gregangsten wrote:I generally agree with the first post here but frankly, if I whack and don't hear the chorus sing I am very disheartened. It means I must be so bad that it's expected and they are starting to feel sorry for me.
You have to distinguish between fun and mean-spiritedness.
Greg,
There can be a very thin line between fun (good-natured teasing) and mean-spiritedness.
I had a similar thought too. If I pound in and the other pilots just shrug and sigh then hand me a pity beer I worry. I mean I'm gaining a lot of weight here.
But seriously, does this mean poor landing technique is now acceptable on a regular basis?
But seriously, a culture of indifference to unsafe technique is probably no better or possibly even worse than a culture of ridicule toward unsafe technique. Obviously I'm not talking about the other week when I photographed the president of Wills Wing beaking-in a brand new T2C in an attempt to win a dollar from the the vice president. That's like a one-in-ten thousand landing whack. And there was a dollar bill plus pride at stake.
We don't always chose when and where we are landing even when fishbowl flying. We do get sudden wind reversals and traffic jams at Sylmar forcing pilots to come in from different directions or within seconds of each other.
Who cares whether landings are textbook no-step flares. That's bunk anyway. I'm the guy who lands in real shitholes and we better be prepared to use any technique necessary to keep ourselves then our gliders in one piece. If a technique works for a specific pilot then it's the best technique for that pilot and that pilot only. It doesn't help anyone when pilots ridicule technique that contradicts their own technique. That's how pilots break bones and aluminum.
The same holds true for flying. Not everyone can thermal coordinated with others. They need to pull out and go back in below the gaggle if they can't mesh safely. Or they need to find another core someplace that doesn't overlap. Or seek some coaching if it's you or suggest coaching if it's not you.
Getting back to the landing thing. I have posted elsewhere that the Big-O Loop at Crestline is operational. The launch is 390' above the LZ. It is possible to not only get in a lot of launches and landings in one day without having to break down your glider but the vehicle holds two assembled gliders at once and it's only $5 per pilot ride up plus day-use fee if not a CSS member. We could always pool funds to use for Big-O Loop rides for pilots who need landing or launch work rather than just whatever it is that we are currently doing.
Big-O Loop:
http://www.crestlinesoaring.org/node/1496
