Andreas Kohn <andy> writes:

Finally, I think, it’s time to save our sport. Of course, this discussion has been around for many years and to many it might seem useless. I also have the impression that many of us decided to just accept that hang gliding has become a sport for a small number of enthusiasts. But – at least here in Germany - it becomes less and less accessible to potentially new enthusiasts and it might even be more fun for us pilots with a little innovative push forward.

I think the pros of hang gliding are clear to us:

- Flying hang gliders is fascinating in a way no other aircraft (or stupid simulation) can offer.

- There are passionate pilots around the world.

- Good and new flying gear is available on the market.

- There are professional flying schools.

- There is a big number of flying sites.

The cons:

The many problems which the sport hang gliding has (poor number of new pilots; less and less manufacturers, workshops, active pilots; flying schools who recommend paragliding to people interested in hang gliding) can be subsumed under a simple description: The net of pilots, schools and manufacturers becomes increasingly wide-meshed.

Here’s the idea:

My experience in youth work (paragliding and model aircraft) is, that pilots lose their pleasure of flying, when they don’t find friends to fly with. Therefore we should strengthen the social web that connects us. Social networks on the internet show us how to do that. I’d like to add, that I don’t like these kind of new stuff generally, but I think something like that might be perfect to make hang gliding cooler, easier and a bit bigger again. I’d love to have a online network which

- allows to find other pilots living close to my home or flying at the same sites

- offers information about manufacturers, products and services; flying schools and trainings; magazines, clubs and associations

- offers content (news, technical articles, image and video galleries)

- allows to get in contact with other users

- many other things could be possible

- allows me to get in contact with pilots in the regions I want to travel to. This point could be interesting in particular. I have been travelling a lot with my paraglider. With a hang glider it needs more infrastructure for transport. But often it would be enough to bring one’s harness because there are much more good gliders than pilots currently. If it would be easy to borrow a glider, one could travel almost like with paragliding gear.

So, for us pilots it might make contacts and travels easier and for people interested in the sport all information would be available at one place.

So if there are some enthusiasts around, let’s discuss the future or hang gliding on the Oz Report forum.