1. Worldwide, including the US, and many US states, glider pilot numbers / members of glider organizations is down, and has been dropping fairly steadily since 1998. There are a very few exceptions. Worldwide, numbers in 1998 were 133,704 and 115,419 in 2009. For the US the numbers dropped from 32,645 in 1998 to 29,143. The ASA has had a substantially greater percentage drop, but has hopefully leveled off for now. Looking into all the various reasons for the drops in differing areas produces some interesting results.

2. The effectiveness of ELTs is DISMAL. Reports show a success rate of only 14%. Ask Steve Fossett about that one. On the more positive side, continuous tracking devices, like SPOT and the international Spiderwatch system, are having a FAR greater beneficial result rate. Had Fossett had one of these, his crash site would have most likely been found in hours, instead of years. In his case, rescue most likely would not have been a possibility, as his crash was so terrible, but recovery would have been facilitated probably within a day. Where someone survives a crash, a timely rescue is required, and SPOT and Spiderwatch appear to offer success and life.

3. New aircraft sales, both glider and GA, are mostly down, but there area a few positive areas of note in each. Some gliders are available from the factory almost immediately, and some are back ordered 3+ years. In virtually all cases, very deep pockets are mandatory. The 2 place electric self launching Taurus I was captivated with at the SSA meeting has made a hit world wide, and is back ordered over 3 years.