from some more recent grass roots movement.  There was once a large surplus of pilots and relatively modern equipment.  There were farms with private grass runways and friendly public airports close to metropolitan population centers.  The dollar was stronger and there were fewer things competing for our free time.  

Without these surpluses how much growth can we expect?  Like Sean said we will contract until we hit that number.  The Europeans laugh and say, "In Europe, poor people fly gliders and rich people fly airplanes. In the U.S. poor people fly airplanes and rich people fly gliders."  Gliding and soaring are a tough sell.  It takes a special type of person to walk off the street into this and become successful.   There aren't many, but not zero.   What I'm trying to say is the numbers we started at were not natural, the "decline" was inevitable.   

[Ramy Yanetz]

As Roy said. I am pretty sure there are more young pilots now than ever. But the vast majority of them are flying paragliders. We can’t compete with the simplicity, ease of learning and cost of paragliders. And believe it or not, there are many more pilots flying XC in paragliders than sailplanes, and many of them flying further than the average sailplane pilot. No kidding. Despite having 25% of sailplane performance, the fact that they can land almost anywhere, and can easily get a ride back home without needing a crew, results in more XC flying. The good news is that as they age, many of them switch to sailplanes, so we may get steady flow from paragliding, hang gliding and other aviation, not from youth. 

Ramy

[Brian Nightingale]

Testify , Davis . I agree completely. 

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[Ryszard Krolikowski]

Me 2, 

Davis for SSA president!

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[Ryszard Krolikowski]

I know I'm biased, both are my good friends.

Let our best spark plugs: Davis Chappins and Daniel Sazin run  direction in SSA for a 2 yrs.

Ryszard

[Davis Chappins]

Roy, I have no doubt you worked hard to get where you are today. But you must understand the calculus in 2025 is different. Let's use numbers because those are emotionless - When you graduated college, what was your salary? What did college cost and how did you pay for it? What did your first house cost? Most importantly, how much money did you have every month after your mortgage and bills were paid? (this spare cash is important). 

In the 60s 70s and 80s homes were much cheaper and wages were higher. Yes, the absolute numbers are different due to inflation but the (mortgage)/(salary) was much more favorable.

Now run the numbers for someone today in their 20s. Assume graduating with an engineering degree making 75k. They have 100k in student loans. A house is 500k and rent is 2500/mo. If you create a budget from those numbers you need to add everything else a person needs to live. THEN add 500-1,000/mo for soaring related expenses. You might find there isn't an extra 500-1,000 in the budget per month.

I think if you asked anyone in this situation they wouldn't say they have a short attention span or they want instant gratification....They would say uhhh I can barely afford to eat why would I fly a glider.

Another poster mentioned paragliding is more popular with younger people. Look at the costs. A few thousand for a wing. $0/mo to go fly. This makes a lot of sense.

SSA membership has declined by a few hundred members per year for the past 25 years. If you charted the affordability of a home (and other expenses) you will probably find a strong correlation.

At the moment the membership is primarily comprised of subsidized kids under 20 and retired with a pension over 60. There is no 20-60 so as the 60+ ages out there's no one to replace them. As that number dwindles the under 20 subsidies will go away. What's left?

[Rex Mayes]

These points are all well taken but in my mere 42 years of growing a glider flight school in Northern California, I have observed that one cannot apply economic laws or principles to this form of aviation.  I have see the richest, poorest and everyone between come and go. The ones who stick with it either have the money or find a way to pay for it.  It is about passion and motivation.  One cannot sell it or create it.  It has to come from within and it has to be genuine.  We can certainly do more to expose more people who do not discover it on their own and the SSA does a pretty good job, IMO.  

I find it most disappointing, that such a small percentage of folks who do spend 1.5 - 3 years and 6-10 thousand dollars working towards a private pilot glider certificate, give it up with in the following 2-3 months.  However, in fact, these folks are what keep the lights on and employees paid.  The ones who stick with it do not maintain the cash flow at the glider port in comparison.

