By 1984, it was obvious that the SSA needed to move its office and staff out of the high cost environment of Southern California. SSA Directors implemented a plan, devised by then board member Sterling Starr, to move the office to a better location which would afford the opportunity to restructure operations. 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.