ORIGINAL: britbrat
ORIGINAL: r/cnerd
The buddy box thing is a great idea...fields should offer this to any newbies who are interested, and maac should find a way to accomodate this that is easy, ie you don't have to sign up for a year, which can be a daunting prospect for a newbie! As far as paid instructors go, I see your points but on the other hand current instructors may not be too enthused by an influx of new flyers, what with their baggy clothes, gangsta rap and all the rest. we can hardly expect an old-timer to want to take on lots of students. As well, there are many among us who would literally cackle at the idea of being paid to fly and if they were paid they would be more able to dedicate greater amounts of time and energy to teaching enthusiastically. There are many who would love to learn, but we need to be more inv iting/ market our hobby better. People expect more these days.
I like the fact that you didn't automatically dismiss all my ideas, thanks![8D]
Without intending to be offensive, it was pointed out to you that many of your ideas have been investigated before -- they aren't automatically dismissed. The buddy box thing has been available for years. The student on the box flys on his instructor's insurance until the student joins MAAC. That is why your day pass idea to try things out is irrelevant -- a suck-it-&-see flight is no problem at all under the current set-up.
As for your comments re. "old timers" -- that was clueless, rude & insulting. I'm an "old timer" by your puerile standards & I spend most of my air time teaching folks to fly -- young, old, baggy pants, or what ever. However, the one thing that will quickly end my relationship with a student is the "people expect more these days" attitude. I freely volunteer my teaching time, my expertise, sometimes my own equipment, & a 100 km round trip to the field at my expense on each lesson day. Any student who expects more than that takes a walk. My situation mirrors the case with many instructors, "old-timers", or otherwise.
If you think that more is needed, you can try doing it yourself for a bunch of years first, then re-evaluate your "opinion" -- or you can take a walk yourself.