We have not seen the decline in soaring activity that this thread is about.  We have done 3000-3500 tows, and licensed 25-30 pilots year in and year out since 1993 when we relocated 60 miles further away from population of Sacramento and San Francisco Bay. 

Not sure how my experience and insight helps or hurts the discussion.  For what it is worth,

Rex

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[Cliff Hilty]

I think Rex hit the nail on the head, it's passion that makes it happen. Look at Harris Hill, Bermuda High, Arizona Soaring Inc, Seminole lake, Ect. They all are what keeps the lights on. But the Passion and Challenge of motorless flight is what keeps the new pilots in for the long haul. And that's tough, if not impossible to instill or teach in new students. Its got to be your passion that keeps you here!

Cliff (CH) ASW27 

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[Hank Nixon]

Our experience is different than Davis describes.

About 20% of our members are under 20.

About 30% are over 60.

The remainder are between 20 and 60 with more than half of those under 40.

About 40% of our activity is training.

We fly older gliders that are less expensive to maintain and insure.

The biggest challenge we see is time. Money not so much.

We are about the closest to NYC. The majority of our members travel an hour or so to fly.

The time taken to travel vs time flying is an issue, but not one we can fix.

We do no direct advertising and seem to have enough folks that find us through word of mouth, Facebook, Where to Fly to provide a level of ride activity that attracts new members.

We commonly fly at an activity level that keeps our training operation busy.

I agree with Rex. If they have the passion they will stick.

FWIW

UH  

[Roy Bourgeois]

I remember a part from Philip Wills’ book “On Being a Bird” where he was asked “why do you fly gliders when you could fly with a motor?” His answer was, “Because I must.”

Some of us understand what he was saying. Some of us never will. 

Roy

 

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 24, 2025, at 7:12 PM, Rex Mayes <r...@williamssoaring.com> wrote:

These points are all well taken but in my mere 42 years of growing a glider flight school in Northern California, I have observed that one cannot apply economic laws or principles to this form of aviation.  I have see the richest, poorest and everyone between come and go. The ones who stick with it either have the money or find a way to pay for it.  It is about passion and motivation.  One cannot sell it or create it.  It has to come from within and it has to be genuine.  We can certainly do more to expose more people who do not discover it on their own and the SSA does a pretty good job, IMO.  

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rasprime/DE8533A8-590B-4566-874F-9D1E5AF890C5%40williamssoaring.com.

[Brian Nightingale]

My club , Treasure Coast Soaring , is booming . A full 70% of our operations is flight training. We have added over 200 members to SSA in the past few years , yet SSA membership continues to decline . We have a youth program that lets youth fly for free in exchange for work and dedication to the club and to the sport . One of our youth program graduates, Thomas Good,  flew his first cross country in our Libelle a couple weeks ago in conditions that were truly challenging. You can find his flight on we glide . From many of your comments, it appears that some of you are experiencing growth along with us . But this appears to be exceptions to the norm , looking at national numbers. We are on the Florida Treasure Coast , which does not have a large population compared to other areas of the country. Yet we continue to add members on a weekly basis . So again if we , and others across the country are doing this , why are numbers declining as a whole ? What are we and others doing differently? My personal belief is that a club or operation without a robust training program, withers and dies . You also have to have a core group who are dedicated to the sport and willing to do the work to make it happen. Please respond with your thoughts. 

[3C Ryan]

This discussion is interesting but seems similar to the story about blind men describing an elephant. In a cursory search, I haven’t been able to find historic membership data for SSA on the website. Anybody have the data or a link to it?

Thanks

Charlie Ryan

[Stefan Will]

I had the same question... by what measure is soaring participation in decline? What percentage of US soaring pilots are SSA members?

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[Brian Nightingale]

When I started reading Soaring Magazine ,SSA membership was over 16,000 . Today it’s less than 10,000.  That’s a 35% decline . I feel Davis comments are the most accurate out of any I’ve read . Young people can’t afford it  . Instead of wasting money on Weglide and websites , put it into something real that might make a difference. 

