Hobbs is a great gliding community that had served as host city for the 1983 World Soaring Championships. The SSA is operating in a complex world. We operate in a regulated environment. Pilots have rules. Aircraft have rules.
Airports have rules.
Even the air has rules. Soaring has to co-exist with all forms of general aviation and an expanded commercial air transportation system which is the driving force behind a vast push for new operating rules and regulations at airports and in airspace all over the country. In any given week, the SSA might find itself involved in working with a local airport commission in upstate Pennsylvania to open an airport which was closed to gliders. In that same week, the SSA might conduct a special FAA approved flight instructor clinic in Los Angeles. Later in the week, the SSA may be meeting with leaders of the Explorer Scouts in support of creating a new Explorer Aviation Post for gliding in Washington State.