Eric Greenwell wrote:
Kirk Stant wrote:

But more to the point of this discussion: The real equipment
requirement for XC is a good trailer! If you are not willing to land
out, you will be really reluctant to push out XC, regardless of the
glider you are flying. A 1-26 with a good trailer is a lot of fun
(you can land anywhere), but a Grob 103 that is never disassembled
(and nobody knows where the trailer is) is a real disincentive to XC.


I'd expand this: it's not just the trailer, but a willing and eager crew
that really encourage a pilot to go cross-country (a good trailer will
make it easier to find that "willing and eager" crew!). Readily
available aerotow retrieves qualify as "willing and eager" crew, too.
You've got to be able to concentrate on your flight without worrying
about the retrieve, which is one reason I now have a motorglider (my
crew is still willing but not so eager anymore).

Eric Greenwell

An excellent point. Whichever way one decides to retrieve, making this
easier and more flexible really helps. Imagine having a motorglider,
and you can self-launch, aerotow, OR trailer
for the retrieve. Lots of flexibility for night, bumpy air,
high altitude, etc. retrieves.

Another point, about "you can land a 1-26 anywhere" is that since
the thing may only be $6,000, one is more able to fly over
questionable landouts. A lot of landouts seem to be
benign for the pilot, but damage the glider. If I was
looking at a $30,000 ASW-20 vs. a $15,000 PW-5, I might
accept lower performance just so I'm not "hangin' out the
$15,000." Even if I got it by buying a raffle ticket! (PEZ).

There are a lot of things I've done in my $6,000 airplane that I
would never do in my $40,000 airplane. None of them seemed
all that risky to the pilot (both have a real low landing speed),
but the risk to the airplane (chips in the tail, ground
loops on takeoff from catching a wing, gear collapsing,
etc.) in terms of $$$$s looked high. Lucky so far,
but I'll tell you the price of what I'm flying often
changes some of my decisions...

Man, if I flew a $40,000 or $120,000 glider, regardless of the
performance, you can bet I'd be REAL cautious and conservative
to make sure I didn't land somewhere "interesting."

So perhaps somewhere in there is why the $10,000 - $20,000
gliders are popular. Just a few LD points under the "good
stuff," but a lot less $$$$s risked.