On Feb 9, 8:12*pm, Tuno wrote:
To paraphrase an early 20th century entrepreneur, "The best time to
buy a European glider is when you have money."

.02NO

Lest we forget the used markets as well. I bought a Grob 102 CS last
year with 1500 hours on her, incl. trailer, for about half of what I
could find one on the used market in the US. I shipped it in from
Britain. The savings I experienced was at least 50%, even after
paying Ro Ro from UK to US (about 3200 USD). I did the customs work
myself (don't let anyone tell you that you can't do the paperwork and
must have a broker, it's simply not true) and was in and out of
customs as well as pier services in a bit over two hours. The GBP was
much worse then than now but bargains keep popping up on the British
glider sales site.

BTW ... if you do the customs work yourself, the counter clerk will
certainly tell you to get a broker ... at which time you should insist
on seeing a supervisor ... and then present your very accurate and
complete paperwork. It was easy from this point for me, as the
supervisor explained you really should have a broker but it wasn't
required by law. You can see that the broker agencies likely dine the
customs department frequently .... nuff said.

T2