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[Matthew Scutter]

I don't think cost is the key factor - critical mass is. Some introspection particularly on the comments about young people's motives might lead to realisations the kids might not want to be members of your club if you're suspicious of their motives. Even the well meaning, welcoming and generous amongst us may still not make good conversation partners (25 year olds are not interested in pensions, politics, local government, which is mostly what I hear around gliding clubs). If, by great investment, cooperation and culture you are able to attract a sizeable group of young people you'll find it continues to grow, as some clubs report on this chat. If you don't have any, you have a long road ahead of you to get started.

The UK Junior Gliding movement has shown us it is possible to revitalize youth gliding nationwide in the present day, regardless of Xbox's or house prices or other gratifications, which after a lot of investment and support is now self-perpetuating and has grown so quickly they can't actually cater to all the interest any more (see the entry list at their nationals this year https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/aston-down-2025/pilots )

Healthy clubs are a social club first, with flying secondary. UKJG really unlocked that with their "winter series" events, which are junior social get togethers outside of the flying season, often with flying attempted regardless of the weather.

The UK also has a nice culture of "insurance shares", where juniors or the less affluent often take a share in a gliders running costs in exchange for flying the glider when the owner doesn't want to.

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[Brian Nightingale]

Matthew , That’s exactly what we’ve found in our club . Our membership runs from 13 to 90 years old , but we somehow make it relevant to all . This is about Soaring , not life’s issues . I believe we here in the U.S. have a lot to learn from our Australian and European contemporaries when it comes to clubs and outreach to young people . 

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[Hank Nixon]

Mathew's comment reminds me of my mentor, Steve Bennis coaching us when we started our commercial operation back in 1977.

He asked if I knew the key to a strong soaring operation ?  I was ready for the big one.

His answer was one word: Picnics.

Create an organization the makes people want to belong , and stay.

FWIW

UH

[Brian Nightingale]

Picnic is right . OBTP held a pancake breakfast a couple weeks ago for the EAA chapter with 100 attendees and the club ended up with 7 new members , with a couple of them taking their first training flights that afternoon. 

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[Charles Petersen]

Ask your AI to summarize Mazolow's Hierarchy of Human Needs. Fellowship is so basic! 

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[Jon “Stelli” Stehlik]

I had an excellent conversation with Johannes and Joshua from WeGlide at the soaring convention last year on this. The reason so many youth in Europe are involved seems to be due to a few things. First, Johannes and Joshua noted that they live within about 30 minutes from I think they said 5 or 7 different soaring clubs. I know this is Germany, but as far as I know, we don't have anywhere in the US where this is a fact. Second, soaring clubs in Europe are truly family friendly and social clubs. Not to say what we have here in the US is not, but it seems European clubs are much better at fostering a community of not only pilots, but families also. They have pools, restaurants, and other activities at the airport often. Most importantly, the airport is somewhere for the broader community to gather and socialize. And third, critical mass. I am still trying to figure out how we achieve this in the US. We need young people to be involved in soaring to get MORE young people involved. There is no easy path here.

[Mark Mocho]

Trying to compare the European soaring culture with the United States isn't realistic. Soaring in Europe developed in the 1930s, primarily in Germany which, as a result of the draconian terms of the Treaty of Versailles after the first world war, prohibited any form of motorized flight. Aviation-minded Germans resorted to gliding as a way to get in the air. Once gliding turned into soaring, many advances in technology and glider design became reality. The allure of motorless flight captured the imagination of many across the other European countries. In the US, most of the population at the time was rural and agricultural. Working on a farm didn't leave a lot of time for adventurous pursuits. Also, the Depression did not leave Americans with enough disposable income to spend on "frivolous" pursuits. These factors are well understood, but the primary difference between European soaring and US soaring is simply population density. I think the last time I heard of a pilot census Germany had about 40,000 active glider pilots. Germany's area is 138,068 square miles with a population of 83.6 million. New Mexico, as an example, is 121,697 square miles (88% of Germany) with a population of 2.13 million. And the glider pilot count is certainly no more than a few hundred, despite the lack of airspace restrictions and superb flying conditions. Moriarty gets quite a few foreign glider pilots in the summer, and they all are amazed at the quality of flying. And recently, they are even impressed in the quality of the local brewery.

