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In early spring the SSF began collecting data from US soaring pilots on the number of hours and flights being conducted each year. Thanks to everybody who responded, we now have data from every region. The table below lists the data collected so far. The question now is, given the small number of respondents can we draw any valid conclusions. The SSF trustees would like to hear your option. Send email to the SSF Webmaster (webmaster@soaringsafety.org).

				Individual		Clubs		% of club activity
Year	SSA Members	Responses	% Response	Flts	Hrs	Flts	Hrs	Flts	Hrs
2002	12,517	40	0.320	659,000	723,680	237,804	77,080	36.08	10.65
2003	12,122	45	0.371	788,469	844,128	199,755	58,193	25.33	6.89
2004	12,383	51	0.412	625,949	522,502	183,405	65,334	29.30	12.50
2005	12,512	58	0.464	888,999	807,013	192,106	71,946	21.61	8.92

* Flight hours and number of flights are scaled in the following manner. The individual flight hours and number of flights were stored in a spread sheet. These values were totaled up for each year and the yearly average was determined by dividing the total flights/hours by the number of respondents during that year. The average was then multipled by the number of SSA members to get the figure presented here. For club data, the same procedure was followed, using the number of clubs in the US as the scaling factor. The final 2 rows are the club hours/flights divided by the individual numbers. The result is the percentage of hours/flights clubs are performing.

The major goals of the Soaring Safety Foundation include: Reducing the accident rate in soaring Increasing pilot awareness of soaring safety issues Disseminating training information and material This site is an important component of that mandate and consists of two broad categories: Education Opportunities: Flying gliders is a life-long learning activity. This site provides the pilot (student to instructor) with access to training material and computer aided training courses to encourage this behavior Safety Information: The dynamic nature of our sport means that new safety bulletins, notices, and regulatory changes occur on a regular basis. This site provides pilots with access to important safety material.