The difference in what you get today in comparison of what you've got 20
years ago is not just "a bit".
Instead of an ASW20 with 41:1, you get 15-20% more performance, plus the
ability to go to 50 kg/m2, plus a (more) crashworthy cockpit, plus
automatic hookup.

Now, if you don't like it (or like me, can't afford it), go and buy the
ASW20. Same price tag as 25 years ago, same performance. It's not new, but
that doesn't make any difference.

I just don't understand this mourning about what the new glider market looks
today. The manufacturers build for the market, and obviously this market
demands top notch stuff. Of course once a while a manufacturer goes belly
up, but that doesn't mean its products were off the demand - there are many
reasons why a company can go south.

As for the "low-cost/low performance" market - any investor (and that would
be anybody starting a business) going into this direction just has to look
at the PW5 story to think twice about where to put his money.

"Andy Blackburn" wrote in message
...
This is for a new, current generation standard class
glider with a trailer and a full instrumentation suite,
delivered to the US. Of course, the glider you get
in 2005 offers a bit better performance than the one
you got in 1980 and the instruments are far better
(GPS, computer, radios that work). Lack of quality
adjustment is a flaw in a lot of cost of living statistics,
so I'll leave it to each of us to make their own judgements
on that.

And of course, most of us move up in the income distribution
over our careers, so over time (at least until retirement)
a new glider should get more affordable. That at least
has been my happy experience.

9B