J. N. wrote:
I don`t think you`re right.

In fact, if you take a look at the inflation, gliders have become
cheaper, or equally priced compared to 1980.

So the whole problem isn`t about more expensive gliders but less glider
pilots which mean less sold, which means a larger penalty per glider
for development. Thát`s the problem.

I bought a new ASW 20 C in 1984, which cost me about $28,000 US. This
was during a period of a strong dollar. Using the $100,000 US figure for
a new ASW 27, that's 3.6 times more, or an average of ~6% inflation a
year. I don't know what's it's really been, but that sounds about right.
I have to agree that the price is comparable to 22 years ago. I think
that is remarkable, because '84 was a period of a strong dollar (vs the
Mark), and now is a period of a relatively weak dollar (vs the Euro).

For the US, the results of this calculation will depend a lot on when
you do it, due to the substantial currency variations. In the 30 years
I've been in the sport, I've seen gliders become very cheap twice.


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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA