All gliders have at least one or two negative points it seems. If you
strike off a glider because of a negative or two, your gonna wind up
with nothing. Shopping for and finding one in good condition is the
challange I guess. Pros vs the Cons. Of course if you can spend more, a
few more options come into the light and the model year may be more
recent. Personally, I might be able to go up to about $30,000 when I am
ready to buy. (Keeping fingers crossed) So close to an LS-4 or early
Discus? Then there is the partnership idea. That looks more attractive
all the time if one could find the right person. I would be very
interested to hear what the good to bad ratio is in partnerships.
Craig

Some PIK-20D's have problems with the paint (very thick in places)
coming off: Big blisters form, then crack and come off. The repair
manual says you should make a hole in the blister, inject glue and
press the paint on again. My club had his PIK (very bad paint problems
around the canopy cut-out and on the wing trailing edge) professionaly
repaired and resprayed once, and the guy said he would never take on
another job like that. But many PIK have flawless paints, so you should
check that in person before buying.

It is a very nice glider to fly, very responsive to the ailerons,
except in the full positive flap position. You have to ballast it when
you want to fly over 100 mph, the wing - carbon fibre spar - is rock
hard and gives a very turbulent ride if you don't. Ergonomy is
excellent, everything is exactly where you want it to be (in that
respect, it is much better than the ASW-20). But I wouldn't advise a
beginner to fly one: you need to move the flaps during start and
landing.

The Jantar is a very nice glider too, if you've got the right
proportions to be able to actuate the wheel and airbrake levers (my
arms are too long). The original gelcoat is not very good (too thin and
not really smooth), but can of course be improved by respraying, and
the view is restricted by the canopy frame (2 parts). The canopy, once
opened, is very sensible to wind (it opens to the rear and stays
vertical, retained by a weak spring system). You have to choose between
no ballast and full ballast (150 liters) for take off (you can
unballast partially once in the air). It's not as good as some other
gliders in very weak conditions, but it is a very fast club glider,
even unballasted, in good to very good weather.