Todd Smith wrote:
1) good one-design competition ?
NO, it's too damn slow ! and ugly !
and there are not enough around to have good competition !

I have to wonder if any brand new single class glider
could have sold well enough to have widespread competitions?

This is really the LS-4 argument. The real kicker is the
price. I must say if the LS-4s and the Sparrowhawks
of the world were offered at $20k, they might make it as
a World Class glider. But at $40k+, I don't think these
gliders would ever make widespread competition...

As a newly licensed glider shopper, I wanted better performance than
the PW-5 would have given me. I bought a used Grob-102 and have had
lots of fun.

My question to the PW-5 supporters.

Would YOU buy one ? As the glider YOU flew every good soaring day ?

I wouldn't buy one, but as a low time pilot I would (and did)
rent one, every good soaring day. A Grob-102 simply wasn't
available at that price, perhaps because the insurance
is higher. And the PW-5 cost was low enough it was affordable
for the club to do...

And it's sort of a silly question. At the point most soaring
pilots are ready to buy a glider, they're going to buy
a retract, not a fixed gear anyway, I would guess...

The real winner out of the whole "World Class" and medium
performance low-price competition, in the US at least,
was the Russia. Well, at least until the US distributor folded...
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Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA