GNZ PILOT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR 2011
2015 AND BEYOND: A PERSPECTIVE By Dane Dickinson, Sailplane Racing Committee
This document expands upon a brief written by immediate past GNZ President, George Rogers, about the possible creation of a formal ‘pilot development programme’ to enhance NZ’s reputation and performance at international gliding competitions.
Background NZ has a proud record at international gliding competitions, achieving podium finishes and notably, two World Champions (Ray Lynskey 1995 and John Coutts 2003). NZ pilots have also captured numerous FAI Gliding World Records. NZ is further internationally famed for legendary pioneers, stunning gliding conditions, and various important governing personnel. In recent years however, there has been a slow decline in both pilot interest and competitive success in international championships. NZ’s reputation and fame has waned accordingly. While NZ’s past successes have largely been individually driven, there have been instances of successful GNZ support and coordination of pilot participation at international events. Given the current downturn in international competitiveness, GNZ presently has an opportunity to try to reverse the trend, through active development and support of NZ representatives at international championships. However, there is an important question regarding the benefits to the NZ gliding community of expending collective resources on pilots who represent NZ on the international stage. Gliding is largely individualistic, and competitive gliding even more so. Therefore, on the face of it, the cost-benefit analysis of any such spending would be likely to fall on the wrong side of the ledger. In reply to this, a case could be made that the pride and publicity from international achievement does indeed contribute positively to the wider community. Training pilots to highly competitive standards will be a significant contribution to the soaring skill base in NZ and it seems reasonable to assume a considerable ‘trickle-down effect’. A further solution to the question is to establish GNZ’s role in pilot development as one of coordination and planning, as opposed to financer. A related issue also exists at the international level, as to the importance of country representation and nationalism in gliding or whether gliding would be better presented as an individualist pursuit (perhaps similar to tennis, golf or motorsports). Consultation with NZ competition pilots during the 2009/10 season revealed their widespread support for the creation of a
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structured development programme, with an overall goal being podium finishes at world gliding championships. There is likely to be some dissent towards GNZ financial contribution to a programme from parts of the NZ gliding community. GNZ must view such development as an investment into the growth of NZ’s gliding fame and international reputation; as well as maintaining and improving piloting skills throughout the movement. Therefore, if successful, the long-term returns will be extremely valuable to the entire gliding community. Why competitions? After all, sponsored open crosscountry courses could probably raise general piloting skills more than exclusive racing programmes. The answer lies in the fact that sourcing financial support and measuring a scheme’s efficacy requires visible and reportable results. The international competition environment is already well established and geared for nationalistic success and measurement. Media focus is also easier to obtain in this setting.
Programme Goals Assuming a formal pilot development programme with the vague aim of world success, explicit goals need to be further defined. These goals may be: • Individual podium finishes at FAI Class 1 events • Winning the team World Cup at FAI world championships • NZ pilots in the top 50 on the IGC ranking list • Top 5 or 10 Country Score on the IGC ranking list • Hosting another World Championships (rather unlikely) It is worth noting that individual Top 10 finishes at world championships would be an extremely worthy achievement benchmark but is perhaps not an ambitious enough goal for a development plan. Choosing specific competition classes on which to focus development is extremely important. For meaningful international success, goals must be specifically orientated toward the most competitive classes. The most financially accessible achievement is currently found in the Club and Standard (and perhaps 15m) classes. This may change in the future. In addition to the major goals, numerous ‘step-goals’ will need
