skysailor wrote:
I am in the market for a sailplane and am having a difficult time in
choosing among five of them. They all seem to be one or two generations
before current "state of the art" aircraft. The ones that I am
interested in are as follows: DG-300,LS-4,LS-6,Discus B,& ASW-19. I
realize that the LS-6 is flapped and the others are not.

I have flown all on your list at one time or another (and owned a
DG-300). I don't think any would be a problem for a low time pilot with
appropriate training. If money isn't an issue, I suggest narrowing the
list to the DG-300 and Discus B, simply because they have automatic
control hookups (I've known a few too many pilots who have been killed
or maimed due to a missed connection). Of those two, the Discus has
slightly better performance, lighter controls, and more pleasant
handling. The 300 has a more comfortable cockpit, better visibility,
better divebrakes, lands slower, has a stronger undercarriage with more
ground clearance for landouts, and can take more abuse in general.