- Sun Apr 05, 2015 7:32 pm
#368265
ryder115 wrote:The hang glider portability arguement aside....
I agree with the financial aspect being a hurdle. I'm lucky enough to have parents who are not only awesome enough to help fund my training, but who also are ok with the idea of letting their kid fly a hang glider. I've had two friends who have wanted to give hg a try (both my age, both female) and one dropped out after two lessons because of price, the other's dad was firmly against her participating in "such a dangerous activity." I know not a whole lot can be done about price because instructors gotta stay in business, but I think a lot of people look at hang gliding the way they do sky diving, a bucket list type thing. Both kids and adults see it as something crazy and risky, like a "guy walking a tightrope across the Grand Canyon on TV" kind of thing.
I'm a snowboarder as well, and at least at my resort I've noticed a huge increase in boarders over the past 5 years. People watch the X Games and think "I wanna try that", and they do, knowing they'll never spin a 1080 but not afraid to just learn the basics. I think that when they get a glimpse of hg (which they rarely do considering there's barely any media presence), just the idea of flying seems like something to be left to the professionals.
With my generation being so addicted to social media, maybe we need things like the Free Flyers movie and the new Rhythm of Flight project to get more publicity. Or better yet, we need a group of young pilots to get together and make movie/video series/Instagram-Twitter- whatever page to let our generation know that hg is a real, tangible thing.
Sorry for my rant, just thinking.....
Just gonna throw up some thoughts par for the course...I stared when I was 10! My father got me into the sport by taking me to Ellenville and id sit and watch him fly and sometimes film....once i got fed up wiht watching i decided to learn.
best decsion i ever made (minus the fact that every friggin penny i make goes into flying some way leaving me super duper happy but super duper broke...i know many can relate.
i go to a prep school in new hampshire and i dont see my friends who try it having a problem with money...obviously it is an issue for some poeple...many really...but their issue is that they just dont have the drive to stick with it. its kinda sad actually. I agree with Ryder that what we need is some sort of great presentation of young people flying that can not only be shown to youtube or whatever....but made accessable to the world...i know its crazy but wouldnt someone sponsor an hour long documentary on a group of "remarkable young people with a passion?" something like dreaming awake quality?
idk...im a dreamer...but i love this sport more than anything and ill do anything to make sure it lives on
17 y.o. H4
WW Sport 2 135
AT, FSL, FL, 360, ST, CL, AWCL, HA, TUR, XC, RLF