When I went through that phase the "medium performance" glider was the
SGS 1-34. I enjoyed the ship. If the glider had been easier to
assemble/disassemble, I'd have purchased one or a SGS 1-35.

It never really bothered me that I wasn't covering the miles others were
in their ASW-19/20, LS-whatever, or SH whatever. I was too busy
learning how to fly cross country. One of our club members has a L-33
and seems to really enjoy it. There are a couple of Russias on the
field and their owners seem to enjoy them.

More than the performance, you'll get frustrated with difficulty
handling a glider on the ground. Look for a glider with a trailer and
support equipment that makes it reasonably easy to assemble and handle
the glider. You'll appreciate it when you are disassembling in a field
after dark. Been there, done that. As have almost everyone on this
newsgroup.

Dave

wrote:
I have read many posts about how gliders like the PW5, L33, and other
similar performance gliders are not the greatest cross country gliders
and that for the same money you can get older higher performance
gliders. My question is, if you forget about dollars per L/D, do
these type of gliders have enough performance to not cause frustration
in the beginner cross country pilot? Another question is, would the
avg pilot be satisfied with these for a few years or would most really
get the itch to trade sooner?

Thanks