[David S]

In Germany, much of the family-friendly infrastructure (playgrounds, pools, restaurants) that glider clubs enjoy must have been acquired over time.    Here in the US, I don't see how clubs can ever acquire such amenities.  So many clubs struggle to cover basic operational expenses.

Did government subsidies help German clubs build such infrastructure, and to acquire the land for the gliderports in the first place?  Do such subsidies help with operational costs today?  My understanding is that  substantial government assistance French soaring clubs enjoyed in the past has been sharply reduced of late.

   ...david

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[krasw]

It is time to put this "in Europe gliding gets governments subsidies" narrative to rest, finally. We have heard it for decades and it is just not true, it is just intellectually lazy excuse. Europe is not a country. In most of the European countries clubs get exactly same subsidies as US clubs, none. Yes there might be a partly government subsidized flight school in France. Or was, who knows. This has zero relevance to Europe at large. We pay for our club infra and gliders, mow the lawn and pay electricity. People who do this earn a fraction of average US annual income. Somehow we manage. There has been good analysis for lack of pilots in this thread. Young people need to have company of other young people, and people with family need to be able to have a place that family enjoys, though gliding is horribly selfish hobby in that regard. I add one more: most people find it more comfortable to lie on sofa and watch hours of tiktoks etc., instead of going to airfield and fly. This is not a problem of gliding, it is a problem of any activity. 

[Uli N]

Amen to that, krasw! I was - many moons ago - a member of a soaring club in Germany and I never saw a government representative come by and deliver a shiny new glider or leave a check for one. One subsidy we did get once was when the radio frequency spacing was changed and we had to toss out all radios. We got reimbursed for one or two new ones but the rest was on us. These funds came out of the 'Sports Aide' budget, which supports public sports and recreational activities. The club is still in operation and owns the airport outright thanks to some good strategic financial planning. The fleet and property has to be maintained by the members. Everyone was expected to put in a set number of work hours on the equipment and the buildings. If you couldn't or didn't want to work, you were able to pay a equivalent amount of money instead. That was good for folks with two left hands and only thumbs on them and allowed the club to sub out certain jobs too specialized or risky for an amateur, like re-roofing the hangar after someone damn near fell off the roof! 

I have encountered parents who thought dropping off their kids in the morning was like scheduling a lesson with the golf- or tennis-pro at their country club and they were somewhat surprised that their little ones were expected to help clean the glider at the end of the day.

As I said in my earlier post above: if you want to attract youth members, you have to educate the parents first. They have to be onboard since they are paying the bills!

Uli

'AS' 

[Davis Chappins]

Since no one answered with emotionless numbers, here are some - see the 2 attached pics.

The affordability matrix shows averaged values for income and expenses across the years. You can see how everything is getting more expensive in relation to salary.

The budget shows averaged values for a monthly budget. You can see how in 2025 it shows expenses outweigh income. What does that mean? Live with your parents/roommates, cut unnecessary expenses (soaring), draw from savings, etc.

Notice how "passion" isn't a line item in the budget.

If you think these numbers are made up and not realistic I'll ask again to make a budget yourself and show the numbers.

Regional outliers exist, yes. But costs are rising everywhere.

Soaring will continue to stratify to heavily subsidized under 20 (from their parents, the SSA, etc), and retired 60+. The 20-60 will continue to erode because i would expect the next col 2045 in the chart to be less affordable than the 2025 col.

So the answer to the question of ?Why is Soaring Declining?" is simple.

[Peter N. Steinmetz]

I think Davis has hit the primary cause spot on - increased real prices. 

This is driven by a general inflation as well as increasing regulation of the aviation industry. Witness the trouble we are likely to have shortly with having tow planes. 

Peter